Rooster Chat

[TheTwoRoos]

My roo is almost a year old and is finally getting saddle feathers!! I was beginning to think he would never get them. He still isnt showing any long hackle feathers. Yes. I know. He has lots of feathers. Ive been told. But every roo pic i have seen shows long, skinny feathers very distinguishable from the rest. Does that mean smething bad if they develop that slowly? His spurs are growing and he fertilizes all the girls.... So whats up with the slow manly feathers?

My rooster. Is a year old and has short saddle feathers.

 

[microchick]

Here is my rooster Red at 6 months.


And Junior rooster Larry Bird at Approx 4 months.

Red got his hackle feathers in early while Larry was 5 months old before his started to develop. He was supposed to be a she and it was those saddle and hackle feathers that sealed his fate never to lay an egg. Same with Red. He was supposed to be a she also. He feathered in early and developed a tail same as the pullets. We sure thought he was a she until the combs and wattles turned bright red.

Here he is at about 8 weeks.


He's a fantastic rooster. I have his full son now and I surely hope he is half the rooster that his dad is.

 

[feedman77]

Does anyone know how to tell if a silver laced wyandotte is a cockerel?
Mine are about 3 wks.

I don't know if you have some young wyandotte hens to compare to.

But roosters will have a larger percentage of white patch on the wings and shoulders

 

[Deleon98]

No I only have the two. Is the difference in white noticeable at their age?

 

[feedman77]

Most generally it is.

I have an about 6 week old cockerel if I can I will try to get a pic of him tomorrow.

 

[feedman77]

I had a hen for comparison but had a coon problem and she was a casualty.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Uzisuzuki, that expression on Ronan's face screams rooster. Life getting crazy again, indeed. He's going to be a hand full if he isn't one already. A big attitude in a small package.

Thankfully, he isn't one yet but I'm expecting him to get there soonish!

 

[TroyerGal]

Does anyone have a lavender orpington roo? I saw the pic above and i was wondering... how are their personalities? I have one now, Hans. And he is a total sweetheart! Will he be like that later??

P.S... little confession, i kinda asked that question just to brag on my sweet boy ;P

 

[masondixonchix]

I have a Speckled Sussex and his name is Minky. When I go out to let them out in the morning, I always sing Wake-e, wake-e peepy leapies!

 

[microchick]

Does anyone have a lavender orpington roo? I saw the pic above and i was wondering... how are their personalities? I have one now, Hans. And he is a total sweetheart! Will he be like that later??

P.S... little confession, i kinda asked that question just to brag on my sweet boy ;P

Can we get our two boys together? Maybe some of your sweet boys sweetness will rub off on my brat. Larry was supposed to be a girl. He wasn't. He and I have been playing the bad rooster game for the past two months now and at the moment I'm ahead, but barely. In fact I just got done chasing the little feathered demon around the run with the first thing I could grab which happened to be a plastic bag with some (not a lot) pine chips in it. No, I know, it sounds terrible but my LO boy is a hand full right now. I have one rooster that is a doll. Wouldn't trade him for all the gold in the world. My two Welsummer roosters are okay. They have to be watched simply because every now and again they like to do a sneak attack on my heels when my back is turned but they have never caused any real damage and when they do it, all I have to do is spin around really fast at them and they take off running in the opposite direction. But Larry is....well I'm starting to think a bit of a mental case. He is an absolutely GORGEOUS LO. He weighs a good 12 pounds if not more and stands heads above the other 3 roosters. He also likes to try to dominate me, which just started a month or two ago. Until then he was a nice boy. I would pick him up and carry him around thinking that he would be easier to deal with and then when the spring hormones came into play, my sweet Dr Jekyll turned into My Hyde. I have tried everything with this rooster and have decided that it is just a battle of wills between us. Today I was sitting out in the run with two of my 12 week old pullets sitting on my lap and was aware that Larry was moving in on me. He does it slowly, casually, side stepping a bit, reaching down, picking up a tidbit, laying it down, all the while moving closer. Because he is unpredictable right now, I don't let him get too close, so when I put the two youngsters down and stood up, out went his hackles at me. I keep a broom handy just for such an occasion but it was sitting outside the run by the door and I didn't want to back down from him so the first thing my hand encountered was this plastic bag with some pine chips in it that I had left sitting by my bench. The next thing Larry knew he had the bag between him and me but he wasn't backing down. He flew at the bag spurs first and actually ripped a hole in it. Since he had done the same thing to my right foot last week and managed to puncture not only my muck boot but my foot also, him attacking the bag was an all out cavalry charge as far as I was concerned. I went on the offensive, and finally got him to back down from me but we got a pretty good work out. As long as I can get him to back down, he usually stays good for a week or so and then challenges me again. I seriously do not know if he thinks I am a stronger Rooster as he is the #4 rooster, bottom of the pecking order. Or if he thinks I am a big hen that he is trying to win over. I know there are people who would and will say get rid of him, eat him, send him on a slow boat ride to China but in all honesty, what saves him is the fact that he is a beautiful rooster and I am bound and determined to make him see the error of his ways so we can at least live with a truce between us. But then again, I have a feeling that once a week for the next 6 years I'm destined to be galloping after the silly bird with my trusty broom in my hand or bag of pin chips, whatever in order to preserve the sanctity of my feet and ankles.

So that is the story of Larry Bird. Tell me about your sweet LO please? Let me know that there are really nice ones out there.