ADOPTING A ROOSTER -Be patient, chickens get scared

When you adopt a rooster (or any chicken really) you need to be very patient and sensitive. Our birds are all in families here on the farm and family connections matter more than food to a chicken.

It can not be over emphasized how social chickens are, they depend on their family members for support and guidance. They have a sort of hive mind in figuring things out. They don't think like humans and they don't solve problems like us. 

Chickens are very visually oriented, what you wear around them matters. I wear the same outfit whenever I'm out dealing with the birds and this gives my presence consistency they trust. 

WHEN YOU TAKE HOME A NEW FRIEND

When you take a chicken from his family he will be very sad and lonely. No matter how hard you try you can't step in and fill that gap. Time and patience are the two main ingredients to making your new friend feel at home and comfy. Some birds adapt faster than others. Whatever time it takes you need to be prepared to help your new friend realize he is safe and that is not hugging him or putting him in a box. 

Let him be who he is, that will build trust. 

TREATS ARE THE WAY TO HIS HEART

With all birds having the right treats and snacks on hand can really help you win them as friends. Mary King is very adept at searching for just the right treats. When it comes to treats there is no one size fits all. Here are a few that can help.

BUGS - Cans of grasshoppers and crickets intended for lizards.

MEAL WORMS - We call them noodles, somehow that makes them seem less gross.

POTTED MEAT - A special treat reserved for special occasions. They love it but it's not very good for them.

VIENNA SAUSAGE - One of the most universal bird treats. Slice the sausages into little slices and feed individually if possible. This will build LOVE and TRUST.

LETTUCE - Romaine is a favorite, they even like it kind of brown and rusty. ICEBERG heads are a fun treat and a toy (we enjoy watching the birds tear a head of lettuce to bits). Not all the chickens go crazy about lettuce but those who do like it LOVE it. 

CABBAGE - the whole head. We have around 30 birds in flock-1 which is right outside our window. I put out a whole head of cabbage in the morning and it lasts 24 hours. After 24 hours I toss the carcass to the Muscovy ducks and they finish it off. Meanwhile I give the chickens a replacement head. They have a lot of fun pecking at the head. Wild peafowl love cabbage too. 

WE HAVE ROOSTERS FOR ADOPTION

We don't kill chickens. Instead, we find homes for them and we endure a lot of crowing LOL. One of the most amazing things about rooster crowing is the unique song each little guy sings, two may be similar sounding but each little guy has an identifiable unique version of their song. 

WE ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE ROOSTERS UP FOR ADOPTION

People here in Brevard County, Florida love chickens. We've found homes for many roosters over the years. We look for people who will treat the birds well because every bird that leaves here takes a little bit of our love with them.

Technically we are WAY past our quota of roosters but we don't kill them so we must wait for home owners to surface. We run ads on Craigs List, we have a sign on our front porch and we are constantly telling friends about availability. 

We love it when someone takes home a chicken and then texts us a photo or two of them in their new surroundings. 

ROOSTER'S ON DEMAND

If you would like a rooster with a mellow personality we have several Silkie boys available immediately. They are beautiful white bantam (size) Silkie (breed) that need good homes. They've all been hand raised and would make nice pet birds. 

If you'd like to have one please contact us and we'll be happy to set up a meeting with your new pet bird. Our email contact is the same one we use for our other blogs. I check it once a day in the evening so please be patient and thanks for reaching out. 

Here is a link to our contact page and email address. Thanks for reaching out.

WHY ROOSTERS? - They keep the flock safe

Roosters are some of our favorite chickens. They have vigorous personalities, they're inquisitive, and they keep the flock safe.

HOW ROOSTERS KEEP A FLOCK SAFE

Roosters are constantly scanning the sky and their surroundings looking for predators or problems that can impact their flocks. 

Roosters have a unique call they let out when they hear or see a hawk in their area. All chickens understand this call when he lets it out. If you have more than one rooster then you hear the call move across the flock as each little guy sends out his Emergency-alert tone. When the hens hear this call they run for cover because they understand danger from the sky is coming.

