Mr. Orange Band committed the cardinal sin of roosterdom tonight. I locked the little pullets in their crate for the night, then let the two Mottled Cochin boys out of their daytime pen to go to their nighttime pen. Mr. Orange Band rounded the fence, grabbed the top of my foot (partly my fault, I wore sandals out there tonight), and flogged. He broke skin, but no bleeding, thankfully. I was not expecting this after how well they have been behaving, though there was an instance this morning when I thought he was going to bite my hand and didn't, so maybe that was my warning sign.
So... New plan. The boys will be going a week from Tuesday (or later, depending on the scheduling and all). That puts the youngest at at least 16 weeks, which was the minimum people say for bantam Cochins. That means that, yes, Mr. Orange Band is going. It's very likely at this point that I will keep Mr. Purple Band as he is behaving, but I am watching him like a hawk (...which is probably bad wording, but y'all know what I mean). Orange band has always been the more dominant of the two and I'm aware that removing the more dominant bird can make the less dominant bird turn jerky, too. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
) The only time I don't wear sandals in the summertime is when it's muddy out there from rain. It's just been so hot lately that the muckers are miserable to wear, so I've been wearing the sandals a lot. I also was out there earlier than usual last night, so he doesn't even have the excuse of getting confused in the dark or something. Like I said, he was acting like he was going to bite my hand that morning when I was moving him to their daytime pen. I think that was a warning sign that he was amping up again. 
He's also gotten a lot more aggressive with Purple band lately, and now that I'm thinking of it, he was chest bumping with one of the hens through the fence yesterday, too... Something's definitely changed in that little pea brain of his.
It's like everything's bracing for fall really early. Hopefully that means your Brahma will get with the program, too, S2BChixMom! I believe all the birds I've had in the past who have had bad molts late in the fall are gone now, coincidentally, though I do have a whole batch of hens and some fellas coming up on their first official adult molt. Here's hoping few (if any) go full-blown naked! 
