Rooster nest building???

[KDbeads]

Time for a strange one.....
The past 2 days our white silkie roo has been mating the heck out of his girl, 10 times in the half hour I was out there this morning alone! ... he needs another few girls...
Today I go out to check for eggs and just happen to look at them, she's in the rooster box making a nest, so I might actually get an egg from her for the first time since she's been here. But what's weird is the roo jumps in after a few minutes, kicks her out and starts frantically scratching around building a nest in a different spot. Meanwhile she's out on the ground pecking around and stacking grass on her back. Both are making a high pitch clucking/cooing sound.

Have NEVER seen a roo build a nest! Is this a silkie thing?

 

[gritsar]

Yes, I have heard of roosters building nests for his girls; although my rooster doesn't. He tends to stay as far away as possible while the girls handle their business.

 

[GreenGoddess]

I have a production red rooster that does the same thing.. He will jump in the box, scratch around and coo the entire time he is in there.. He acts as if he is trying to get Ruby (the only one laying at the moment) to go in there.. When she does jump in there, he will jump out and go to the other box and do the same thing.. They play musical boxes until she is finally ready to lay her egg... I sat there and watched it for over an hour one day.. It's quite comical but absolutely adorable at the same time.. It just goes to show how much the roo will actually take care of his girls...

Goddess

 

[davidb]

Its natural for the roo to build the nest

 

[farmin'chick]

I have a buff polish roo in with a bunch of girls -- 3 of them are laying. When they want to lay, he escorts them to the coop, builds whichever one a nest. She gets in, wiggles, puts some grass on her back, and about half the time hops out and tells him "Nope". And then he makes her another one! He does this for all 3 layers, and stands around with them until they lay their eggs, then escorts them back to the free ranging group. It is SO cute! There are about 6 other roos in that group, and except for my dark brahma bantam, none of the rest are nearly as chivalrous, or as interested!

 

[Plain Old Dee]

I have a heaven only knows what roo that actually displays "broody" behavior. We frequently catch "One-eyed Jack" sitting on the eggs. There's normally not a mean bone in his body, but he will peck the dickens out of anyone trying to take any of "his" eggs. He gets along really well with our main roo, "Big Daddy." Kinda makes me wonder...

He's never crowed, either, and he's at least a year old.

He's sulking because we just removed three eggs...

 

[4 Love of Baby Chickens]

When my hens were laying Rusty did that all the time. It's so sweet to watch and listen to him coo to his girls.

 

[KDbeads]

Cool! I've just never seen it before in any of the flocks I grew up with. Very interesting!

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

My RIR roo does the same thing. When I freshen up the nest, he has to go in first and give the girls his approval. He even pulls out 3 or 4 of his own feathers and leaves them in the nest. I've seen this behavior before, but this roo takes his nesting duties to an all new high.

 

[CountryMom]

We have a Partridge Silkie Rooster that will actually sit on eggs while the broody Mamas take their breaks. I had two broodies silkies build a nest together and they shared those eggs. It was so funny. When they went and did their once a day break, he would climb into the nest box and try to cover all the eggs. I found him several times sitting right between them helping ---- or so he thought. LOL He is the sweetest Silkie Roo we have.