Friday, December 21, 2012

Feathered Friend Friday

Welcome to our series "Feathered Friend Friday." Every Friday I write a post with interesting facts, photos, videos, or funny stories about our chickens and guineas. If you need to catch up, you'll find all the Feathered Friend Friday posts here 

We had our flock of hens in the city for a couple years before moving to our homestead. We didn't keep a rooster in the city, so we were excited to add one to the flock once we were out here in the country. I remember being very amused the first time I saw our rooster court the hens.

The rooster will do a little dance for the hen to let her know he is interested. He will circle around her while dropping a wing to the ground and purring softly in her ear. Sometimes the hen will squat immediately and make the rooster's job easier, other times she will run away or play hard to get and the rooster will have to get a little more forceful.

I caught our Rhode Island Red rooster, Roosty Roo, wooing our light Brahma hen, Ellie, the other day. Roosty was a gentleman and tried his hardest to win Ellie's affection, but as you can see, she wouldn't even give him the time of day and appeared to be much more interested in pecking around for treats.


Roosty can be pretty rough and just grab the hen by the neck if she's not paying attention to him, but he was exceptionally sweet this time. Sometimes I feel bad for the boys when the girls just ignore them or run away. I guess they are playing hard to get! Typical girls.

Have you ever seen a rooster dance for a hen?

~Tammy

Shared with Farmgirl Friday Blog HopFarm Girl Blog FestClever Chicks Blog HopThe Growing Patch 

32 comments:

  1. I definitely have never seen a rooster dance for a hen before, but then again, I haven't seen many of either in real life :)

    That is too cute, though!

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  2. Hi Tammy, yep she wasn't interested at all! Love seeing all the guineas in the background, and the one that came in for a cameo appearance! We don't have any roosters (yet! maybe all 3 surviving chicks are roosters!), I think our girls will get the shock of their lives after 5 years of spinsterhood!! Have a wonderful Christmas, it's been lovely getting to know you this year Sxxx

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  3. That is so cute! No I've never seen a rooster dance before, but then I've never seen a rooster close up. Everyone I know that has chickens is in a urban or suburban setting where roosters aren't allowed.

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  4. So cute how he 'dances' and she is just ignoring all his antics ~ Great video ~ Happy Holidays to you and your family ~ (A Creative Harbor ~ aka artmusedog and Carol ^_^)

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  5. Ha ha cute! I guess it happens to the best of men...feathered or not! Thanks for sharing the video - it must be fun to watch chicken life while it's happening! :)

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  6. OMG my roosters dance all the time for my hens. It is so funny to watch! And yes, a lot of the time they don't get any lovin for it...poor guys. My beta roo especially..... A lot of dancin but not much lovin. He even dances at me! LOL

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  7. Our rooster dances for the girls too, sometimes in vain! ;) He is really good to them though, pointing out all the tasty treats and rounding them up to keep them safe.

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  8. That is so funny and cute!! I'm a city girl so I've never seen a rooster dance. Typical man - strut around. ha.

    Merry Christmas to you and yours.

    Judy

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  9. I may get hubby to do a little dance after seeing this.. grin.. xo

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  10. Oh, what a sweet guy! Maybe she wants him to help around the roost more often before expecting some lovin'. Just sayin'. he he. xx

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  11. Hahaha, he was getting a bit frustrated, but I'm thinking she was toying with him just a bit.

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  12. Oh Tammy you made me laugh the video and your commentary Thank you:)
    Merry Christmas and all the best of 2013. Enjoy the holidays with your family. Hugs B

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  13. That's cute! I've never seen a rooster dance.
    Have a Merry Christmas.

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  14. We rehomed our roosters, but sometimes I wish I had kept the most docile of the bunch. Roosty is a great name!

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  15. He seems like a very patient bird. She was making him work for it! Thanks for sharing.

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  16. Our previous rooster used to dance a lot, but the one we have now doesn't do much dancing.

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  17. That's so cute he is trying his best isn't he , poor ol Rooster. Never seen a Rooster dance like this before.

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  18. Poor dear Rooster!! Would be funny if you set his dance to music!! Wonder if he'd pick up the beat to music being played? Although, all the clucking may be music to HIS ears :-}}

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  19. poor Roosty, glad he was gentle! love your Christmas card with all your 'family' in it. very sweet. I didn't send any card this year, but got one and I'm going to answer it. Merry Xmas dear :) xxo

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  20. Love this! I have never seen any of our roosters dance.

    You are much kinder than me. I don't think I've ever had sympathy for the rooster. I always get ticked off at the roosters when I see them being rough with a hen.

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  21. He does seem intent on his lady, and she does seem intent on eating, lol

    Merry Christmas to you and your family (feathered friends included). :)

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  22. This was so fun to watch! We don't have a rooster, so I have not seen how they interact with the hens before. Kinda feel bad for the poor guy!

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  23. yes, indeedy....I have seen the male STRUT HIS STUFF around a fair maiden. Mr. Sweet's mom had chickens...
    I am almost afraid to ask .....when you have fired chicken, do you use one of your own (heaven forbid) or just buy chicken strips at the groc store?
    I know you get mighty fresh eggs and, boy, don't they taste good...:)
    Have a fabulous Christmas.

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  24. O, I wanted to add:
    I am a city girl...never knew much about farming or farm animals. My mother in law decided she would "show me" how to wring a chickens neck, pluck the feathers, cut one up and fry it. OH, dear...I couldn't even TOUCH that chicken, much less wring it's neck. I watched, tho...and didn;t like it one single bit...I am not crazy for chicken to this day.

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  25. I love watching our lads dance for the girls. It is hilarious to watch. And, you are right, the ladies rarely are give our dancing boys their attention. At least, we enjoy it! ♥

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  26. That's a first for me!

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  27. A first for me too, Tammy, and I was captivated! I'm so glad you shared this!

    Merry Christmas, my friend, a very happy 2013 to you and your wonderful family too! xx

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  28. I love the white guinea hen getting in on the video :) Pretty amusing!

    Your roo is very patient. Ours is the grab and go kinda guy...pretty rough on the hens.

    I hope you will link up to Wildcrafting Wednesday next week...I'd love to have you share this! We will be having our people's choice awards this week, be sure to stop by and vote for your favorite at http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/

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  29. ahaha great video! Always great posts in our neck of the woods.
    Come join my BlogHop at http://www.growingpatch.com/blog-hop/

    Garrett @TheGrowingPatch

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  30. Hi there from the Blog Hop! New follower. You can find me at http://theresmagicoutthere.blogspot.com/ Happy Holidays!

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  31. That is a good rooster that will dance and court the hen before....I love the video very cute.

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