Friday, September 13, 2013

Feathered Friend Friday: Rough Roosters

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

If you've ever seen a rooster mate with a hen, you know they can be pretty rough if their romantic advances are rejected. At first, when young female chickens are just coming into their sexual maturity, they will instinctively squat if approached by a rooster to allow him easier access to do his thing. (PS - they will also squat if you pat them on the back, which is a great way to tell if they are getting close to laying their first eggs!) But as they get older and have been around the block a time or two, hens usually don't seem so keen on the special attention and try to outrun the roosters if they can. Sometimes roosters have their favorite girls, and that is the case with our head rooster, Cam, who has taken a liking to poor Isis.


She is an Easter Egger and is a little weird anyway, but she always freaks out when Cam gets near her and tries to run away. Maybe he likes the game, I don't know, but he has to get rough with her to have his way. He will bite her neck and hold her down to the ground while he mates with her. If it sounds bad, it definitely is, but at least it only takes a few seconds. But since Cam has an affinity for biting her neck to make her comply, she is becoming quite bare. Her remaining neck feathers have sort of curled up, so she is looking like a hot mess right now.

Isis: "It doesn't look that bad, does it, Jobin?" Jobin: "Uhhh, no comment."

She gives me a perfect green egg every couple days, so Isis holds a special place in my heart. She is pretty flighty and isn't one for cuddling, but there is something so endearing in her eccentricity. I just hope her feathers will grow back soon and Cam will give her a little break!

Do you have any scraggly looking chickens in your flock?

~Tammy

38 comments:

  1. Poor Isis! Perhaps a little saltpetre in Cam's mash will help cool his ardour a bit? (j/k)

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  2. poor baby. chickens and ducks have no finesse when it comes to mating...

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  3. Some boys can be such beasts! ;0)

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  4. Hi Tammy.. Just wish I had a wee flock.. smile..
    Someday, perhaps...
    Take care..

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  5. Poor Isis, I feel sorry for her. I think Cam needs to move on now, LOL! I love your flock and photos, have a happy weekend!

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  6. Yes our biggest Roo Ollie had a " fav" girl that was looking very ragged so we had to separate her from him .
    We free range days, so that meant she has to be penned away from the flock with one of the other hens.

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  7. Oh boy, poor Isis! I know it's not funny, but I'm suppressing a giggle, here - mostly thinking about Cam.

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  8. I have two hens in particular that are just hot messes thanks to a young rooster I had earlier in the summer.He's moved onto a new home, but left his mark. I just glad that my flock is headed into full molting mode so they're all getting fresh sets of pretty feathers.

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  9. Your chicken stories never cease to amaze me. Poor little Isis. I hope she gets a break soon. I am sure be feathers will grow back.........if not. She is going to have to rock the curls. Have a great week. Blessings!

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  10. Poor Isis, and I think that Jobin isn't impressed either! I have an Araucana cross who lays green eggs and she's very flighty too. As you know our scraggliest looking bird is Mr Frizz, whose feathers are re-growing oh, so slowly! S:)

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  11. Poor little Isis , she looks so cute though :) enjoy your weekend .

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  12. i once had two young chickens........guess what my stupid neighbor's dog ate one so we had to sell the other!

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  13. Aw, Isis. It's not easy being the favorite little lady. I wish there was a solution... a turtleneck sweater? :)

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  14. Pore Isis.. But I am sure that's the way its suppose to be. I don't have any chickens but I sure do love watching my sisters chickens.

    Hugs~

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  15. Oh poor Iris. I hope she gets a brake soon and her feathers grow back.

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  16. Aww, poor girl. I hope she gets some healing time in too. I hope it's not too sore for her.

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  17. Ohhhh - poor dear!! Too bad she doesn't turn around and peck him in his eyes!! If she pecked back, bet she wouldn't be his favorite!!

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  18. Oooh no, poor Isis! I hope she finds a way to get even lol.

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  19. Oh, poor Isis!! I do love your photo captions! This post makes me feel better. We have been having a lot of health problems in the coop lately, and I was getting worried that another hen was getting sick, but her only issue is scraggly feathers around her neck. So, I think I know what is going on with her now :)

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  20. That's the one thing I don't miss about Roosters. The poor girls..... That's funny about Isis' personality - we have Ameraucana's and Araucana's and most have been spooked by just about anything and not interested in human contact but we had 2 who adored to be held and petted. So strange. :)

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  21. Remember way back to the one remaining hen we had before we added the pullets to join her? She's the one the rooster attacks. We actually separated the rooster and a few hens because she got so bare that he drew blood holding her down. And you know how terrible things happen if there's an open wound. She's healed now, but man...that rooster was terrible to her.

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  22. This is new to me; I didn't know it ended like this; but for the better, of course!

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  23. hi tammy,

    wow, these are some amazing pictures. wow!!
    poor little girl! she looks so cute though.

    have a great rest of your weekend!

    it's always a delight to drop by your lovely blog for a visit.
    xoxo

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  24. My hens are all a bit on the older side, and yes, they all look a hot mess right now! All summer long they were missing feathers on neck and back, and now they are molting on top of that. :-(
    Kathi

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  25. Haha, that last picture and your comment was really funny. I've had a few strange looking ones before... everyone has their place in the family right? :)

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  26. Oh...this is fast becoming my favorite place to visit! Ducks are the same way...We have wild ducks that land in our pool every now and again...and the poor females get held underwater until the male has done his deed. It's quite the rukus. Love these photos. Now, do you eat the green eggs like regular eggs i'd buy in the grocery store?

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  27. oh man, poor iris....cam should lay off that viagra ;)

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  28. Poor Isis. Lovely shots.

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  29. I commented on facebook. I didn't realise it was an actual post. :-) Cam is a cad. ;-)

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  30. Our Plymouth Rock rooster seems to prefer to keep to his own breed, so our P.R. hens are generally a bit bare on their backs. The bantams seem to be too small and quick to get much attention from Mr. Rooster.

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