Mr Mom Rooster?

[Lorli]

I have a very aggressive Mille Fleur Cochin bantam rooster (he killed his brother) who started picking on a Salmon Faverolle Bantam roo. The Fav is better at hiding so he is fine...then, one of my dogs caught the Mille fleur and pulled out all of his tail feathers. He looked so ashamed, he crept back to the flock and the Fav hopped up onto a high spot and crowed his little heart out! Since then, the Mille's tail feathers have grown back but he has stopped bullying the other chickens.

But the Fav is amazing. He no longer acts like the Big Man on Campus but instead has turned into Mr Mom. He watched over some young pullets, then, when the hens hatched out some baby chicks, he started watching them. He now watches over all of the young ones and he is even the last to go to his roost at night but waits for all of the others to go to bed.

Am I imagining this behavior? Has anyone else had a roo like this, and do they change their "personality" later on? He is less than a year old.

Thanks, all.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

That is a really interesting rooster story. It is fascinating how the rooster's personality can change depending on changes in the pecking order. I hope Mr. Mom stays in the alpha position; I would bet that he will continue to act like that as long as he feels secure in his alpha position. My best roosters have made sure all the others come into the coop to roost.