Once there was a baby chick. A blue laced Wynadotte of brown and black with grayish blue hues running through its feathers. It was a peckish chick. Always trying to bite as we cleaned out the cage and move the baby chickens from one place to another. The baby chick would often try to peck the other chickens, even the ones twice its size. We named it Winnie. As Winnie grew up, we noticed the aggressiveness got a bit worse. Still getting at the other chickens and acting different than the rest. Winnie began to form gobblers on its head and neck. Then we came out one day and heard the crow. No way… they sexed them; I told my husband. It couldn’t be a rooster.
COOCKKKK A DOOOODLE DOOOO
Yep. That’s a rooster.
How did we end up with a rooster even though the chickens were ‘sexed’ when we got them? I’ll tell you how…. Because when they are tiny fluffs you can’t tell one chicken bit from the other!!
So now Winnie the Bish (borrowed from the old show new girl) has been crowing all hours of the day and starting to get frisky with the ladies.
One rooster with nine hens can be some serious problems. It may sound like heaven to that rooster, but I’m not raising anymore chicks right now. Nope. No thanks, not today.
Our girls aren’t laying just yet so we can fix this problem two ways.
Cook and eat him.
Or give him to someone else.
Since I have never butchered any animals before, I’m not going to start right now. I don’t have the time or know how to do this. Plus, I don’t have a stock pot big enough to cook a whole chicken.
So, the latter it shall be!
It all makes sense though. Why she…he was so aggressive even as a baby and would try to challenge the others. I can see clearly now!
As much as I wish we could keep this beautiful chicken, because he is so handsome, we got these chickens with the intention of charging them rent in the form of eggs. That’s not going to happen if there’s a male in there trying to make our eggs into babies.
Onward we go.
We’re down one chicken. At least we didn’t lose him to disease or a predator. Those were our biggest worries. Having a rooster never even crossed our minds.
I may have mentioned it once to Stuart and he said sweetly, ‘Oh don’t worry honey they sex the chickens, they’re all pellets’.
HAH!
Well, this is our first major hiccup with the chickens, and there will be I’m sure of it. I’m glad to say the first one was one with a simple solution.
I do enjoy the sound of his morning crows. Considering he’s still growing up, it’s only going to get stronger. You can tell he’s still a young chicken because it’s not a very loud crow. And it’s a little…wobbly? Like when a boys voice changes and you can hear it. That’s the best way to describe it.
Our girls are becoming more vocal too. No more cheeping for them. Some strange squawks and other awkward noises are coming from their run now.
Otherwise, they’ve settled into the outdoor run famously. They love the space and light. They enjoy their high roosting posts and delicious garden scraps.
UPDATE** Our rooster Winnie has found a new home on a beautiful local vineyard. He will enjoy an abundance of land and the company of ten other hens who will also enjoy his company.
Cheers to the roosters making babies elsewhere!
