So, so, sorry. It's hit or miss with Roo's. This happens all the time. It's their nature to protect their flock, and you are perceived as the predator, it's all a part of nature.You gave him a beautiful life, and he'll give you a beautiful meal.
I could do with some cockerel advice.
I have a couple of cockerels that probably need to go to freezer camp. Both are very good quality and I had wanted to get chicks from them. They are from one of the foremost breeders of exhibition Ameraucanas.
Both cockerels are starting to rush me a bit, one is by far worse than the other. They are almost 9 months old. They free range in my front, so that is problematic. They are the two more dominant cockerels.
I have too many cockerels for the number of hens in this LF group, four cockerels to three pullets. The sex-ratio imbalance is temporary until the spring chicks arrive and I process the two unwanted cockerels. There is no fighting. Everyone knows their place. They are not particularly sexually aggressive to the hens. I'm sure that will change come spring.
Two of the four cockerels are definitely not good quality and not the color I want to breed. (They are wheatens, and I want to breed in the blue/black/splash colors range.) I have just been procrastinating processing them. I have every excuse down pat--no one has more or better excuses to not process birds than I have! The current excuse is that they are suffering from fowl pox (how can I get a mosquito-borne disease in November in south central Texas!), so I am waiting until they have completely healed before they are processed. They are the two bottom cockerels so haven't given me any grief. They don't bother the pullets and they don't bother me.
The cockerel that is starting to be really problematic is the nicest show quality bird. He really is beautiful. I would like to get chicks from him, but wonder if his being a bit over vigilant protecting his flock is a problem that he is going to pass on. After all, he is only doing what I want him to do, which is protect the flock. I plan to buy another dozen or so chicks from the breeder next spring, so he will be replaced, and if I don't get a decent cockerel, I am sure the breeder will be able to sell me one of his culls, which could be a very nice bird. In the meantime, I think I need a cockerel to protect the three girls.
In order to get chicks from him, I will have to separate the pullets for at least three weeks (the breeder's suggested time frame) so I don't have any wheaten genes in them. I had thought wheaten crossed with splash would be easy to see in the chicks and if I ended up with some, I could just keep them as Easter Eggers, but I believe I won't be able to tell the ones that carry a wheaten gene, so I don't want to risk that. I think that I really needed to separate the pullets for 2 months just to be sure they are cleaned out. Plus, I will be using Silkies as incubators, and I'll have to wait until they are in the mood to be broody.
If I separate the pullets, I need to build some sort of little coop for them which could take forever at the rate my husband finishes projects. I have all kinds of pens I can use, but no safe predator-proof housing at night.
Once I process the two wheaten cockerels, there will be a big change in the flock dynamics. Maybe things will calm down. I'm a bit afraid to process two nicer-tempered cockerels to be left with two cockerels that get progressively nastier and more dangerous and be left with no cockerels to protect the little flock of three pullets. I'm getting very tired of worrying about watching my back when I am out in my front where I spend a lot of time.
I've tried a variety of training strategies. When ever they give me the eye or sidle up towards me, I walk directly into them and make them move away. I've carried a bamboo pole to poke them to make them move away fast. I've chased them down (they are faster than I am) and occasionally caught them, grabbed them by the scruff of their neck and shoved their face into the ground, trying to behave the way the aggressive rooster would behave. Yesterday, I was flying my parrots and the most aggressive one was at my feet. I called the parrots with the loud whistle I use and the blue cockerel was a bit surprised and immediately jumped on my legs. I chased him down and managed to kick him in the butt. I hurt my foot, I kicked him so hard and had visions of Bee and Bud. The trouble I'm finding is that the two dominant cockerels work together as a team, so if I am aggressive to one, I have to be really careful the other doesn't defend him at the time or later in the day. They seem to hold a grudge. That's great to protect the flock against predators, but not so great when they protect it against me. I feel that I might be making it all worse--aggression does beget aggression.
I would really appreciate your thoughts on my self-made cockerel problem. I know at least the worst one has to go but he is a beautiful bird, and I am afraid to be left without any cockerel. The sex imbalance will be resolved in the spring when I get another 30 or so straight-run chicks, 20 being from breeds I will not be breeding from so will not be growing out cockerels except to process.
Thanks.
