Thank you so much, my Friend.
I appreciate all of the support shown by my BYC Friends and Community.
The tiny serama; a Hatching adventure
- Thread starter fluffycrow
- Start date
I appreciate all of the support shown by my BYC Friends and Community.I very much appreciate it, my Friend. This is such a supportive and amazing community to be a part of.Well deserved!!
Thank you.
You are welcome! I believe that roosters who sacrifice themselves for their hens are worthy of great honor. Someone has to be really brave to do something like that. You have already seen Jasper and heard about him, right? He is that Old English Game Bantam/Dutch Bantam rooster I have. He hates me, almost every time I walk into the Gemstone Flock pen he is going to attack me and give me a few cuts. But I know he is one of the best protectors of his two hens that you can get from a rooster. I keep Jasper for that reason. If anything happened to Ruby I would be devastated forever, but I know Jasper will give his life up for her.Thank you
That's why I don't like roosters that play the role of protector this way; they end up getting killed. Kolovos is much smarter in that regard. I loved, and still love Lady Gaga dearly, but that seems like his only flaw; being too good to survive
@WoDia Oh, congratulations! I did not notice that you are a Spirit now! You deserve it!
Thank you, my Friend!
I appreciate your kind words so much! This has been such a pleasant and unexpected surprise!- Thread starter
- #2,166
Thank you so much, my Friend!
It was well deserved
. Your contribution to the community is very valuable- Thread starter
- #2,167
Hmm, I guess we see a little differently on this matter, but I totally get where you're coming from.
I very much prefer a male that doesn't have "sacrificial" tendencies. It's unfortunately one of those qualities I find least helpful in the long run, especially if one free ranges.
The whole group forms/works around the male, and on a lesser extent, the head female (usually a mature hen) is what I've found. That implies a certain level of dependency upon the male(s). Food, land, nest scouting, escort duties, enforcing territory boundaries, keeping the females within a reasonable distance (usually as long as they are visible to him), sounding alarm (or otherwise) calls, guiding the group through the territory, predator awareness, etc, are things an established group's male should do/have.
If you observe what happens right after the rooster sounds the alarm call, you will notice that the females (or juvenile males) will run away from him, or at the very least, not wait for him to find them a hiding spot. It seems to me that said behaviour implies that the females don't expect any protection (though it might be offered), simply an early warning call to give them enough time to run/hide/escape the threat. In the case of a female getting caught, some roosters intervene, others don't. Both make sense from a reproductive (furthering his genes) standpoint. I heavily prefer the males that choose to not engage.
Most of those interactions are going to end up with the male dead, and for the reasons mentioned above, the loss of an established head male in a free ranging group is very, very significant. If/when he dies, the females will have no one to do all the things mentioned above. Most importantly to me, they are left exposed.
It takes time for a group to adapt to being roosterless, and they surely will not know exactly what to do. They need time to figure out who will keep watch and when, and how to stay together in the absence of a rooster. The threat (especially if it's a fox, or a dog, coyote, jackal, or for very small bantams, a cat) is likely to come back, and the newly roosterless group will be even more unprepared (after every attack the whole group seems to be on high alert, but I don't believe it will be enough when the time comes).
I love the females. I really do. Two out of the three favourite birds here are female. I'd be devastated if I lost them. Unfortunately though, I realise that the rooster plays a bigger role in the group, and his loss will be harder on them all.
Ideally, I wouldn't like to lose anyone. But it's a very big issue when a head male is lost. If Kolovos were to react the same way I suspect Lady Gaga did, I would have a very big problem on my hands
I appreciate you Fluffy, and this wonderful community. A heartfelt thank you.It was well deserved
@fluffycrow How is Fig/Fern getting along? Must be getting big by now!
- Thread starter
- #2,170
Thank you for asking! He's doing really good. Shortly after being added to the bantam pen, Foureira started hanging out with her sisters, so he doesn't interact too much with Ubon. Foureira still lets him hang around. Ursula and Ocean do the same for Ubon. I'm sure both chicks will hang out and keep eachother company when their mothers won't let them hang around them.
He's still not tried to crow. I've found Lady Gaga's male offspring tend to crow at the 8week+ mark, and Fig/Fern is a little older than 9 weeks old right now. I haven't seen him being pecked by any of the other hens. Thankfully, they're all doing good it seems
He has also mastered the art of flying, and more specifically, tree roosting. Should not be long before he roosts at the top branches with the senior hens, if I decide on keeping him. Conformationaly, I'm still not thrilled
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