MrsKroo
Songster
The day baby G hatched we knew he was different.
.
He was smaller than the hatchlings before him. It took him longer to dry his feathers.
And he appeared weak.
It took three days of me nursing him and a few more days of supervised time in the brooder before I could trust leaving him alone with his siblings.
.
Those few days involved a lot of loud complaining, as if he was in pain.
He would cry loudly whenever he needed me to feed him, give him water and keep him warm.
Even though his siblings were doing great in the brooding box with the heating plate, baby G wanted me to keep him warm.
.
For the first 3-4 nights of his life, he insisted on sleeping in a box with a heating pad next to my bed.
.
He was always the smallest baby and his wings looked “funny” compared to the others but after a while, he was able to live with his siblings in the brooder and later in the backyard coop.
.
Now he is our only rooster because at almost 18 weeks he is the only one who has not sung.
He has some shortcomings. He is the only one who steps on his food even when it’s in a feeder. As if he can’t see properly. And he is the only one who can’t seem to peck where he means to peck. He’s always off target.
Physically he is catching up. He is bigger than the two hens. But he is still not as big as his 18-week old brothers were.
He only has One wattle. The left wattle is completely missing. Does anyone have any idea what this might mean?
Emotionally, he is a sweetheart. He is kind, caring with the hens, he keeps them safe and he loves to talk to us in chicken sounds. He lets me pick him up too.
.
I hope to keep him if he never cook-a-doodles, but if he does unfortunately he will also have to be harvested.
Any thoughts on why this little guy is so different than the other 3 cockerels in the flock?
.
He was smaller than the hatchlings before him. It took him longer to dry his feathers.
And he appeared weak.
It took three days of me nursing him and a few more days of supervised time in the brooder before I could trust leaving him alone with his siblings.
.
Those few days involved a lot of loud complaining, as if he was in pain.
He would cry loudly whenever he needed me to feed him, give him water and keep him warm.
Even though his siblings were doing great in the brooding box with the heating plate, baby G wanted me to keep him warm.
.
For the first 3-4 nights of his life, he insisted on sleeping in a box with a heating pad next to my bed.
.
He was always the smallest baby and his wings looked “funny” compared to the others but after a while, he was able to live with his siblings in the brooder and later in the backyard coop.
.
Now he is our only rooster because at almost 18 weeks he is the only one who has not sung.
He has some shortcomings. He is the only one who steps on his food even when it’s in a feeder. As if he can’t see properly. And he is the only one who can’t seem to peck where he means to peck. He’s always off target.
Physically he is catching up. He is bigger than the two hens. But he is still not as big as his 18-week old brothers were.
He only has One wattle. The left wattle is completely missing. Does anyone have any idea what this might mean?
Emotionally, he is a sweetheart. He is kind, caring with the hens, he keeps them safe and he loves to talk to us in chicken sounds. He lets me pick him up too.
.
I hope to keep him if he never cook-a-doodles, but if he does unfortunately he will also have to be harvested.
Any thoughts on why this little guy is so different than the other 3 cockerels in the flock?
