Rooster Wants to be a Mommy??

[OlyChickenGuy]

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I'll bet it's a big "no" since I'm about the ONLY person I know who owns a bachelor flock ( all males )!

I took in some bantams recently, and two in particular, a black Dutch named Frank, and a blue Rosecomb named Izzy, are inseperable. They're both CLEARLY males, and before anyone chalks this up to one being a hen - they have SICKLE FEATHERS on their tails, they crow, they strut. Also the "nest making" behaviour is NOT dust bathing - there is no scratching, flapping, or dust flying, just simple, methodical drawing debris in and around himself.

Here's the story...

Izzy wants to be a mommy. He and Frank walk around all morning, while Izzy makes that tell-tale "I'm looking for a nest" noise that hens tend to make about an hour or two before getting ready to lay. Frank, like a good rooster, leads Izzy around in search for nest sites, and when he finds a good one, he'll call Izzy over and while Izzy is trying out the nest ( sitting down, slowly making circles, clucking while drawing up sticks and debris around himself ), Frank valiantly stands guard and protects Izzy against any of the other chickens coming to investigate what's going on.

Izzy inevitably becomes discontent with the nest and very loudly starts shouting again, in that hennish nest-seeking noise! He'll walk around the whole yard making this noise, pushing other chickens out of "ideal" spots if Frank hasn't already done it, and he frantically makes little nest areas all around the yard. He finally settles on going inside and sitting or simply standing on one of my shirts, jackets, pants, whatever he can find that's cloth and just lying around, and there he'll just zone out for the whole day, quietly clucking and even doing the broody-screech when I get near. Izzy's even found my blown emu egg and has been hanging very, very near it lately.

Anyone else ever have a gender-confused rooster??

 

[StarLover21]

That's really weird. What breed is he? Could we have a picture?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

What an interesting story. I have a group of three bachelor roosters - 2 Orps and a Cochin. None of them engage in nesting behavior. They will take turns dancing around each other and make the tid bit call with food, but I figure that is their non-aggressive way to claim status in the group. The big guys don't care much for roosting at night and instead cuddle up in a big chicken pile like they did when they were chicks.

I guess, like with humans, there can be a range of gender behavior in chickens.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

StarLover - I don't have a camera right now, but he's a hatchery blue Rosecomb. He looks just like the photos available on the hatchery website for a Rosecomb cock.

scratch'n'peck - The rooster dance and food-noise are typical male behaviours, even amongst other males, and you're right - it's just a non aggressive way to establish one's flock status. I had one boy call over a new boy ( rescued from a fighting ring ), and though there was a fence between them, he started making the good-food noise and actually throwing pellets through the fence at the fighter. From that day forward, the fighter was a member of the flock and hasn't had any incidents since.

 

[chickenzoo]

I've had roosters sit on eggs... Feed.other males. ...be friends and hang out all the time...but not really so that level of nesting behavior. I when have some hens that crow and beat up roosters. ....lol

 

[ReikiStar]

We keep our roosters in bachelor groups. We had a trio where the Beta and Sub roos would do the "looky, this is a good place for a nest" deal. The Beta Roo would actually go in the corner like there was a nest there and the Sub roo (lower than the Beta) was the one who did the finding and then guarding. The Beta roo was a cross beak who we've recently had to put down. As his condition deteriorated, the Sub roo would ride him like a hen. We had to make an apron for the Beta rooster because the riding was causing him to lose feathers. We imagine the roosters knew the score before we did and the shift in power was because the Beta wasn't strong enough to fight off the Sub's advances and subsequent rides. Now that the Beta rooster is gone, the Alpha and Sub are kind of lost. The Alpha and Beta were best buddies (grew up together), but the Beta paled around with the Sub too. Our 3 amigos are no more. (

We have a little Polish roo and are thinking once he's old enough, we'll move him in with this group. I hope that riding thing doesn't happen again. It was so stressful on all of us.

If they are just "looking for an apartment together", it gives them something to do. And it's kind of amusing.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

ChickenZoo - high fives for crowing hens! I gave three pullets to someone over Craigslist, and they called me the next day, LIVID, saying one of the "pullets" that I gave her was CROWING. Shocked, I said I'd never heard a hen crow, but I could GUARANTEE that the little one was a girl because she had laid eggs IN MY LAP. A week later she was back to laying, but continued to crow. This person and I now chat regularly about our chickens and were certainly brought closer by this little anomoly. I think coming from such a cockerel-heavy flock into a flock with NO boys triggered her need to crow.

