There is a long and pretty funny story to go with this but the end is that one of our 6 Wilco Farm Store hens hatched 4/19 is a roo. I might have considered this sooner if he had ever crowed but all his vocalizations (so far) have been lady chicken sounds.
Aside from this being the most stunning hen I’ve ever seen and yes there were plenty of other “clues” but I’ve been so busy all summer... and did I mention... not a single “caca doodle do”?
Here is what happened:
Tonight at dusk Yellow, the loudest most obnoxious hen who ever lived, was squawking up a storm as usual, but then I realized they were all carrying on so I went out to check and saw that the wind had blown the coop door shut. Eleven hens were all vying for space on the 4’ roost in the covered run. It was pretty close to dark so I got a flashlight and hung it in the coop to help them see the roost after they get into the coop.
The five older hens, who where hand raised, gathered around me and since they were close at hand I started with them and easily put them into the coop.
Five more to go. I want to mention that aside from being dusk it’s also the first really cold night of the year and it’s pouring rain and the wind is blowing (hard) from the east.
A brief back story... This spring we had two hens go broody at once and I let them sit wooden eggs. On the 21st day the six 4/19 chicks where purchased from WILCO right a closing time and magically all “hatched” at once a few hours later. They were raised by both mamas in the coop. It was much easier BUT they are all very skittish.
Back to tonight... There were three chickens sitting the roost in the run and three standing on top of the nest box roof. The first one I lifted off the roost was the Roo... and he went ballistic. I dropped him when he scratched my arm. He took off into the yard and the hens roosting next to him followed. I picked up one of the three on nesting box roof and popped her into the coop. Two more too go. Even though I was ready and had a firm grip on her the next one didn’t go as well... The “stunningly beautiful hen” responded to her distress and behaved exactly like a protective roo. He came back into the run and actually charged at me but even then his vocalizations where that “buck, buck, buck” of an annoyed hen. She ran off into the yard to join the others.
At this point I left the run and waited out in the wind and freezing rain to give them space to go inside. Luckily there was enough light from the flashlight for them to get into the coop on their own. When they seemed settled i counted them and went inside.
There was still one hen in the yard...
A while later, with flashlight in hand, now wearing a jacket flashlight and dragging a ladder i returned to look for the last hen. We have 1/2 an acre but I’d watched through the window and didn’t see her so I knew she was hiding where I last saw her somewhere in the vegetable garden. And I found her, soaking wet, roosting on a tomato support.
I climbed the ladder with the sleeping hen and put her right on the roost. While I was doing this the Roo, who has slept on the lower roost separate from the others pretty much from the time they stopped sleeping in the nest, turned around, puffed up his ruff and menacingly said , “buck, buck, buck...”
My question is this. Has anyone else ever has a Roo over 6 months old who hasn’t ever crowed?
Aside from this being the most stunning hen I’ve ever seen and yes there were plenty of other “clues” but I’ve been so busy all summer... and did I mention... not a single “caca doodle do”?
Here is what happened:
Tonight at dusk Yellow, the loudest most obnoxious hen who ever lived, was squawking up a storm as usual, but then I realized they were all carrying on so I went out to check and saw that the wind had blown the coop door shut. Eleven hens were all vying for space on the 4’ roost in the covered run. It was pretty close to dark so I got a flashlight and hung it in the coop to help them see the roost after they get into the coop.
The five older hens, who where hand raised, gathered around me and since they were close at hand I started with them and easily put them into the coop.
Five more to go. I want to mention that aside from being dusk it’s also the first really cold night of the year and it’s pouring rain and the wind is blowing (hard) from the east.
A brief back story... This spring we had two hens go broody at once and I let them sit wooden eggs. On the 21st day the six 4/19 chicks where purchased from WILCO right a closing time and magically all “hatched” at once a few hours later. They were raised by both mamas in the coop. It was much easier BUT they are all very skittish.
Back to tonight... There were three chickens sitting the roost in the run and three standing on top of the nest box roof. The first one I lifted off the roost was the Roo... and he went ballistic. I dropped him when he scratched my arm. He took off into the yard and the hens roosting next to him followed. I picked up one of the three on nesting box roof and popped her into the coop. Two more too go. Even though I was ready and had a firm grip on her the next one didn’t go as well... The “stunningly beautiful hen” responded to her distress and behaved exactly like a protective roo. He came back into the run and actually charged at me but even then his vocalizations where that “buck, buck, buck” of an annoyed hen. She ran off into the yard to join the others.
At this point I left the run and waited out in the wind and freezing rain to give them space to go inside. Luckily there was enough light from the flashlight for them to get into the coop on their own. When they seemed settled i counted them and went inside.
There was still one hen in the yard...
A while later, with flashlight in hand, now wearing a jacket flashlight and dragging a ladder i returned to look for the last hen. We have 1/2 an acre but I’d watched through the window and didn’t see her so I knew she was hiding where I last saw her somewhere in the vegetable garden. And I found her, soaking wet, roosting on a tomato support.
I climbed the ladder with the sleeping hen and put her right on the roost. While I was doing this the Roo, who has slept on the lower roost separate from the others pretty much from the time they stopped sleeping in the nest, turned around, puffed up his ruff and menacingly said , “buck, buck, buck...”
My question is this. Has anyone else ever has a Roo over 6 months old who hasn’t ever crowed?
. That is hilarious! No I haven't had the experience, but I enjoyed the story and the laugh!
