I have 9 Delaware youngsters in the coop, 4 of them are cockerels from which I will choose my final keeper rooster. They will be 9 weeks old this week. Today, I am in the coop and one of the pullets jumps up to the nest boxes for the first time. I put her back down. Later on, I come back and she is in one nest, messing around. The nests are just below a chicken wire wall so I can see into the entire coop from the storage area. Suddenly, another head pops up from the next nestbox..it's one of my cockerels, one that is looking very promising. He starts cooing and singing, a sound I've never heard from him before, and he sits down, pulling shavings around him, just like my grown roosters do when they are trying to entice a hen into the nest! The pullet is looking on all this time and he's "talking" to her. I am astonished! Never have I seen a cockerel do that at this very tender age. He's going to be one to watch, this little Romeo!