ReikiStar - that's a neat story about your bachelors. I'm sorry to hear about the one boy's deterioration and passing, though. I have a "boy" right now ( totally male plumage, but carries his tail down - I think because when he was only about a month old, I stepped on him when he ran under my foot, excited about being fed - and has a widening cloaca - about two finger-lengths right now ) who gets mounted by his brother ALL THE TIME. It used to be a big issue when he was recovering from being stepped on, but he's big enough now ( they're both Orpingtons ) that he tells his brother off, and his brother listens. I think that because they're young, and thus their hormones are just coming in, but they don't have access to females, that perhaps they'll simply settle for "the next best thing"? I spend so much time with my flock that I train my boys that mounting and crowing are undesirable behaviours, though I understand that not EVERYONE has that kind of time - OR committment to chickens.

Question about your cross-beak, though - was his pallet ( roof of mouth ) deformed? I have a chicken right now with a massive under-bite, and his pallet droops down, but it's squishy to the touch. I don't know what to do about him, but he seems to be eating, drinking, and defending himself just fine.

 

[ReikiStar]

ChickenZoo - high fives for crowing hens! I gave three pullets to someone over Craigslist, and they called me the next day, LIVID, saying one of the "pullets" that I gave her was CROWING. Shocked, I said I'd never heard a hen crow, but I could GUARANTEE that the little one was a girl because she had laid eggs IN MY LAP. A week later she was back to laying, but continued to crow. This person and I now chat regularly about our chickens and were certainly brought closer by this little anomoly. I think coming from such a cockerel-heavy flock into a flock with NO boys triggered her need to crow.

ReikiStar - that's a neat story about your bachelors. I'm sorry to hear about the one boy's deterioration and passing, though. I have a "boy" right now ( totally male plumage, but carries his tail down - I think because when he was only about a month old, I stepped on him when he ran under my foot, excited about being fed - and has a widening cloaca - about two finger-lengths right now ) who gets mounted by his brother ALL THE TIME. It used to be a big issue when he was recovering from being stepped on, but he's big enough now ( they're both Orpingtons ) that he tells his brother off, and his brother listens. I think that because they're young, and thus their hormones are just coming in, but they don't have access to females, that perhaps they'll simply settle for "the next best thing"? I spend so much time with my flock that I train my boys that mounting and crowing are undesirable behaviours, though I understand that not EVERYONE has that kind of time - OR committment to chickens.

Question about your cross-beak, though - was his pallet ( roof of mouth ) deformed? I have a chicken right now with a massive under-bite, and his pallet droops down, but it's squishy to the touch. I don't know what to do about him, but he seems to be eating, drinking, and defending himself just fine.

OlyChickenGuy -- that's terrific you are able to train your roo's to curtail their behavior and I envy the time you are able to spend with them. Beta & Sub (not their real names -- the EE crssobeak was the Beta and the Sub is a Spitzbauben. The Alpha is a BCMXBarnevelder) used to do the "apartment shopping" thing and then I believe when Beta started to have trouble keeping his weight, they started fighting when they were free ranging and the mounting behavior started in the coop. So there is definitely an oppotunisitic elemnt to the mounting nonsense.

I do not know the condition of his pallet (squishy or not). Brandon (the EE) was a classic cross-beak. It first presented when he was 2 weeks old. His bottom beak was ever so slightly misaligned. We were completely new to crossbeaks and were told "most live normal lives". Had I known there were avian vets who would have tried bracing his beak (I've found one of those vets now) I would have given that a shot. Anyway, from the time he was 2 months old we started filing the beak (tip and bottom), hoping to keep it to a useful length. In spite of weekly filings, what happened with Brandon is his pecking (he ate a whole grain feed and could "toss" food into his mouth. On occassion he'd get lucky and could pick up bugs while free ranging) had caused the top beak to remodel into such a severe hook, we realized he had lost a lot of weight by mid-spring, he clearly wasn't able to eat enough to maintain his weight. I thought if we could get him to a year old, his bones would have stopped growing and we'd just keep maintaining his beak length, but like any body part under stress/pressure, his beak responded to the constant pecking. Brandon was a month shy of a year and a half when we had him put to sleep.

My best advice is to keep an eye on him and if he ever loses the battle with his beak, don't make him suffer. They say the cross-beak is a deformity of the skull and the beak is an extension of the skull. Maybe your bird's condition is a little different?

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

Thank you for the reply. I agree that Francis doesn't have a cross-beak, per se, since it's an underbite and not a cross, but figured I'd ask anyway. Any information is good information, yes? Also since I rescue roosters, I know I'll probably end up with a cross-beak eventually. Francis and his three brothers are salmon Faverolles that I took on since they're an endangered breed, and I really want to get the presentable ones to good breeders. Francis obviously does not fit this qualification.

I'm so glad to hear you actually found a vet willing to work with chickens. I'm lucky to live near one, but so many people don't even look. It sounds like you're a chicken owner after my own heart, and it makes me happy to hear that your birds have it so well.