MrsNorthie
Crowing
- May 3, 2023
- 674
- 6,971
- 441
Been playing catchup again. We lost our Ribbies, he had advanced in-operable intestinal cancer, he had to be euthanized. Despite knowing it was the the only answer, I am still heart broken. We were lucky he adopted us and we had a little over 3 years with him. I have not been at all social.
My surprise cockerels are lovely boys. Pip and Squeak. They actually like to be petted under their chins between the wattles. The second and third groups, have been left to be a bit more wild, less handling, but it seems they still like a certain amount of attention, which I oblige when they initiate.
(Pip being a charmer.)
(Squeak on parade.)
Blue is doing an amazing job coping with the added responsibilities and he has been 'assigning' roles to the other boys, Spud tends to still be the trusted patrol guard. There have been little to no hostilities, the boys are less pushy and violent in their mating attempts. Blue is never forceful, Goldie, Spud and Pip immediately stop when I shout at them to "Stop being rapey", Pip will correct Squeak when he ignores me. Squeak was specifically focused on one poor little pullet and refused to stop, despite the poor little girl's loud protestations, Pip tackled him, but immediately stopped when I called him off. They both let me check them over and no injuries. They all defer to Blue as 'King of the Run' but they all have a few girls that like their company, EVEN SPUD! I am so happy to see him getting some adoration, but he still dances for me and the egg thief (Hubby). They split off into little groups, but will also come together for meal time, with the 5 boys patrolling around the ladies while they eat.
Blue does not attack me anymore and happily eats out of my hand and as long as he gets first consideration, he does not mind me feeding the other boys by hand but does tend to come collect tax from each. He still finds the egg thief to be an intruder.
Blue, Goldie and Spud are moulting, (mildly.) as are the older girls.
The first group were hatched in January, the second an 3rd batch were hatched in May and June. The 5 and 6 months Old babies are at least double the size of the 10 month old babies. The only other difference is that, due to weather, they were outside at a younger age and were started on mash right away and went straight to fermented feed from the starter feed. So does the time of year they are hatched, have an all-around impact on their health and hardiness?
@Shadrach I am hoping Carbon makes a full recovery!
My surprise cockerels are lovely boys. Pip and Squeak. They actually like to be petted under their chins between the wattles. The second and third groups, have been left to be a bit more wild, less handling, but it seems they still like a certain amount of attention, which I oblige when they initiate.
Blue is doing an amazing job coping with the added responsibilities and he has been 'assigning' roles to the other boys, Spud tends to still be the trusted patrol guard. There have been little to no hostilities, the boys are less pushy and violent in their mating attempts. Blue is never forceful, Goldie, Spud and Pip immediately stop when I shout at them to "Stop being rapey", Pip will correct Squeak when he ignores me. Squeak was specifically focused on one poor little pullet and refused to stop, despite the poor little girl's loud protestations, Pip tackled him, but immediately stopped when I called him off. They both let me check them over and no injuries. They all defer to Blue as 'King of the Run' but they all have a few girls that like their company, EVEN SPUD! I am so happy to see him getting some adoration, but he still dances for me and the egg thief (Hubby). They split off into little groups, but will also come together for meal time, with the 5 boys patrolling around the ladies while they eat.
Blue does not attack me anymore and happily eats out of my hand and as long as he gets first consideration, he does not mind me feeding the other boys by hand but does tend to come collect tax from each. He still finds the egg thief to be an intruder.
Blue, Goldie and Spud are moulting, (mildly.) as are the older girls.
The first group were hatched in January, the second an 3rd batch were hatched in May and June. The 5 and 6 months Old babies are at least double the size of the 10 month old babies. The only other difference is that, due to weather, they were outside at a younger age and were started on mash right away and went straight to fermented feed from the starter feed. So does the time of year they are hatched, have an all-around impact on their health and hardiness?
@Shadrach I am hoping Carbon makes a full recovery!
It's good to hear that the chickens are doing well.
