Opa's place -Where an old rooster visits with friends

[FlyingFChick]

Good Morning all!! It has been a long time since I have been on BYC. Sorry to hear about all of the troubles some of you are having. It isn't always easy being a chicken farmer. I am having a problem as well. I bought 5 day old chicks 10 weeks ago. 3 EE and 2 ISAs. One of the EEs turned out to be a he and he is gorgeous. I realized he wasn't a she when he started crowing at about 5 weeks and his comb started turning red. He has been great up until yesterday. He started to brutally pick on this one EE. She is very sweet and don't want her to get hurt. I separated him from the girls last night and when I put him back in, he went right to her again. Is this normal roo behavior? Is he starting to figure out that he is a boy and has to line his girls up? Any help would be appreciated! I would really hate to get rid of him. We also have 9 1 year old hens, should I let him take his chances with them?

 

[Opa]

That is normal behavior for a young rooster. He has quite figured out how to finesse the hens and may be over aggressive. He should get better although I would never allow him to breed a hen in your presence. That will tend to make him think he rules the roost so to speak. If every time you see him attempt to breed, pick him up. If he starts to become agressive boot him with the side of you foot with enough force to move him some distance. Once you achieved dominance it should get better.

 

[FlyingFChick]

Thanks so much, Sam! We have only ever had hens and are new to the whole rooster thing and thought we would give it a try. So is he "practicing" his breeding?

 

[Opa]

It is actually a little more than practice since he probably does breed successfully but when the first start breeding they often are over enthusiastic. Think of him as a teenaged boy.

 

[FlyingFChick]

I see!! So he REALLY likes her. I will try your suggestion!! Thanks so much, Sam!

 

[Opa]

This morning I was out checking the birds and was reminded of one of the attractions of raising chickens. I have a chicken tractor with a coop attached to the end of it. I had placed the broody Vorwerk hen in it. When her eggs failed to hatch, and I had removed the eggs, she still wouldn't give up sitting on the nest. I thought that I would try and give her the two 3 week old bantam orpingtons and see what happened. She at first seemed reluctant and didn't want much to do with them but they piled into the nest with her. By the end of the 3rd day they had become unseparatable. Now any time you approach the tractor she puffs up, fans her tail, and starts clucking furiously. The chicks immediately run up the ramp and into the coop.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Mine does too!

 

[Opa]

My phone just rang a few minutes ago and due to assigned ringtones I knew exactly who was calling. I found that I can download snippets of songs to assign to individual people and found that it is informative and sometimes a bit of personal amusement. When my best friend, who recently bought a 110 year old house in need of lots of work calls, I hear "What was I thinking". A neighbor who is prone to imbibing a little more than he should is "The More I Drink". Neil Diamonds "Cherry, Cherry" tells me when Hope calls, Montgomery Gentry's "What Do You Think About That" tells me it's David, and Kid Rock's "Cowboy" lets me know it's Joe. Then of course the most telling ringtone is assigned to BYCers, Zak Brown with "Sic em on a Chicken"

 

[Ec_Prokta]

Good morning, Opa! I like your custom ringtones. Very good choices! Once I get my SD card, I'm going to do that.

 

[Highlander]

Hope all the Dads out there have a wonderful day!