Hello! (long back story but my question is at the end) I'm also a chicken novice!
I live in Hawaii and we have TONS of wild chickens running around.
Specifically, I have this 1 hen that cruises around my neighborhood with another hen and rooster. Eventually the other hen and rooster phased out. I was feeding them some cheerios on my daily walk so we became very friendly very quick.
The remaining hen (I will call her "mom" going forward) disappeared for a couple weeks. And when she came back she brought her 7 babies with her. That was August 8th.
Well, we are down to 3 babies (4 got ran over one day. I was so upset) and Mom. We have 2 pullets and 1 cockerel. The cockrel is my baby. He flies up to me (all the babies fly up to me now) and he let's me cuddle him. I ended up buying them some scratch for food instead of cheerios.
ANYWAY!
So, they are about 8 weeks old now. And then mom has become progressively more aggressive towards the cockerel. But not the 2 pullets.
My questions:
1. Is she doing this because I give him special attention (even though I feed them all the same?)
2. Is she trying to push him out of the flock?
3. Is it common for mom to stay with babies longer in the wild than in captivity?
4. People in my neighborhood have been known to kill roosters in the past if they come too close to the houses and start crowing. At what point does a rooster start crowing? And when would it be a safe/best time for me to move him to my friends hobby farm?
I wish I could keep them. I rent and our HOA has strict no poultry rule. But for now, I get to love them for an hour a day and other neighbors and kids come visit them and give them treats.
Any advice is welcomed and appreciated!
I live in Hawaii and we have TONS of wild chickens running around.
Specifically, I have this 1 hen that cruises around my neighborhood with another hen and rooster. Eventually the other hen and rooster phased out. I was feeding them some cheerios on my daily walk so we became very friendly very quick.
The remaining hen (I will call her "mom" going forward) disappeared for a couple weeks. And when she came back she brought her 7 babies with her. That was August 8th.
Well, we are down to 3 babies (4 got ran over one day. I was so upset) and Mom. We have 2 pullets and 1 cockerel. The cockrel is my baby. He flies up to me (all the babies fly up to me now) and he let's me cuddle him. I ended up buying them some scratch for food instead of cheerios.
ANYWAY!
So, they are about 8 weeks old now. And then mom has become progressively more aggressive towards the cockerel. But not the 2 pullets.
My questions:
1. Is she doing this because I give him special attention (even though I feed them all the same?)
2. Is she trying to push him out of the flock?
3. Is it common for mom to stay with babies longer in the wild than in captivity?
4. People in my neighborhood have been known to kill roosters in the past if they come too close to the houses and start crowing. At what point does a rooster start crowing? And when would it be a safe/best time for me to move him to my friends hobby farm?
I wish I could keep them. I rent and our HOA has strict no poultry rule. But for now, I get to love them for an hour a day and other neighbors and kids come visit them and give them treats.
Any advice is welcomed and appreciated!
