Well, maybe it’s not exactly “love”, but the roosters have certainly been…..well….since I try to keep this blog at a PG rating, we’ll just say the roosters have been “affectionate” with the hens lately – very “affectionate”.
Without getting into too many details, my concern of Duke’s size when it comes to being “affectionate” turns out not to be an issue at all. The girls seem to enjoy his attention and he is very gentle with them. Bobby Lee? Not so much.
Bobby Lee is much smaller than Duke. He’s as handsome as they come, but he’s not the Alpha Rooster. Duke is the Apha Rooster – and the hens know this. Not that it stops Bobby Lee from showering the girls with “affection” every chance he gets though. He just has to work pretty hard at it and the girls protest a fair amount. And it is fairly common that Duke scolds Bobby Lee for messing with his girls. Poor little Bobby Lee. He does regularly get “lucky” though and I definitely give him points for his persistence.
I suspect only one or two of the 21 hens are laying right now. We typically find one egg a day. That means, if my math is correct, that there are 19 or 20 free loaders in that coop. I think I’ve been more than patient up to now, but yesterday I found exactly zero eggs. That’s right. We got nothing out of those hens all day long. Zilch. Nada.
Yesterday evening I sat down with the hens and had a little chat. I could tell they felt guilty because the entire time I was talking to them the only one that made eye contact with me was a Black Spanish, who was on my shoulder attempting to peck my eye out. The rest hung their heads and pecked at my toe nails. Duke and Bobby Lee were, of course, excused from the lecture, but they began looking very concerned when I threatened the whole bunch with curbing their treats. When I left Duke and Bobby Lee were fussing at the girls pretty good, so I’m thinking that, with their help, we should begin seeing a rise in egg production on the homestead.
Now that we’ve tackled the lion’s share of the move from our home in town, Bernie is hoping to get electricity run out to the coop for me in the next couple of weeks so that I can more conveniently turn on the heat lamps for the chickens and put a light on a timer to increase the day for the girls. Maybe they’ll stop complaining and start laying some eggs.
I’d start mentioning chicken soup right about now, but those girls are just too darn cute for me to even threaten it. They’ve got me right where they want me. Darn chickens. I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to be this way.
Bee Free,
Penny
I’ve enjoyed reading about your chickens. I have to cull rooster this fall – not a job I’m looking forward to. My hens are more than 4 months old and still not laying – I suppose they won’t until spring – darn they’re expensive to keep fed.
Hi Verde – thanks for stopping by. I’m sorry you have to cull a rooster. I worry that the day may come for me – and I know it won’t be easy. I hope you won’t have too hard of a time with it.
I’ve read that about 24 weeks is average for hens to first start laying. My first egg came right about 21 weeks. But I only have 2 hens laying now. I imagine with the shorter days and cooler weather, they won’t really get into full egg production until the spring. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up with an egg or two between now and then. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. They ARE expensive to feed – and the least they could do is give you an egg or two for repayment!
Take care,
Penny