6.22.2009

Our New Rooster


Yesterday we were on our way home from a family party when we saw a woman and her daughters by her car, with a flock of chickens grazing in the dirt lot by a hiking trail. We turned around, thinking maybe she needed, but she was gone when we got there -- and she'd left behind what we believe were about 10 bantam roos, only one of which was a full adult (and gorgeous!) Well, we don't have a rooster right now, and our girls free range so we were happy to wrangle up whoever wanted to come home with us -- but they were so freaked out that even with the lure of goldfish crackers we only managed to catch one. The rest ran into the woods. They seemed to follow the adult, so hopefully this flock of men will enjoy their freedom... I feel sorry for the chickens, but really, ours do OK staying out overnight (sometimes they decide not to come home for the night) and a bunch of roosters will be safer than anything else... Roosters generally get eaten anyways, so at least these guys will have some freedom and fun before they pass on. I'm glad they have each other for company at least.
Anyhow -- they were all different breeds, many of them were quite pretty, and I think this one might be a buff brahma (?) It is about 9 inches tall, and FAT with lightly feathered feet. At this height and weight, I think it must be a bantam, but time will tell. It was one of the friendliest ones, looking for the food, and I directed my husband to focus on catching him after we couldn't get anyone else, since I always heard brahmas are very mellow roos...
For now we have him in a large cat carrier at night in the coop, and free in the run during the day while the other girls free-range, so they can slowly acclimate to each other. Fun times! Whether he is a brahma or not, we've decided to name him Brahmin.

1 comment:

Chicken Coop said...

thanks for your great post
I am completely in love with chickens . But I realize that marriage between man and chickens is considered weird, so I will just keep
raising them on my backyard :-)