He's a sweet guy (at this point), allowing us to pet and handle him, for the most part. Hopefully that will continue to be the case. We were reluctant to add a roo to the flock for some time, as I harbored some painful (literally) memories of my mother's former far-from-friendly guy, George.
After much discussion, we ultimately decided to give it a go, welcoming the protection from predators a rooster offers. Additionally, we added three female Blue Wheatens to the mix when we purchased him, with the intention of R.C. siring both their and the other flock member's offspring. Plus, blue eggs!!!
We'll see how it all turns out. So far, so good. And he's looking mighty fine, if I do say so myself!
17 comments:
We just replaced our beloved Copper Black Marans (Rocky) with a Blue Weaton. He was given to us by the man we get our chickens from. I told him that I would take any accidental rooster that gets returned and he just so happened to have a rooster all grown up and ready for me. So I got him for free!
Mr. B* is so pretty and has already chased off a coyote within the week we brought him home. He's also a lot more polite than Rocky was as he'll let the girls eat before he does.
* We couldn't make up our minds what to name him. We had Bernard, Barney, and Bartleby so we just decided to cal him MR. B.
Wow, he's gorgeous!
Yes, that's one fine looking fella!
He's a beautiful rooster! We had an Ameracauna chick grow up to be a rooster once but had go give him away since we lived in the city.
Loved the blue eggs.
My husband still has a scar on his leg from a rooster's spur. It's good that you're "socializing" him.
He's a handsome young thing. We have four hens, no roosters, as we live inside the city. Does the blue color breed "true" or does it pass only to some of the offspring?
He is beautiful! I have not gone the route of a rooster yet...just chickens...maybe one day.
looks nice - however, I never trust a rooster.
We have a nameless Rhode Island red who has an after easter doomday - ....we have many rooster stories - I wonder what you guy's will be?
the big leagues! chicks! i'm watching you closely (with envy) xx
just popped over from soulemama...my daughter has a little flock of wheaton americaunas {including a rooster who is very sweet and tame} and she adores them! winning first place at the fair with her first hen sort of sold her on the breed, i think! ;)
I came over from Soule Mama. R.C. is beautiful! We have a Rhode Island Red rooster also named Rooster Cogburn! He's about 4 yrs old and very tame. After all the horrible rooster stories it's been fun seeing how much he helps keep our flock in order.
Wow, he's gorgeous! Makes me wish I felt comfortable getting a rooster. We're technically allowed to here in Roanoke, but I'm afraid I might get complaints from neighbors if he crowed a lot. And my daughter insisted we weren't getting one after she saw the missing feathers on some hens who'd been hanging with a rooster - she loves her girls too much to see them get hurt. We get our next batch of chicks on Tuesday so we're deep in a chicken state of mind right now. Hopefully, the old (8 month old) girls will like their new sisters.
RC is beautiful, for sure. We have some ameraucanas as well,roos and all. We have had some nice ones and not so nice ones, they all have different personalities. One can't judge every roo on the behaviour of one (or a couple!) ;)
Good luck with him!
-Melanie in Canada
Handsome rooster, Ashley! I have been devouring your "Keeping Chickens" book from the library and finally bought my own copy (and ordered my chickies). I love the idea of the deep litter method. Do you worry about the cedar shavings, or do you think they are fine? I like the idea of a sweet-smelling coop. Thanks! Ashleigh
How funny! We just 'aquired' a rooster and we named him Rooster Cogburn. I just found your blog, after reading Soule Mama's blog post today. We have more than a rooster in common as well, we also live in the same state! Hope your R.C. turns out to be a wonderful guy. I have to say we have not had too many successful attempts at keeping roosters. With many young children we give them (the roosters that is :-)) away at the first sign of aggression.
Blessings,
Kerri
Ashleigh-In all my years of keeping chickens, I have only ever used cedar bedding and have never encountered any problems with it. Bear in mind that the cedar I use is shavings, not saw-dust shavings from a wood shop. I buy my packaged in the large bags commonly used for hamsters and guinea pigs. I do suggest it not be used for chicks or young birds, until around 8-10 weeks old, when they're less likely to try to peck at it. Otherwise, I really love using it and have had nothing but great results with it.
We're thinking of raising chickens also! Just for the eggs and the great company of course:) Love your blog- and I'm def a subscriber to the "molasses lifestyle" as you coined it! xoxo ~Juliane of www.StyleNectar.com
Would you mind writing about your experiences with flock integration sometime? We've been trying to integrate some pullets into our tiny flock, but it's not going well and I'm on the lookout for more successful stories...
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