How do you train your hormonal lil cockrels!


  • Total voters
    8
We are dealing with covid in our family so finishing up the new coop/run is on temporary hold. Praying it will get done over weekend though!
I'm anxious to see if Polish will do better...may even build divider inside new 200sqft area to give his hormones time to calm down and the pullets time to mature.
Then reevaluate him.
 
Cockrel...Cockrell - either way, they can be lil hormonal beasts!
PLEASE share your lil cockrels here with us and any wisdom too!

Ya get your chicks...not knowing for certain what sex they'll be. Oh the excitement as you watch, wait and hope! You spend time with them, care for them. They get to start venturing outside with nature, and you see their lil personalities begin to unfold!

And here's where my fun began!
I have 3 silkies (Mango, Milli n Vanilli) and 1 polish (Polish - real original I know!)...all the same age and raised together since hatching.
Polish quickly began to be the dominant from a very early age and was the first to escape the brooder...time n time again!
When taking them to the backyard for play time and/or acclimating them for hour or so each day, Polish began to refuse to be caught and placed in carrier. So he followed me...from the backyard and back to the brooder in the garage. Polish would choose to fly in himself rather than me picking him up and placing him back in with silkies in the brooder.
Once moving them to their new coop/run in backyard, they investigated and mowed down everything in their paths. Polish always escaping and flying over their daily roam-time little 3' fencing to go to "greener grass"! It was a daily occurrence for Polish and Mango to eye-ball it up and chest bump it out! Cute to watch..and never aggressive at all. Mango never backed down from Polish...Mango hasn't shown signs of being a cockrel but then he's also a silkie...could be few more months still.
It came as little surprise to me when Polish began crowing 🐓 at 10 weeks old. He has always had a dominant nature. I guess because he is the only polish in my lil flock, I have had more of a connection with him than the silkies. He is the only one I can usually pick up and hold for a few minutes now. And he seems to enjoy it, seldom squirming. Polish and Vanilli are always the first and typically only ones that will run to eat treats out of my hand! They've been pretty close...
But as his hormones kick it up, he has begun to bully Vanilli. His daily chest bumps with Mango are no more. Polish is either crowing or chasing down lil Vanilli. She literally runs away from him, hides from him. I feel so badly for her! Vanilli has been sickly lately...unsure if the bullying has contributed to this or if something else has been going on. Then this morning Polish began bullying Milli, chasing her down. When he gets near them he pecks em. Both Milli n Vanilli run and try to hide from him.
Ok nice lil story and if you stayed with me through all my gibberish - thanks!
I hope this thread will go on...so that experienced ones can chime in here with their great wisdom and advice! But I hope this will be a thread for future newbies like myself so they can learn and ask questions regarding their lil cockrels too! The hormones are kicking in, seemingly more each day for Polish...then again he is only11 weeks old.
Any words of wisdom, insight and assistance you can contribute here for myself as well as future cockrel owners is most appreciated! View attachment 2769502
Beautiful 😍
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom