Should I Install A Heat Lamp?

[ClareScifi]

People come up with all kinds of solutions on here, and elsewhere, mysunwolf. Your recommendations are not the only ones suggested to me. Often times inovative, creative people have come up with amazing solutions I have not thought of, that I have tried, and that have worked. Unfortunately, yours are not those. Suggesting he become chicken soup is not at all helpful to someone who loves her animal and wants him to have a long life.

On the other hand, in another group a zoo worker has shared with me some very helpful info about how she helps her tropical birds who have large combs, etc. And a woman in a local chicken group in my area also just shared some very helpful ideas and comforting info.

 

[my sunwolf]

People come up with all kinds of solutions on here, and elsewhere, mysunwolf. Your recommendations are not the only ones suggested to me. Often times inovative, creative people have come up with amazing solutions I have not thought of, that I have tried, and that have worked. Unfortunately, yours are not those. Suggesting he become chicken soup is not at all helpful to someone who loves her animal and wants him to have a long life.

On the other hand, in another group a zoo worker has shared with me some very helpful info about how she helps her tropical birds who have large combs, etc. And a woman in a local chicken group in my area also just shared some very helpful ideas and comforting info.

Sorry about that, I thought you were averse to the vaseline plans as well. Good luck with your guy.

 

[laturcotte1]

My Stuart is just like yours. In order for me to clean the coop I have to lock him out, I have to lock him in; if I can get him in to clean the yard. On really nice days I lock him out clean the coop, put up the electric fence let him out of the yard move the fencing so he can't come back into the yard then clean the yard. Holy crap just dodging him is a job in itself. But I've done it for 4 year now. He was hand raised also, the foxes kept killing his girls so now he hates everyone, except his girls of course. Anyway, its windchill of -0 so they didn't get cleaned at all. When I know the weather will be bad I make sure to get it cleaned beforehand. Tommorrow may be a little better so I'll get things ready, let him out and rush like hell to clean up to get him back in. I put nothing on his combs, it would be way to stressful for him and dangerous for me. We do what we have to do to take care of them and ourselves. I agree, we are a rescue so no pot for Stuart. We have for the past 4 years threatened with euthanaisa but he's still with us. Good luck.

 

[SarahJaneB]

He is like a child to me. I have no biological children of my own. Wish I could catch him at night, but I am just not up to it. He's started coming toward me when I try to fill up his feeders at night. He used to peacefully stay on his perch at night, but he has a lot of testosterone. I could never hold him upside down. He's huge, and I have very poor muscle strength.

Don't worry about it then, My mom's the exact same way when it comes to our roosters. If there's no way you can get close to him then let him be. Most chickens do good in the cold.

 

[ClareScifi]

I sure appreciate everyone's stories about their roosters on here.

My SO tries to blame me for my boy's behavior. He says I wasn't a strong enough disciplinarian. I don't think that's the case at all. I think some roosters just have feistier personalities, based on their breeds?

What is so interesting is how sweet my rooster was up until the time his teenaged hormones kicked in. I took him to an avian vet at 3 months old, when he had pigged out on wild birdseed and had a fat crop, and even my vet commented on what a very good chick he was!

But then when he discovered girls, my rooster was no longer Mama's Little Sweetheart.

So I don't see how it could be my fault, when he was a very good chick until he got testosterone? I didn't put the testosterone in him?

My SO says I should have established my authority at that time. Well, I tried, but I can't boot a chicken. With my luck there would be a freak accident and he'd be injured, and guess who would have to foot the bill? Not my SO, that's for sure! I tried a water gun, and he pecked a hole in it and the water dripped out on my foot.

But this separation bit seems to work. As long as I don't invade his territory or get too close to his girls, he is happy. I wish I could have helped his comb with Vaseline, but it's just not possible.

Fortunately, the weather is finally above freezing here today, and boy, oh, boy are the chickens happy about that. They are sauntering and strolling as if it is an Easter Parade! Even walking atop some snow they haven't stepped on for a month.

I need to get the run covered so they don't have to walk on any snow.

So what do you think? Is my rooster's behavior my fault? My So says it is because I hand-raised him and coddled him. I do not buy that for a second. I just gave him a lot of good, sound care, since his StepMama and sibs had rejected him and would have pecked him to death. They love him now, and he is their best defender.

I think my boy, sadly, just isn't quite intelligent enough to realize that I am his best friend and would fight for him to the end. I used to worry that maybe he has a mental deficiency in this regard, but I think not. He is just doing what roosters are instinctively, genetically programmed to do, and I think he is a very fine rooster, defending his girls the way he does, being constantly on the alert for dangers, even if they aren't real dangers (me).

How can I convince my SO it isn't my fault? We disagree about this quite a lot. Anyone know someone who really disciplined a rooster a lot when his hormones hit and still has a feisty rooster? These are no doubt the ones that end up in the stew pot, so this isn't as well known-- that even disciplined roosters sometimes just won't cooperate and become passive. So they get eaten. But not my boy. He's way too beautiful to eat. Who would want a tough rooster for lunch, anyway? I just don't get that thinking. To each her own, though. :>)