Typical rooster appearances

[LTygress]

EVERY TIME someone comes to my house and sees my flock, they are astounded at how beautiful my main (Ameraucana) rooster is. Everyone is always in awe over him. He's huge, proud, and fully feathered. And today, someone else was in awe of my bantam rooster. The bantam was given to me with a bad foot - his back toe folds under towards the front, and he has a large growth keeping it from being normal. But even with that, so many people love how he looks and they all want to adopt him! The only thing I notice is that his feathers are just perfect. He's not even purebred - he's a sort of mongrel with many different breeds.

I never understood why everyone loves my roosters so much. They are just normal roosters. They were 100% free range without even a fence to keep them in. But then a neighbor who drove by complained about loose chickens, so I had to pen them up - in a 17 foot by 21 foot pen with netting on top. So now we have four barred rock hens (three months old), three ameraucana hens, my ameraucana rooster, four bantam hens, and the bantam rooster, in this one enclosure. Even now with the limited "diet", I still feed them all sorts of table scraps (yes, even the rice and beans that many people suggest against), all sorts of bugs that I can find (including superworms, or giant mealworms), and their normal feed. I also laid down a TON of mulch given to me by the county (they were cutting down trees that reached into the powerlines..) and the chickens are always digging through it for bugs. I also use the bantam eggs for boiling and feeding back to them, while I either hatch out or eat the standard chicken eggs.

But I recently went to another farm, and saw why many people might think mine are so beautiful. All of the roosters I saw at this other farm were housed separately so they wouldn't fight over the hens, but they were ragged, run-down, missing TONS of feathers, had broken feathers on their tails, sores on their heads or feet, drooping wings, and just all sorts of messed up. I adopted four bantam hens from this particular farm, and all four hens are missing tail feathers - they just have bare rumps. I've had them on a medicated feed to make sure they don't bring anything in to my flock, but none of mine have gotten sick and the bantam hens are growing their tails back now.

So what makes mine different? Diet? Pen size? The number of roosters per hens? Or maybe the friendliness of mine, since I can hold them, and the roosters on these other farms are pretty much wild? Are mine just that "tame"?

What do YOU all think makes mine different?

 

[donrae]

I just want to say medicated feed won't prevent those hens from giving any diseases to your birds, it's only to prevent young birds from getting sick themselves. From the sounds of the conditions where you got these birds I dearly hope you quarantined the new birds and have checked/treated them for mites.

 

[LTygress]

Yes, everything. Mites, medicated food (just to stop any current illness from being spread, IF they have one), and Marek's vacs.

I did everything short of giving them an actual bath, lol!

 

[aart]

Please quarantine...if it's not too late..... those bantams from your existing flock so you're gorgeous rooster does not acquire any little beasties that may decimate his perfect feathers. Medicated feed might not prevent the spreading of disease.

He is amazing looking, his neck seems extraordinarily long!! You might post a pic over on the Breeds forum and get some insight as to what might be in his mix. I would be curious to know.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Medicated feed stops exactly ONE disease--coccidiosis. http://www.clemson.edu/public/lph/ahp/disease_links/images/coccidia.pdf And coccidia is usually found in the soil on the farm, not transmitted from chicken to chicken. Medicated feed is absolutely not going to stop the spread of diseases like pullorum or Newcastle. And if those birds had Marek's before you vaccinated, the vaccine is useless.

Quarantine is the only way to prevent the spread of disease--or even better, not buying animals from a farm with bad conditions.

 

[Blue]

It sounds like those chickens were not kept in the best of conditions. The feathers on my roosters look fine, though I do have some bare backed hens (Each flock rooster has a couple favorites in his harem that get all his attention =/). I also have one hen that has lost a bunch of feathers, but she has also lost a lot of weight, so she has been separated from her flock with a friend because I think she may have some kind of illness. The birds you got may be healthy, but I would advise as others have that you quarantine them. The medicated feed won't prevent them from spreading anything at all; it only keeps chicks from catching cocci. Also, the Marek's vaccine will keep any infected birds from growing the associated tumors, but it won't prevent infected birds from spreading the disease (though it is supposed to lessen the amount of disease they ~can~ shed, it doesn't prevent the shedding of the disease totally). Since they were in such poor conditions beforehand, I'd quarantine them for a good month or more. Also, I have an EE rooster that has a wicked long neck like yours, but he's colored a bit differently and has a smaller comb. I love their long necks. lol.

 

[roostersandhens]

I just want to say medicated feed won't prevent those hens from giving any diseases to your birds, it's only to prevent young birds from getting sick themselves. From the sounds of the conditions where you got these birds I dearly hope you quarantined the new birds and have checked/treated them for mites.

x2

 

[Kernel Cluck]

I don't know enough about chicken diseases to comment so... I'll comment of the Rooster. I have to say, he really is one of the most stunning Roo's I have seen. I don't know that I can put my finger on why. Maybe its his tall, regal stature. Maybe its his neck feathers. (I am sure there is a name for them but I don't know it) Whatever it is... people are right to comment.