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

[Wyatt0224]

Wow those are some good points. Can you rule out completely Hector won't have a nice tail? If you decide to move Hectors hens with Apollo, what's going to happen to Hector?

 

[speckledhen]

Wow those are some good points. Can you rule out completely Hector won't have a nice tail? If you decide to move Hectors hens with Apollo, what's going to happen to Hector?

I can't see Hector's tail being anything to write home about, as they say. He has the side feathers, but the main part is just not really there. As far as what will happen with Hector if I decide to let him go, I can't say. He might be a good free range flock rooster for someone. He is a good free range flock rooster now. But, he will be confined more during winter by necessity and if he can't chill out, we will "have words" when his energy is about to pop. But, for the moment, he's still here.

I picked him up off the outside roost bar and he screamed and struggled and yelled and I finally put him down when he refused to chill. When I pick up Apollo, he struggles half-heartedly for a second, then settles down and resigns himself to being handled.

 

[GingersHuman]

To me, Apollo seems the preferable sire of the future flock, based on looks and attitude.

 

[speckledhen]

To me, Apollo seems the preferable sire of the future flock, based on looks and attitude.

At this point, if I absolutely had to let one go, it would probably be Hector since I do have a new infusion of blood in Jill and Mary. But, I went out and tried to take photos of the two for comparison, no easy task, really. I saw again, Hector ignoring his girl in trouble while Apollo came to the rescue. Bruno grabbed one of the girls, not sure which one, and was holding on for dear life, while she twisted and turned. They were going in circles. Hector was making a dust hole for himself and looked up but did not come to her aid. Apollo, however, swooped in and Bruno beat feet out of there pronto. This is concerning as Hector was originally on the spot to get rid of rivals messing with his girls. Now, it seems Apollo is showing some maturity and gumption. He's still afraid of Hector, who takes time to remind him that he is still in charge, though it seems Apollo is the one doing the "heavy lifting".
Okay, look closely at the tail, click to enlarge the pics so you can see it better.



See what I mean about it being "messy"?


And Apollo, who admittedly is older by 9 weeks or so, but Hector is 27 weeks old now. Apollo has had this tail for quite some time. He's as much heritage stock as Hector is.





And the two girls-Thea was somewhere else. That gal loves to untie my shoes until I pick her up:

 

[GingersHuman]

Gorgeous birds!

A solution to my rooster problem came today, a friend of my dads is looking for a rooster, so Smudge will go there and I'll keep one of the 9 1/2 week olds.

 

[speckledhen]

Gorgeous birds!

A solution to my rooster problem came today, a friend of my dads is looking for a rooster, so Smudge will go there and I'll keep one of the 9 1/2 week olds.

I wish all solutions would be so easy. I am so persnickety about my birds being safe at night, I probably lose a lot of sales/new home opportunities. Even if Hector is not what I need here, as long as he's not a crazed lunatic, flogging at the drop of a hat, I think he deserves to have a safe and decent place to live. Sometimes, it's impossible to know exactly where they'll end up.

@gojira Andrew, what do you think of the pictures above regarding Hector and Apollo? Have you seen a tail be this far from "in" at this age in your experience? Or do you think this is all there is for him? You're very experienced and I value your opinion on this one. And how are the ones you took back with you looking now? Any tail issues on the males?

 

[gojira]

How are you? That is tough to say. I know different birds mature at different rates, and that can follow strain, etc. Out of the four male siblings of hector, the male with the best type has the least tail development so far, but not horrible. The other three have more tail development, but are not as nice overall. I wonder if maturity is affected in Barred Plymouth Rocks due to the fact that slow feather development results in nicer barring? Feather quality is different in bared Plymouth Rocks compared to the other varieties of Plymouth Rock. Just something I wonder about,.

 

[speckledhen]

How are you? That is tough to say. I know different birds mature at different rates, and that can follow strain, etc. Out of the four male siblings of hector, the male with the best type has the least tail development so far, but not horrible. The other three have more tail development, but are not as nice overall. I wonder if maturity is affected in Barred Plymouth Rocks due to the fact that slow feather development results in nicer barring? Feather quality is different in bared Plymouth Rocks compared to the other varieties of Plymouth Rock. Just something I wonder about,.

We're pretty good, Andrew. How about you and Jayden? Tell him I said hi to my favorite chicken wrangler when you have him with you.

Considering how long it usually takes me to rehome any birds around here (unless I just shut my eyes to where they go) and the fact that Hector has not flogged me, which to me is a deal breaker, I am not in a huge hurry to do anything with him. Maybe in the spring, we'll see how he develops, if he can keep himself in check. Then, if I decide to keep Apollo with the younger group, it may be easier to find a home for Hector. I go back and forth on him a lot. He was so pleasant to be around for such a long time, but his lack of interest in defending his girls against the intruding Brahma cockerels did bug me. Apollo had the proper response. Bruno was really overstepping his bounds and was hurting the girl, but no Hector charging in to defend her, though he was in full view of the incident.

The feather development is slow with the BRs, but this tail thing is just weird to me. What do you think of Hector's type, Andrew? He's certainly very broad. The maturity thing, mentally-speaking, I'm not sure of. Apollo was babyish for a very long time, but by 27 weeks, as Hector is, I'd expect him to be already "there". He has been acting perfectly for quite awhile until he came out and bit me yesterday. It wasn't hard and he missed getting flesh with the pants leg, but I don't like it one bit.

 

[1muttsfan]

Well, it may be that he is considering Apollo his co- rooster, and allowing him to do the heavy lifting. When you have partners like that, it is almost never an equal partnership. Certainly has responded to other threats when he feels it's necessary.

I have kept two of the Arkansas Blue roosters I hatched out this spring, and so far they have been together without any fighting or even really much posturing. Hopefully that will last when the bad weather hits and they spend more time inside and confined. I let go the most handsome and largest of the roosters, because he was a bit of a bully with the other boys and I was hoping to get two who would get along. If push comes to shove I can move one of them to the small chicken coop for the winter, but I would rather not have to haul water for two coops once the freezing weather hits.

As far as that tail goes, hopefully it is just a work in progress. I know that the slow feathering gene can throw some problems in with roosters taking a long time to mature. He is a nice-looking rooster and broader and beefier than Apollo, but like you say you have Jill and Mary and if things don't work out with him you will still have some good stock to move forward with, along with Atlas's offspring.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, it may be that he is considering Apollo his co- rooster, and allowing him to do the heavy lifting. When you have partners like that, it is almost never an equal partnership. Certainly has responded to other threats when he feels it's necessary.

I have kept two of the Arkansas Blue roosters I hatched out this spring, and so far they have been together without any fighting or even really much posturing. Hopefully that will last when the bad weather hits and they spend more time inside and confined. I let go the most handsome and largest of the roosters, because he was a bit of a bully with the other boys and I was hoping to get two who would get along. If push comes to shove I can move one of them to the small chicken coop for the winter, but I would rather not have to haul water for two coops once the freezing weather hits.

As far as that tail goes, hopefully it is just a work in progress. I know that the slow feathering gene can throw some problems in with roosters taking a long time to mature. He is a nice-looking rooster and broader and beefier than Apollo, but like you say you have Jill and Mary and if things don't work out with him you will still have some good stock to move forward with, along with Atlas's offspring.

I do hope he's just making Apollo do all the dirty work. So far, I have not seen Hector mate even one of the girls, though he flirts and grabs. We have some time, as long as he doesn't go nuts on me. He is wider overall, certainly, than Apollo. I just wish that tail would suddenly be there one day when I look at him, LOL! If he calms back down and goes back to the way he has been with me, I'll be happy for him to stick around longer.