The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[Shadrach]

For some reason I missed this question! I pick him up all the time. He's my special buddy, gets snuggled almost every day. He's a very sweet old man. I am closer to my boys without a doubt. I always say I'm a rooster magnet.

I wonder if you can describe why it is that you feel a greater affection for your roosters than your hens.

 

[LaFleche]

I just have to share this with you. Dh is the type person that has to stay busy. About 10 months ago, he began inserting himself into my chicken keeping. Of course, he's hard headed, and doesn't want to listen. Now, he's got 10 months of chicken keeping (sort of) under his belt, so he's an expert, right?

About a week ago, he had been tending the garden, just before supper, and decided to check on a hen he was concerned about. Later, during supper, he mentioned that he thought I might be going to lose a hen. I asked him why he thought that. Well, he couldn't get her off the nest. All she did was stay on the nest. I told him she was broody.

I also said I would go out the next day, and get all the eggs out from under her, then turn the nest box over. He got very upset with me. That hen had been on those eggs for 11 days. Good grief! I'd get them out in the morning, or there would be a rotten mess to clean up. He got even more upset with me. There would be chicks in those eggs, and I would kill all the chicks. He said that with disdain, like I was a murderer.

I looked him square in the eye, and told him that the last time I checked, eggs had to be fertile to hatch, and there was no rooster in that pen. I wish I had a picture of his face, when the realization of what I'd said, hit him. It was priceless. Truly a Kodak moment, if there ever was one.

Thank you for this @getaclue , I needed a good laugh!

 

[speckledhen]

I wonder if you can describe why it is that you feel a greater affection for your roosters than your hens.

I'll try, but there are a lot of reasons and observations, so settle in with a beverage. You asked! It starts with me having non-human aggressive roosters of all breeds (Belgian D'Anvers don't count because they're a joke, dumb little guys more bark than bite). I've seen them be completely selfless in many ways; of course they forgo food for the girls to have what they want, which is pretty standard for most roosters. The hens are stuffing themselves with heads down while the roosters just stand guard, watching the surroundings, ready to defend. I love their nobility, their selflessness, their courage, their complete devotion to the safety of their hens. Even my guys who have severe joint issues ignore their pain to charge to the defense of a squawking hen without hesitation, ready to do battle with whatever is causing her distress.. When they realize it's just a hen being a drama queen because I grabbed her when she didn't want to be grabbed, you can almost see them roll their eyes, and that is every last one of them, every rooster I still have here, even my old Belgian D'Anver rooster, the dumbest I've ever had. I've watched them stop hen fights using different methods, depending on the individual rooster's style of dispute settlement. When our cat first showed up here, Atlas was very leery of him and would get between me and the cat. Later he'd just steal whatever was left of the mouse the cat was eating to give to his hens, LOL. They are always ready to sacrifice themselves for their flocks without a thought to their own lives, to charge ahead even though they may be afraid (who knows what they're feeling facing a predator? It's their instinctual duty, the call they're heeding to protect and defend).
And they do all this without a thought to attacking the hand that feeds them. I can walk up to any of my roosters and pick him up and he won't resist (other than Hector, who panics if his feet leave the ground and will struggle violently, but he won't bite or flog; and my 11 year old Belgian D'Anver who has never liked attention and I don't push him unless I absolutely have to do something with him; he generally avoids close contact). I can turn my back on any one of them without fear or hesitation. I can bend down and look them in the face without worry. They look me in the eye, inches from my face and I feel a communication, a kinship. Their expressions are soft, non-aggressive. I once had a rooster change behavior later in life, happened years ago, became inexplicably aggressive, and the expression in his eyes changed, hardened. I could see it. My friend Ladyhawk could see it when she visited. The eyes tell you a lot. I just feel a connection with my roosters that I rarely feel with my hens. Don't get me wrong, I have my favorite hens, am fond of most all my birds, but the roosters have such a special place for me. Ladyhawk has some threads here on BYC, screen name is Cetawin, about her Blue Orpington rooster, Lancelot, who was one in a million. Though she passed away recently, sadly, I think he's still alive at almost 12 years old. One story is "Why Have a Rooster?" that is well worth reading shows the ultimate in what a rooster can be. She got him because she fell in love with my Blue Orpington rooster, Suede. I have pictures of Suede on her lap with her feeding him blueberry muffins she brought for him when she visited me. We both felt the same way about our roosters. I'm not sure everyone can relate, but my boys have given me such joy over the years. There is just something about a rooster that gets to me. When a rooster defends not only his hens, but you, that is truly amazing. I've had that experience, as did Ladyhawk.
I'm not sure I've adequately explained why I love my roosters so much, but I do. Now, I have the rooster team in my bantam Cochin boys that I've always wanted, but could never achieve with the large fowl roosters. There are four sets of eyes in one flock watching the skies and though they're only a year old now, haven't established themselves as icons around here like my Blue Partridge Brahma rooster or Atlas, I am very fond of every one of them.

 

[Shadrach]

You can reason with a rooster but not a hen. Horrid hens stay horrid. A horrid rooster can be brought around with some patience.

