Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[kcan2]

Congratulations to @HiEverybirdy whose photo was chosen for the 2026 calendar!

That Stilton, he’s famous!

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Congratulations to @HiEverybirdy whose photo was chosen for the 2026 calendar!

Thank you! Yes, handsome Stilton gets another place on the calendar as Mr. February 2026. He was also Mr. November in 2023. I'm actually curious how many roosters live long enough to be featured more than once. He's an adventurer so always putting himself in interesting spots to be photographed.

Tax: paparazzi photo of Stilton mid-beauty routine as this year's molt wraps up. Sharp eyes will find Eula, Miss February 2021-2022, in the back-left.

 

[BDutch]

That was Fret. She sat and hatched twice. Given the time it took her to recover from her leg/tendon strain I was reluctant to let her sit again.

Not the way Mow and Sylph have been acting recently, with good reason I might add. The two times I saw Glais suggest sex this afternoon he got abuse hurled at him. Either could go broody if the trait is genetically passed on. Fret, their mother went broody late in life, after I arrived so I'm not counting on an teenage mums at the moment.

Mow and Sylph hopefully wait until spring arrives. A much better time to give chicks a good start and for you to enjoy and spend longer days at the allotment.

Leaving a few eggs in March or April in the nestbox might trigger one of them (or both) to sit.

it will worthwhile to wait a long, long time.

That Stilton, he’s famous!

Congrats, you got Stilton in the calendar @HiEverybirdy !

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Thanks for writing stuff like this because it does seem like the majority of BYC is most decidedly anti-rooster.

That’s kind of a broad brush though I get what you’re saying. I mostly see people not tolerating aggressive roosters when children are involved, which I agree with wholeheartedly. If one has the time and inclination to deal with a rooster’s bad habits then more power to them but some situations just aren’t right. That’s a good reason to think carefully in advance about what you will do with a human-aggressive rooster because rehoming one is nearly impossible (assuming one is honest) and keeping one in certain situations can be dangerous. My last cockerel charged my toddler so off he went. It wasn’t a choice at that point. I tend to see people being not so much anti-rooster as anti-risk when it comes to kids. I wish my mom had taken that attitude before I got scarred by our rooster as a kid.

 

[Shadrach]

Thank you! Yes, handsome Stilton gets another place on the calendar as Mr. February 2026. He was also Mr. November in 2023. I'm actually curious how many roosters live long enough to be featured more than once. He's an adventurer so always putting himself in interesting spots to be photographed.

Tax: paparazzi photo of Stilton mid-beauty routine as this year's molt wraps up. Sharp eyes will find Eula, Miss February 2021-2022, in the back-left.

View attachment 4245915

Stilton, another rooster name I love. A person on BYC has a rooster called Cheapshot.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

…I tend to see people being not so much anti-rooster as anti-risk when it comes to kids. I wish my mom had taken that attitude before I got scarred by our rooster as a kid.

Nice distinction. I’m glad that you were able to take on chicken keeping as an adult.

 

[BDutch]

Nice distinction. I’m glad that you were able to take on chicken keeping as an adult.

Good warning to all of us @BlindLemonChicken.

My older sister was attacked by a rooster as a kid bc my mother wasn’t paying attention for a few seconds. She got traumatised from it and never liked chickens ever since.

 

[Shadrach]

That’s a good reason to think carefully in advance about what you will do with a human-aggressive rooster because rehoming one is nearly impossible

There's a problem here. People are encouraged on this site and others to keep chickens. One of the so called attractions is chickens make great pets.
The truth is they don't. There are some that take to humans reasonably easily; bad move if one thinks about given we are their greatest predators and abusers, but most I've known don't really like being handled and petted. One can "tame" a chicken into a pet, but they are rarely pets to start with.

