When Nathaniel sits on a little separate 2"x2" roost bar we call The Princess Bar (made for bantams) to avoid Angus and I come in to get eggs, as I pass him, I baby talk him and do a chest rub and he holds still for it. That really reminds me of Hector, who hated being picked up, but he loved a good chest rub. His comb is larger than Angus's is, same as Hector. If he follows in Hector's footsteps-other than being a second banana, of course, which I couldn't see Hector ever having been- he'll be a great rooster...as long as Angus allows him to stick around.
Every morning in their frenzy of girl-chasing, Angus takes time out to chase Nathaniel around the pen, sometimes all the way around the barn, reminding him of who's in charge. It's their thing lately. If Nathaniel ever turns to defend himself, it won't be pretty. I pray neither gets hurt badly from their competition.
I lost Isaac's son/Atlas's sire, Rex, that way. His more agile, leaner brother, Deacon, always ran from him, until one day he didn't. Deacon turned to fight and hit him with both feet in the chest, did some internal damage, I believe. Big Rex went downhill fast and died a few days or a week later. Isaac attacked Deacon in a similar way, as is his M.O. when his sons were becoming too mature in the flock, and that led to Deacon's demise; he was never the same after that, would sometimes just stagger around as if his balance was gone.
Isaac also killed the much larger Indy who had passed him in size at 24 weeks old. Isaac was a very intelligent, gentle rooster, but he had limits as to how much of his breeding rights he'd give away.
That's why I was ready to say I'd likely never have my rooster team, other than the bantam Cochins, of course. It will thrill me if I get to keep both of these cockerels together. I always wanted my Dream Team. As long as they're not too hard on the three girls, we'll have a great group.