 

[speckledhen]

I agree that an awful hen will stay awful, but I think a rooster that flogs after his hormones kick, in my experience, is not one you can redeem. It really depends on certain factors, though. Age is a huge factor. At least, in my experience, once they start that, it's all over. If they're very young, biting can just be boundary testing. Some of my best roosters did that when they were very young, including Hector, but the more intelligent ones, the teachable ones, learn at that stage of life. In general, temperament is heritable, to my experience passed from sire to son. If you breed from easygoing roosters, you usually get more of the same. The opposite is also true, but there are exceptions, certainly, because they're animals with rather small brains. Your guy is very handsome!
My rooster that turned was from a good sire and he himself was great until he was going on two years old. I was separating him at night to keep the hens from pecking at his wattles. He was a scabby mess. Did the separation for about two weeks, then one day when I was putting him in his pen for the night, he whirled around and bit me, first time ever. After that, he began rushing me, then flogging me and he couldn't be fixed. He went to live with a friend and even a change of scenery and dynamics didn't change him, unfortunately, but at least he had a second chance.
I have only sold two hens as adults. They were awful, wreaking havoc in the flocks and nothing I tried worked so I sold them as layers to someone who had purchased quite a few of my birds in the past, with full disclosure of why I was selling them. I hated to do it, but those two sisters were truly horrid! A bird that grows up here never leaves here unless it's a mean rooster destined for the stew pot. And I haven't had one like that in probably 16 years.

 

[Shadrach]

I agree that an awful hen will stay awful, but I think a rooster that flogs after his hormones kick, in my experience, is not one you can redeem. It really depends on certain factors, though. Age is a huge factor. At least, in my experience, once they start that, it's all over. If they're very young, biting can just be boundary testing. Some of my best roosters did that when they were very young, including Hector, but the more intelligent ones, the teachable ones, learn at that stage of life. In general, temperament is heritable, to my experience passed from sire to son. If you breed from easygoing roosters, you usually get more of the same. The opposite is also true, but there are exceptions, certainly, because they're animals with rather small brains. Your guy is very handsome!

I have only sold two hens as adults. They were awful, wreaking havoc in the flocks and nothing I tried worked so I sold them as layers to someone who had purchased quite a few of my birds in the past, with full disclosure of why I was selling them. I hated to do it, but those two sisters were truly horrid! A bird that grows up here never leaves here unless it's a mean rooster destined for the stew pot. And I haven't had one like that in probably 16 years.

That's Treacle in the picture above, one of the six left when I left Catalonia.
Roosters are often fine with one person but a hazzard for anyone else. A point of knowledge and experience that usually gets overlooked in many of the posts related to rooster behaviour.

My rooster that turned was from a good sire and he himself was great until he was going on two years old. I was separating him at night to keep the hens from pecking at his wattles. He was a scabby mess. Did the separation for about two weeks, then one day when I was putting him in his pen for the night, he whirled around and bit me, first time ever. After that, he began rushing me, then flogging me and he couldn't be fixed. He went to live with a friend and even a change of scenery and dynamics didn't change him, unfortunately, but at least he had a second chance.

I don't blame him. Never a good idea to seperate a rooster from his hens, even for what may seem to be in the roosters best interests.

, but there are exceptions, certainly, because they're animals with rather small brains.

I read comment like this a lot. It's true, compared to human brain size a chickens brain is small. It doesn't have anything to do with intelligence. The best way to understand this is to think of computers. In the 1950's computers were physically vast compared to today's microprocessors found in modern computers. It's the speed the brain can process the information that is proving to be important; not it's size. Chickens have about thirty times the neuron firing rate compared to humans. It's not directly comparable but that's thirty times the processing power in a given span of time. Birds in general have a much smaller brain but a much higher information processing rate.

You might find this interesting.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4

 

[speckledhen]

What was your motive in asking the question in the first place? Did you just want to argue with me? Set me up for a lecture? Seems so. My answer is personal to me, not up for debate. I simply relayed my experiences over the last 17 years and why I feel an affinity for my roosters over my hens. In general, temperament is indeed heritable, like eye color and leg color. As well, I see a link between the intelligence of an individual male and his aggressive or non aggressive tendencies as well. There are few exceptions. My experience with multiple breeds and breeding roosters bears that out. Behavior can change due to circumstance as it did with my rooster who became aggressive later in life , but most of the time, it is set by their genetics, which is why all hatchery stock is a crap shoot. But, I won't continue. You asked a personal question and I gave you a very personal answer that didn't need correcting.

 

[Shadrach]

What was your motive in asking the question in the first place? Did you just want to argue with me? Set me up for a lecture? Seems so. My answer is personal to me, not up for debate. I simply relayed my experiences over the last 17 years and why I feel an affinity for my roosters over my hens. In general, temperament is indeed heritable, like eye color and leg color. As well, I see a link between the intelligence of an individual male and his aggressive or non aggressive tendencies as well. There are few exceptions. My experience with multiple breeds and breeding roosters bears that out. Behavior can change due to circumstance as it did with my rooster who became aggressive later in life , but most of the time, it is set by their genetics, which is why all hatchery stock is a crap shoot. But, I won't continue. You asked a personal question and I gave you a very personal answer that didn't need correcting.

No offence intended.
I'll leave you to it.

 

[h2oratt]

Rehabbing baby squirrels is a VERY time consuming ordeal. I've used a small plastic reptile cage, placed over a heating pad that was lifted up slightly with small strips of wood. Like chickens, they can't regulate their temp until older. In the meantime, they must be bottle fed OFTEN for the first week (about every half hour), then hourly the second, and third weeks. You can use canned cat formula, but I have an orphan milk recipe that I like better. After each feeding, you must use a cloth, and gently rub their genital/anal regions for a minute, to stimulate them to urinate, and poop. The first couple weeks are exhausting, but worth the effort in most cases.

I see no point in rehabbing squirrels. Flea carrying rodents with tails. I have a soft heart but not for squirrels.

 

[getaclue]

h2, I won't rehab gray squirrels. They're quite different from fox squirrels, and fox squirrels are getting more scarce.