Rooster proclaiming with a hen?

[DomiHentrix]

Recently one of my hens (pullet) laid and egg and my rooster jumped right up on a hay bale next to her and started proclaiming right along with her...and I don't mean crowing, he was clucking and going on as if he had laid the egg!

What is this all about, any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

[gritsar]

My alpha roo does that too. I just tell him "Shut Up! You didn't contribute all that much!"

 

[MissPrissy]

He is praising his hen. It's a good thing.

 

[columbiacritter]

Mine does it too and so do the little bitty bantie roos from their bachelor quarters. It's a hoot to hear the 10lb roo and the 2 sixteen oz's all sounding off with teh egg yell.

 

[DomiHentrix]

Quote:
I figure so. I did wonder if it actually means anything? Is he more likely to be a better "father" to the chicks if he is this attentive from the start or is this just an behavioural thing that all roosters do?

 

[MissPrissy]

Roosters are not 'fathers' to chicks. Little chicks left out of mommas watchful eye are likely to be killed by big daddy rooster. they have to earn their place in the pecking order just like every other chicken.

But - big but here - silkie roosters have been known to broody and hatch chicks.

 

[seriousbill]

Yeah, fathering behavior varies from breed to breed and bird to bird. Most production type birds have zero, and what Miss Prissy said is true of them.

Some individuals within bantam breeds like OEGBs and Brahmas actually do watch over and feed the chicks when they are small. My BBB rooster feeds his chicks and is very gentle with them. But he seems to do this partly to impress the hen. If she were not present, I think he'd behave differently.

I guess it depends on whether or not that behavior has been bred out of them, like dancing for the hens or singing/cooing to call them to a nest. Some birds have it, but most don't.