Progeny from heroic rooster

[AntiqueB]

Nice looking boys!

 

[sakerobot]

At 12 weeks (and 2 days), we now have two crowers. Ares has actually been the one doing the morning crowing until today, when two distinctly different crows could be heard. The other vocalist turned out to be Apollo, who proceeded to crow several more times after being let out, something Ares never does. He then proceeded to actually try to mate with an adult BR - for a moment it almost looked like he might succeed until she threw him off and provided him with feedback on his performance, sending him to the other side of the yard. Pictures from today:

Ares:

Apollo:

Adonis:

And the younger (11 weeks) Alcibiades:
Aristophanes:

Aristotle declined to have his likeness taken today.

Currently everyone gets along great so far. The younger ones know to watch out for the three pinchers - the Spessex and the SLWs, so they just keep a cushion of space pretty effectively. New yard expansion should be ready in a few days hopefully.

 

[JAMarlow]

LOL! Apollo will have to perfect his wooing skills first!

 

[sakerobot]

There are four crowers now, with Alcibiades being the latest to join in. Below image is of Aristophanes, Aristotle, and Alcibiades from two days ago, they are 12 weeks old now.

It's interesting how Aristophanes has very light "hair" compared to usual BR styles. But we know he's been unique from the start!

The three older roosters have been trying to mate unsuccessfully all week. Alas, I don't have an updated picture of them at the moment. Lots of Buff feathering around the mane on Apollo and Adonis, and you can see some spots on Alcibiades above.

 

[sakerobot]

Today's pictures. Ages are:
14 weeks 3 days for the first batch, 13 weeks and 1 day for the second batch.
First batch:
Apollo:

Ares:


Adonis:


The three of them:


Younger batch:
Aristotle:



Aristotle next to the Dark Brahma:

Aristophanes:

Alcibiades:

 

[sakerobot]

Some notes:
Ares and Apollo have been the most frequent crowers, with Alcibiades joining in recently. I haven't actually seen anyone else crowing yet.

Ares has been successfully mating with several hens. All of the males have attempted mating, with mixed success.

There have not been any fights between the roosters with all of this going on. They had some friendly sparring, though we haven't seen that in a while. They mostly maintain a respectful distance, some of them except Ares are a bit fearful/ cautious of the adult hens.

The Lav Orp has done the most mating with Ares.

 

[NatJ]

Some notes:
Ares and Apollo have been the most frequent crowers, with Alcibiades joining in recently. I haven't actually seen anyone else crowing yet.

Ares has been successfully mating with several hens. All of the males have attempted mating, with mixed success.

There have not been any fights between the roosters with all of this going on. They had some friendly sparring, though we haven't seen that in a while. They mostly maintain a respectful distance, some of them except Ares are a bit fearful/ cautious of the adult hens.

The Lav Orp has done the most mating with Ares.

I'm glad to hear it's going so well! And it's fun to see the pictures as they grow

 

[sakerobot]

I meant to add - last evening while I was working on their next coop outside of their yard, Aristophanes began sounding the alarm. At first most chickens and myself were confused, but after a few seconds they began running for cover. The hawk coasted by outside the fence and flew off into the woods.

Due to overhead netting, the hawk can't harm them again, but it's very comforting to see the youngest rooster contributing to the safety of the flock so well at this age.

 

[sakerobot]

While closing the adult hen coop tonight, I noticed that the chickens were too numerous. Looks like Ares (15w) has decided that he'll be sleeping with them now.

 

[sakerobot]

It's interesting that he's perched next to Helga, our Bielefelder. A couple weeks earlier, she actually managed to sneak into and spend the whole night in the small chicken coop. She was also one of Arthur's favorites.

Ares isn't technically the biggest rooster, but his comb is far more advanced than anyone else's. Here's Apollo for comparison:

If the DE/Orp roosters follow the growth pattern of their father, their combs will grow to full size for several more months.

Ares is like that kid in school who has a full beard at 13.