Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[LJ's Chooks]

Ok so I want to keep him but need some advice.... should he be kept separate from the girls.... permanetly or just if he causes issues trying to do what boys do???

 

any other advice would be great cos this is unknown territory and i need help!!! he cockadoodledoo-ed for the first time yesterday, so i think we need to educate ourselves quickly!!

[The Dogmother]

You can leave him with the girls so long as there are enough wives to share out his favours.

 

If you find that he's got a particular favourite and is making her threadbare, then you'll need to look at splitting off some of the flock somehow to give her a rest.

 

Do you have close neighbours?

[LJ's Chooks]

He is in with 8 girls, but is 3x the size of them as he is a gl orpington... Does size matter? We have one orpington girl too, but thee others are a mixture.

We have a eglu as a standby emergency but he is too tall so considering buying another cube...would that be advisible do you think.

Our neighbours are closer to him than we are but there are several other cockerals locally that we hear all day everyday, so I am hoping they are already used to the distant. Noise, so hopefully won't mind... Fingers crossed!!!

He has gone from being very much one of the new chicks to definitely asserting himself in the last week, he seemed to fight with the top chook for a few days but after a lot of chest puffing things seem to be calming down again... Oh there I go again, ... Cross my fingers again.

 

He is stunning... I must post a photo cos he really is beautiful and it would be fabulous to keep him! Please please please....

[The Dogmother]

It really depends on the size difference, it isn't recommended to run hens with a cockerel which is much bigger then them. You may find that you have to split him off with the orp hen.

 

Are your neighbours happy to have a cockerel crowing all day, every day from 4am (in the summer)?

[House MD 221B]

You might want to give your neighbours a heads up, and perhaps try buttering them up with some eggs? But I hope you can keep him, and would love to see a photo.

[Chicken Shirl]

Please post a photo. We would all love to see him. I have a passion for cockerels.

 

He should be a very happy boy with 8 hens to follow him around. They soon sort out the order of things and the girls will be running to him everytime he calls with a tit bit of food. It is very entertaining to watch....... My cockerel is smaller than some of my hens and he struggles to mount one of them. I have noticed that he is only interested in the hens that are laying. So at the moment that is just three of my eight hens. In the spring that will all change and he will then have his work cut out keeping them all under his control. Good luck with him...... don't forget the piccies. How lucky you already have cockerels in the area.

[LJ's Chooks]

I'll try and post on Monday but he gets more beautiful every day. He has a golden head and mane and shimers with grean black and gold lacing on his body!

 

I do worry he will flatten some of our smaller girls like our cream legbar, but I have to play the time game and see what happens but be prepared to step in when needed.

 

I would love to hatch some in the spring too, and part of me is very curious as to what would appear from our strange mix of chooks.

 

I think I'll have a chat with our neighbours though, our closest ones will not be an issue as they know he's a boy and don't want me to get rid of him as they are as obsesed with our chooks as we are, our other neighbours are side on ro our garden, but I hope eggs will help! And besides their parties, fireworks, escaping rabbits and kids in their swimming pool are much bigger issues than an ity bitty chicken...surely???

 

Fingers crossed cos I think other wise the breader will hAve to replace two together for us and I can't bear to think about what will happen to him, though I'm sure someone somewhere would love him to bread with... Let's hope he can stay!

 

Thanks for all the info... More is always welcome!

[BeckyBoo]

Oh yes, please do post a picture, I love cockerels, they are so stunning. Watch him too as he matures, their behaviour is amazing. My last boy, Scruff the Brahma boy, used to call the girls over if he found food and usher them towards the best stuff. He had the most amazing low pitched cock-a-doodle-doo as well with a little warble at the end. Mine had to go after he tried to mount my son AND had a go at me for having the audacity to go in the run - he was only doing his job but as he stood taller than my knees and was becoming more of a testosterone based boy every day, sadly he had to go (I wasn't being top-chickened by a cockerel!! )

 

BeckyBoo

[LJ's Chooks]

I'm not sure if I'm scared or excited??? I have everything crossed that he is a good boy! He is already big so maybe I'll keep the kids out of their pen until I'm sure things are ok. He is still cautious of me but friendly at the moment!

[oneyolktoanother]

i really do hope you can keep him, they are so adorable, we have just had to rehome ours it broke my heart hes a light sussex and we hatched him but he kept dragging the cream legbar around i didnet mind the noise i slept through it!! but my future hubby it drove him mad, but we tried evrything to keep him but hes gone to a good home with lots of light sussex hens and has settled in well please keep us updated and i cant wait to see a pic

[xScrunchee]

Most of my neighbours love hearing our cockerel.

 

The only ones who don't seem to like it are miserable so and so's anyway.

They have complained because one summer my sprinkler got their fence wet.

The water scarecrow (to stop foxes) apparently kept them up all night.

They complained when I hung a flower pot on their fence.

They comment that they can hear my children running about after 7.30 in the morning.

Moan, moan, moan.

 

I, however, have never complained that their smoke alarm wakes my children at gone 11pm when she is cooking the family's dinner!!

Nor that she gets up several times through the night to let her German Shepherd run around the garden barking at foxes. (1am, 2am, 3am etc) This also wakes my daughter up!!

I would never be so rude to comment that when they walk their dog after their dinner (11.30 or later) that slamming the door and shouting to eachother disturbs our sleep.

 

I am happy getting on with my life and for them to get on with theirs.

They don't like my cockerel-I don't like their racket neither

[LJ's Chooks]

oh how familiar that sounds... of course as neighbours we are perfect (except a little issue of a cockerell!!!)

 

[LJ's Chooks]

Oh sorry no photo today... cos little one at home sick and it is chucking it down with rain.... tomorrow it will be sunny!!!!

[BarbaraJ]

Ah well if the neighbours are happy go for it. I was the first in the street to have chickens now my neighbour and hers have them too.

my neighbour decided to hatch eggs saying they would eat any that were cockrels yeah right!!

now we have a VERY noisy cockerel in a 60' garden with 6-8 houses in close vicinity, she is asking for trouble to be honest and i worry that she will turn people off the rest of us with chickens

Oh and my kids thought cockerels on cock-a doodle dooed in the morning PAH it starts at daylight and goes on all day!!!!! noisty thing but i can ignore it mostly as i don't sleep on the back, luckily my son who is on the back is already awake as he starts work at 6.