The feathered ladies of this establishment have been joined by a special gentleman. Friends of ours have kindly given us a spare rooster (as you do!) who is a very fine specimen of a gentleman. The ladies are thrilled to have a chaparone, and such a handsome one at that. He is a glorious fellow indeed, and struts his stuff with gusto around the field, his hareem following his every step clucking excitedly. He is crowing like a king, and its a wonderful sound to have around the smallholding, it warms the soul. He was kept indoors for two days, which is enough time for him to realise that this is home and preventing him from legging it!
So whats the point in having a rooster run with your chickens? There are some things to consider. You will see he is much larger than the ladies are, and so he is more likely to have success in scaring or chasing off a dog or cat. He is their protector. Having said that, our ladies gave our cat short shrift when she made a first dash at these very irresistible birds. She hasn't tried again, she now gives the hens a very wide birth indeed! The Rooster will also bravely lead the ladies out to free range, and they go further with him than they would have done on their own. His legs are big and powerful, he can scrape more efficiently at the soil, unearthing more goodies than the ladies can with their dainty feet. They know this, and follow him around, eagerly watching to see what he finds for them. And of course theres the fun possibility that one of your hens may go broody, and sit on a pile of eggs, and hatch out some adorable fluffy yellow chicks providing males for the table and females to lay yet more eggs.
Here he takes his first steps outdoors to view his new kingdom.
I'm often asked whether or not you can eat fertilised eggs. Yes you can, to an untrained eye a fresh fertilised egg looks no different to an unfertilised egg. If your hens run with a rooster, all your eggs will be fertilised, he is a busy chap! We prefer to have a rooster for the reasons above, and also because it reflects the birds most natural state as they would live in the wild. Commercial egg producers aren't allowed to sell fertilised eggs.
It didn't take him long to get the lay of the land and escort his ladies right out into the field where the red hens had not previously ventured by themselves.
Our red hens still haven't laid any eggs. We bought them at 'point of lay' 3 weeks ago so fingers crossed - any day now! Perhaps the presence of a little testosterone will egg them on!!!
Fantastic that you have such a calm rooster! I always seem to get the vicious or impotent ones. . . .
I love to hear crowing in the AM but I think, you will soon tire of his solicitous greetings each day. . . after a while you can tune it out. You know you have too many roosters when you're a quarter mile away and can still hear them. . . .
Another note about Roosters, while most do satisfy the ladies, they can be terribly rough on them, even killing them with their attentions--especially if they find a favorite bird. . . . The presence of a "man" around the yard also sends the hennies into fits of broodieness and egg-hiding.
And while they're great for digging around in the ground once or twice in a day, it's usually only for one purpose--to get the hens over for a bit of action; and after they've smoothed their feathers and crowed a bit they go back to being leaning on the shovel, as it were.
Nevertheless I won't keep chickens without one any more. They help alert you when a predator is around, they help you get chicks and they make great stews. Just be sure to collect eggs everyday--or twice a day in hot weather. Nothing worse than cracking open a semi-incubated egg, unless it's a rotten one.
Here's mine with part of his harem-- http://www.flickr.com/photos/86571141@N00/439405314/
BTW--love the photo of your daughter with the chickens. It deserves to be the cover of a book about your chicken keeping adventures!
Posted by: Podchef | May 10, 2007 at 04:48 PM
What beautiful pictures..I especially like the last one..that's one to frame!
And I liked you pun..egg them on LOL
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Jane | May 10, 2007 at 05:05 PM
This is a very true story...
My friend worked on a chicken farm many years ago, business wasn't great and she got laid off!
Posted by: Clare | May 10, 2007 at 11:48 PM
Have you tried the golf ball trick? A golf ball( or Smooth white egg size stone or ball) in the nest box can often get the hens to start laying.
Posted by: WillowCaroline | May 11, 2007 at 01:10 AM
Reading what you said about fertilised eggs not being allowed to be sold commercially, the BBC ran a story just yesterday about a boy who successfully hatched a chick from a batch of freerange eggs bought from a supermarket: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6643407.stm.
Interesting to read about the rooster though! I look forward to reading about cute lil chickens hatching through!!
keth
xx
Posted by: keth | May 11, 2007 at 12:33 PM
Absolutely. Why can't I take photos like this?
Posted by: hedgewizard | May 11, 2007 at 06:24 PM
That last photo is a beauty. Frameworthy, for sure!!
Posted by: Vallen Queen | May 11, 2007 at 07:50 PM
He is a handsome fellow. We had to give our rooster away, as you do, because he was keeping the neighbours awake. He went to a lovely farm where he could roam free and have many beautiful wives.
Posted by: little jenny wren | May 11, 2007 at 09:26 PM
You've been tagged!
Posted by: Clare | May 13, 2007 at 03:05 PM
Exciting times in your neck of the country. The picture of the poultry and your daughter couldn't be sweater. All the best.
Posted by: winonaqueen | May 13, 2007 at 08:42 PM
Well he is certainly strutting his stuff! Talk about Royalty...you can see who rules the roost.
Marie
Posted by: marie | May 14, 2007 at 12:56 AM