PS: After 5 years of chicken keeping, I finally decided not to keep any troublemakers. I want a peaceful flock and I hate trying to fix something that just doesn't seem to fix. It really did take me 5 years to decide that. But it's been much happier around here since.
I'd still have the SFH if I hadn't made that decision. That was a hard one.
I want that, too, and I can't tell you how much DH is wanting less of the flock-less hassle, less fighting, less everything. I think he'd be fine without them now entirely. And, to be frank, I'm tired of his being tired of them. He used to have infinite patience with them, but since his back is worse, he just doesn't have it in him to care anymore about keeping them. He loves certain ones, like big old Wynette and Druscilla, who are super sweet and love to be petted by him, and my little D'Anver hens, Aimee and Penny, who would attach themselves to your shoulder for the entire day if you'd let them. And he has a certain satisfaction in fixing Bailey and Betsy's serious bout of crop issues, Lizzie's leg injury, etc, but he'd rather not had them to deal with in the first place.
I have decided that, though I adore my Brahma rooster, if I had to choose, it could not be a Brahma male. The only hens large enough for him are his own and the original Stukel BR hens. Wynette is as large as my largest Brahma hen, B.J. Ida was bigger than Wynette! But, I have no others that large, though Georgie, my Delaware is a chunky gal.
Atlas and Hector are big, but not
that big. And I bet I won't have Atlas another two years, just from past experience with the BR roosters. So, if I had to choose one rooster and hens of his own breed, mainly, plus maybe give the boy a few other breeds for variety, it would have to be the BRs or similar size birds.
that's weird.