ROOSTERS TELL THE HENS WHERE TO GO

Roosters are very territorial, they learn their area and generally stick to managing it. They show the hens where treats are with a cute little dance and another unique vocalization generally referred to as "Tid Bitting". When he Tid Bits for the ladies he sends out a bunch of little clucks and burps, kicks his feet and pecks wildly to show the ladies where the food is. If you hand feed him he will rapidly pull off little tiny pieces and carefully set each down for one of his girls, then do it all over again, bite after bite... none for himself, he does it all for the girls (he has his own motives LOL).

ROOSTER PERSONALITIES

The personality of a rooster ranges from total jerk to complete teddy bear - which personality you get has more to do with breed and breeding than with anything you as their owner can do or control. 

We hand raise our birds, we feed them individually and care for them so they know we're friends. All this care and concern goes out the window when roosters become adults at around six months of age. 

Your sweet little guy may continue to be polite or he may turn into a feisty little jerk who likes to sneak up behind you and kick you or give you a good peck to let you know who's boss. 

Two of our oldest roosters (Raven and Frizzel) are not to be trusted, interacting with them means caution... 

Raven stays in a large cage area with his personal group of ladies, he is a beautiful black bantam (size), Cochin (breed), with massive feathered feet that look a little like giant snow shoes or clown feet. He has a bright red comb and long bright red wattles that dangle and flap around when he walks, the bright red color stands out against his glistening shiny black feathers. It's a good thing he is so good looking because in spite of his careful rearing when he was young he is a total jerk (I'm using kind descriptive words here). Raven is six years old now but if you go into his cage he will go "All In" on trying to kill you, he will do his jumping kick move where he jumps up in the air and kicks at you with his feet, claws and spurs - if he catches you right he will inflict a minor wound so it's not the most endearing thing he does. 

Frizzel is similar to Raven, bantam (compact size) and Cochin (breed) but he has the weird genetics that give him fluffy funny-looking feathers. He looks like he is wearing a massive fluffy coat, it undulates and moves around as he struts around his area. He is a sneaky little jerk like Raven but he is so entertaining to wathc that we keep his pen nearby our gym so we can watch him try to woo one of the girls to come visit. Frizzel has no social skills, he rarely tid bits for the girls, he struts around like a professional wrestler and it takes a special hen to become friends with him. The girls must agree, he's good looking because for some dumb reason they keep coming to visit this little entertainer. 

ROOSTERS FIGHT

Generally speaking you can't have two roosters in the same physical area together because they are very protective of their turf and will fight to become the owner of the space. 

It's this fight to be king of their flock that drives some roosters to be bigger jerks than others. If you have a rooster that attacks you it's probably because he perceives you as a threat to his world (even if you're the one who delivers the treats and meals). 

We keep our chicken area divided into separate areas to keep the roosters from killing each other. If they are allowed to fight they can inflict terrible bloody wounds on each other's combs and wattles. 

The fighting is not a favorite attribute of roosters but once you understand what causes it and what you can do to prevent it, then it is easier to sit back and just enjoy their antics as they go about their job of woooing the ladies.  

SILKIE CHICKENS

 

This is just one of our flocks of Silkie chickens. We hatched these beauties from eggs laid by our primary group of Silkie hens which we affectionately call "Silkie Playland". We keep them in separate groups so we can track their genetics and avoid inbreeding. 

The father of this group is a beautiful little guy we named "Chip". He was very special right from the beginning - he came to us from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, Missouri. Chip has a gentle and sweet personality that stood out from his first couple of days of life. 

He arrived here on his third day of life (via overnight US Mail), pathetic and weak. He grew up into a beautiful little rooster and we had him sequestered to find him a new home/owner when it happened... a great love affair was born between Chip and another little Silkie hen named "Charo". She came to us from Tractor Supply and was a calm little bird who instantly fell in love with Chip. It was one of the most adorable relationships we ever fostered with the chickens. 

The population of Silkie Playland has grown but not as a result of inbreeding. This group is all unrelated and that makes them very special to us.

SILKIE PLAYLAND

Chip is the only rooster in this group of 15 birds. They all stay in an extra large cage to protect them from hawks. Most Silkie chickens have impaired vision due to the feathers around their eyes so we keep them in covered pens to protect them from aerial predators who swoop in from above. 

SILKIE ROOSTERS

Generally speaking our Silkie roosters have had very gentle personalities. They are often referred to as the "Teddy Bears" of the chicken world and after owning as many as we've had it is easy to understand how they acquired this reputation.