Chickens fall into that grey area between pets and livestock but the chicken doesn't know this. What I believe one has with chickens is livestock, as in they are not necessarily tame. In my experience farms and smallholdings had designated people responsible for the different livestock. The creatures get to know these people and the keepers get to know their animals. I've read many posts here where it's all gone West mainly because the whole chicken keeping bit is treated as fun and perhaps some education for the whole family. That's screaming toddlers, hysterical aunts, I'm gonna show them whose boss guests, etc, and the poor rooster, who is trying to do the job, or at least part of it the keeper got him for gets the blame for protecting his hens. It doesn't matter if you're the one that brings food and provides housing, the cockerel/rooster doesn't care.
It takes time to gain any creatures trust, and patience and sometimes it all goes horribly wrong.

Livestock, it's not a description that only designates the creature as food; it means they are not tame and they need to be treated with a great deal of respect because most have the potential to do you harm.

My view is people should know this before they get chickens. There would be lot less disasters if people just accepted this rather than the cuddly pet that makes you breakfast image.

Unfortunately livestock in ones back garden doesn't have quite the same promotional appeal as fluffy butt egg machines. NOTE. Roosters do not make you breakfast although they may wake you up for it.

So, the whole backyard chicken keeping, whatever one wants to call it, is based on half the species, or close to, and that is hens. It's no wonder there are problems when the other half of the species joins in.

There's one of the topics @Perris.

 

[angc11]

That’s kind of a broad brush though I get what you’re saying. I mostly see people not tolerating aggressive roosters when children are involved, which I agree with wholeheartedly. If one has the time and inclination to deal with a rooster’s bad habits then more power to them but some situations just aren’t right. That’s a good reason to think carefully in advance about what you will do with a human-aggressive rooster because rehoming one is nearly impossible (assuming one is honest) and keeping one in certain situations can be dangerous. My last cockerel charged my toddler so off he went. It wasn’t a choice at that point. I tend to see people being not so much anti-rooster as anti-risk when it comes to kids. I wish my mom had taken that attitude before I got scarred by our rooster as a kid.

I should have explained better. I'm not saying there aren't great reasons to cull a rooster if he's aggressive, especially with young kids involved. I am probably going to cull mine in the spring because he makes it impossible for my nieces and nephews to visit and play outside unsupervised.

My frustration on this site is that whenever anyone even asks a question about rooster behavior, everyone yells at them to kill the rooster and there's no dialogue. Nobody answers the question about the behavior so no one understands the rooster. Then, people who don't understand roosters get roosters. Then you see posts like "My rooster spurred my 2 year old in the face" and then the cycle continues. I just think there should be more education on here about rooster behaviors and about why you would or wouldn't want one based on your setup. And then behaviors to watch out for and to understand that if you own a rooster, you should have the ability to assess the rooster's behavior and decide from there whether it's something you want to live with or whether you should cull him.

That was long winded, but basically I'm saying I agree with you. people should understand that there's complexity and responsibility in owning a rooster (or any intact male animal for that matter)

 

[fuzzi]

I should have explained better. I'm not saying there aren't great reasons to cull a rooster if he's aggressive, especially with young kids involved. I am probably going to cull mine in the spring because he makes it impossible for my nieces and nephews to visit and play outside unsupervised.

My frustration on this site is that whenever anyone even asks a question about rooster behavior, everyone yells at them to kill the rooster and there's no dialogue. Nobody answers the question about the behavior so no one understands the rooster. Then, people who don't understand roosters get roosters. Then you see posts like "My rooster spurred my 2 year old in the face" and then the cycle continues. I just think there should be more education on here about rooster behaviors and about why you would or wouldn't want one based on your setup. And then behaviors to watch out for and to understand that if you own a rooster, you should have the ability to assess the rooster's behavior and decide from there whether it's something you want to live with or whether you should cull him.

That was long winded, but basically I'm saying I agree with you. people should understand that there's complexity and responsibility in owning a rooster (or any intact male animal for that matter)

Or any cat, or dog. When I was 5 our cat was euthanized for scratching a toddler. Our cat was apparently stalking another cat, a toddler crawled under a picnic table and yanked our cat's tail, who, understandably, turned and struck, scratching the child in the face.

Where were the parents?

Poor Mittens. He paid the ultimate price.

I would never put my granddaughters in close proximity with a rooster, or another animal, without close supervision.