I have four boys total now. It used to be five, but I had a happy chance to give Big Red a new home about 2 months ago, and he has been a very happy boy ever since. And I'm happy because he only moved about a half mile away and I can go see him any time I want. He really is a sweet boy and often prefers the company of his humans over his girls. Though I hear that this is slowly but steadily changing. He's still very good with his humans. He's just spending more and more time with his girls is all.
Chief, as many of you know, is my number one boy. I am so in love with this roo! He absolutely amazes me nearly every single day with his manners and gentle nature. I swear to you guys, this big boy all but asks permission of the lady of the moment before he mounts. If she gives even the slightest indication that she's not interested at that time, he'll leave her alone. It doesn't
always work that way, but more often than not.
I wanted a boy just like Thor and I worked like crazy to get him. Chief is the ultimate result of that effort. I simply could not ask for a more perfect rooster.
Brutus is a sweet and loving boy towards me. He's also pretty darn good with the girls from his hatching. But oh dear me! When it comes to my old girls.....heaven help those ladies if he manages to escape the roo pen without my noticing right away. And if anybody has some thoughts on this, I would really,
really appreciate it if you'd share them with me! Because I'm just about at whits end with him. As I said, he'll get along just fine with
everyone except the old girls. And if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that he has absolute murder on his mind when it comes to my old BO girl, FussyButt. Every time he goes on a rampage, he makes a straight bee line for her.
I've been very fortunate so far in that he won't launch into one of these attacks inside the coop. Only if Fussybutt is outside and he can get to her. When he was younger, he would chase her all over the yard until she just couldn't run any longer, or I intervened. Back then FussyButt had the advantage of being in complete control of her body [Brutus was very much a klutz in his youth] and could usually zigzag her way to the safety of getting under some object or other in the yard. But he has since outgrown that klutzy stage and now poses a very real threat to her outside.
Brutus is not what I could call exactly polite and considerate to any of the old girls, but FussyButt is one who I swear he wants DEAD! Period! If anyone has any ideas of why he displays such animosity towards her, or how to get him to stop it, I'd really like to hear from you. Right now, like Nella, I'm waiting for him to mature and show me that he can be a good boy completely. It breaks my heart, because it's the only thing holding him back from getting to free range with the rest of the flock and his incredible brother Chief.
The other two boys are CB [short for Cry Baby] and Little Red. All of these boys are mutts, but Little Red looks like nearly pure RIR. He's a nice chunky boy and I really like his coloring and body size and shape. His only problem is that whenever Brutus gets going on one of his attack FussyButt rampages, Little Red is right there to join him in the fray. Left to his own devices, I think he might do fine with the flock. But he is also a bit rough on the girls, probably due to a lack of proper practice more than anything, and I don't want the girls ruffled up any more than necessary.
CB: Oh how to describe CB? He's my clown, my ding-a-ling, my little tyrant! He rules the bachelor pen with an iron wing and beak! Which is hilarious all in itself as he's the smallest of the three boys out there!! He seems to have mixed emotions about me. He splits his time evenly in my presence between trying to impress me with his dances and the finding and presenting of goodies, and trying to put the run on me too!
He's one crazy little rooster man, and I love him to pieces. The Great Spirit really packed a LOT of personality in one little package. And speaking of small packages, he's not much bigger than the girls of his age group. I wonder if the folks I got the eggs from had any half bred bantams in their flock. All of the eggs I hatched were of a normal size, but that might not mean anything. All I know for sure is that he's HALF of the size of the other boys.
If I can, I'll keep all of them. My hope and dream is to build three small coops, one for each boy, and give each of them a small flock of young girls. I do have a line on a flock of BO pullets, but they need about another 2 months before they're big enough to go in with these boys. But, done right, I really think it could work. I'd never allow any of them to hatch out anything. That's not my goal. I just want to make sure that these boys are always going to have a good home and will be happy. To me, this is just the best way to go about it. Now if I could just convince Denny of the viability of this plan!
