Protective Cockerel-What a Guy!

One of my Buff Orps has a mild case of bumblefoot in one foot, which is bandaged. Today, I noticed her bandage trailing along behind her and went to pick her up so we could redo it. As soon as I picked her up, my 19 week old cockerel fell into step with me. He walked with me up the 9 steps to the deck, where we have a built-in bench. I sat down with Ginger in my arms and Dutch hopped up right beside me to watch what I was going to do with Ginger. He just stood right beside where I was seated and calmly watched. I reached over to pet him and he didnt even flinch. He let me pet him and watched us rebandage Ginger then he hopped down and walked back to the steps and down. Guess he was concerned about her, not really sure, but I've never had a rooster do that before. Suede nor Hawkeye ever came up on the deck. They always stopped at the top step-they leave the treat raids to the Girls, LOL. I'm not sure what he would have done if she raised a big ruckus, but so far, I'm extremely pleased with Dutch as our new flock leader. He has the very best of his wonderful daddy in him. Here's Dutch.




Edited to add pic...

 

If Dutch can be half the rooster his daddy was, I'll be thrilled. So far, he's been wonderful. You just never know how a rooster will be when the hormones start flowing; I was almost holding my breath, waiting for something negative from him, but so far, he's everything I could hope for. His little brother, Mace, is about three weeks younger. Right now they get along. Hopefully, when Mace begins mating the girls, they'll still get along, LOL.

 

Today I went to get the mail, which requires me to leave by the driveway gate and go to a different street. As soon as I was back inside the gate, I looked up to see Dutch running down the driveway to meet me. He's so much like Hawkeye, it's spooky sometimes.