What to Look for in a Broody Rooster

[aart]

I appreciate you sharing your observations....it's fascinating....and greatly enjoy observing my own small, confined flocks in much the same way tho I don't have a formal science background as you do.

 

[centrarchid]

The formal science background sometimes gets in the way. Makes one prone to overthink.


Some of the really cool stuff to me is how the birds think while foraging. What do they look for in a days hunt for eats? To me it looks as if they are very good at balancing their nutritional intake even when what I provide can be way off the mark in terms of nutrient profile. I could provide only whole corn for much of year and probably see no change in productivity although there would be a huge changes in foraging habits.

 

[aart]

I over think things too...I think that's a 'nature' rather than a 'training'.

My birds are confined so I am observing probably much different issues.

 

[centrarchid]

Blanch actually came into grass to forage today. Slugger is staying very close to house apparently foregoing foraging but has not interacted directly with brood 2 or blanch. He seems intent on positioning himself as sentinel. He is much more obvious than anyone else of his harem and Blanch with here brood is easier to hear than see.

 

[centrarchid]

Slugger associates only briefly with brood 2 and I have yet to see him get down and stare at chicks. He has not tibbitted to them at all. He seems more interested in seeing all his offspring but does not interact with them directly with the occasional exception with juveniles when he finds an insect. Blanch with brood 2 has a much smaller foraging circuit that does not seem to go beyond a 100 foot radius from house. Slugger largely stays with same radius but does his bit independently. When loafing Slugger hangs with juveniles in sumac patch while Blanch stays in garage. Juveniles forage up to 600 feet from house but avoid area to west occupied by pasture flocks. Two reasons for such likely; first other flock will attack them which can even involve smaller juveniles, and secondly the area there is picked over making getting good eats more difficult.

 

[centrarchid]

I placed a feeding station out in the open. Mostly scratch with small amounts of oats, corn and chick starter.

Brood 2 juveniles. Still have 11.

Background are ducks Slugger chases off once in a while. Camera is too slow to give action shots.

Brood 2 juveniles really getting into the eats targeting the grains including oats. Diet foraged is short on easy to process carbohydrates but high in animal protein and fermentable complex carbohydrates.

Cockerel showing he is well into replacing juvenile featherset with first adult featherset.

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Blanch with brood 2 chicks (n = 8) that are now 7 days post-hatch.

 

[centrarchid]

Despite many of the feathers coming in appear to be be adult, I think all but primaries and secondaries on wings will be swapped out by fall. Juvenile feathers coming in later appear to take on a more adult look but this does not spare them from being molted out.

Also Slugger chases all juveniles from time to time but cockerels he really goes after when ever they make aggressive calls at siblings and even ducks. Vocalizations alone seem to set him off.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I just came upon this thread yesterday, and I have found your observations of Slugger and Blanch and their offspring very interesting. Your account really highlights how flexible the rooster's behavior can be depending on the current social structure of the group.

I have noticed an interesting behavior pattern of one of my game roosters over the past few months. He shares a coop and yard with a lone hen who is about 5 years old and lays sporadically. She has a pattern now where she lays eggs regularly about every other day for a month or so and then she will stop laying for a couple months. I noticed that the rooster stopped tid bitting and giving her treats a while back. It was noteworthy because when he had multiple hens he never kept a treat for himself. Several weeks ago he started consistently passing the treats the hen again. I wondered if she was laying again, but their were no eggs to be seen. Then this past week she began laying eggs again. I'm not sure if or how he perceives that she will start laying, but it is interesting.

I have another lone pair of five and a half year olds where the rooster stopped sharing the treats with the hen, and when I first noticed I thought it he was just a cranky old rooster. But then I realized there wasn't much biological advantage to sharing treats with a hen who wasn't laying.

 

[centrarchid]

Hens do signal when they are about to come into lay. My roosters can tell at least a couple days prior to start based on signals (vocal and visual) given by female. The roosters then also start indicating nest site options already scoped out by rooster.

 

[centrarchid]

Slugger is now interacting with brood 2. He is calling them in to concentrations of quality eats and keeps brood 1 away so mother does not have to invest effort. Broods do interact but no aggression noted on brood 1 against brood 2. Slugger and Blanch likely suppress such very well. In some ways older brood may actually provide brood 2 some protection. Brood 1 occupies perimeter of foraging area making so they would contact incoming predator first. Slugger clearly stays near brood 2 but not among them. That is optimal arrangement for dealing with Coopers Hawks. What is odd is I have yet to see a single Coopers Hawk come through. Previous 4 years that has been nearly a twice daily occurrence. Even visits by Mr. Fox are extremely limited; dogs alone not reason as dogs typically have to run them off directly not just bark or scent mark.