Post by Lannie on Dec 17, 2008 14:09:30 GMT -5
We killed Chicklet yesterday. He's the one survivor of the two chicks that hatched last February (one of my crazy hens went broody in the middle of winter). I was going to let him stay, but lately he's been picking on my favorite rooster, Zeus. Zeus is the one who raised all those baby chicks after their mama got taken by a fox. He's the BEST rooster, and so nice and gentle. Which is probably why Chicklet has been torturing him. Poor Zeus has been coming in bloody almost every day, and yesterday was the last straw.
I found Zeus out in the middle of the yard, hunkered down in the snow, shivering. It was still 10 below then. I picked him up and took him to the horse barn so he could sit in the hay in the sunshine and warm up a little bit, and when I set him down, his feet didn't want to work at first. He was freezing! I gave him some sunflower seeds and he ate those and finally got up and started walking around. Not an hour later, I saw Chicklet chasing him AGAIN, and Zeus ran back into the barn. I was just bringing a load of feed in from the feed room, so when I got that in, I looked for Zeus and couldn't find him. I knew he hadn't left the barn, so I kept looking and finally found him burrowed into a pile of hay in one of the horse stalls. All that was showing was his tail.
Chicklet was standing near the barn door crowing his ghastly crow (he never did learn how to crow properly) and I grabbed the rake and went after him. He was much too fast for me, so I didn't get a good whack in but I succeeded in chasing him out of the barn, at least. Rich was just coming out of the house right then, so I went over to him and told him to go back and get the axe. He said, "Chicklet?" and I said, "Yep. He picked on Zeus just one too many times." So Rich went back for the axe, while I went in the coop and grabbed Chicklet. Rich took him by the feet and headed for the woodpile and I went back in the house. Even as mad as I was, I didn't want to watch. I'm a wimp.
It was too cold for Rich to butcher him outside so he brought him in the house to gut and pluck him (I told him to just skin him, and he eventually did, when the plucking was taking too long). Meanwhile, I went out and got Zeus out of the hay pile and put him back in the coop with the heat lamp. He's fine today.
We went through this last year with Jake, another rooster. My original two, Zeus and Odin, get along with each other just fine. Zeus used to be the top roo, but Odin battled him and won. Now that Odin is top rooster, he leaves Zeus alone for the most part, although he's been known to peck Zeus once in a while, but he never persists. Jake made it his life's mission to hurt Zeus and we had to finally dispatch him with a shotgun because he was so wild we couldn't catch him. I'm pretty sure Chicklet was Jake's progeny. And the five teenage roos from last summer's hatch are probably all Jake's, too. They still think Zeus is their "mommy," so they don't pick on him, but they're starting to fight with each other and they're not even 5 months old yet. Or maybe it's just because there are too many of them. So far, I've only had one new rooster at a time, and they don't start becoming a problem until after they're a year old (except Chicklet started early).
So there will be more chicken dinners to come, and sooner rather than later. Right now Chicklet is chilling out in the fridge, and we'll have him for dinner in a day or two. And Zeus is NOT bloody today, and is acting normally for the first time in a month. In fact, this morning when I opened the coop, Zeus and Odin were perched so close they were touching each other. Zeus was on a lower rung, of course, but Odin's thigh and tail were touching Zeus' shoulder, and they were just fine together.
Rich told me that if Odin ever did decide to harass Zeus, I was going to have to make a hard choice and let him die, but I won't. If it comes down to it, I'd rather eat Odin. Zeus is the nicest and calmest rooster, and if he were completely unopposed, he'd take up his roostering duties again. Rich said he thought he wouldn't, after all he's been through, but I think he's just been pounded on too many times and he doesn't challenge the other roos anymore. If he were the only rooster, life would be peaceful in the chicken coop. So, Odin, you'd better be on your best behavior, you hear?
~Lannie
I found Zeus out in the middle of the yard, hunkered down in the snow, shivering. It was still 10 below then. I picked him up and took him to the horse barn so he could sit in the hay in the sunshine and warm up a little bit, and when I set him down, his feet didn't want to work at first. He was freezing! I gave him some sunflower seeds and he ate those and finally got up and started walking around. Not an hour later, I saw Chicklet chasing him AGAIN, and Zeus ran back into the barn. I was just bringing a load of feed in from the feed room, so when I got that in, I looked for Zeus and couldn't find him. I knew he hadn't left the barn, so I kept looking and finally found him burrowed into a pile of hay in one of the horse stalls. All that was showing was his tail.
Chicklet was standing near the barn door crowing his ghastly crow (he never did learn how to crow properly) and I grabbed the rake and went after him. He was much too fast for me, so I didn't get a good whack in but I succeeded in chasing him out of the barn, at least. Rich was just coming out of the house right then, so I went over to him and told him to go back and get the axe. He said, "Chicklet?" and I said, "Yep. He picked on Zeus just one too many times." So Rich went back for the axe, while I went in the coop and grabbed Chicklet. Rich took him by the feet and headed for the woodpile and I went back in the house. Even as mad as I was, I didn't want to watch. I'm a wimp.
It was too cold for Rich to butcher him outside so he brought him in the house to gut and pluck him (I told him to just skin him, and he eventually did, when the plucking was taking too long). Meanwhile, I went out and got Zeus out of the hay pile and put him back in the coop with the heat lamp. He's fine today.
We went through this last year with Jake, another rooster. My original two, Zeus and Odin, get along with each other just fine. Zeus used to be the top roo, but Odin battled him and won. Now that Odin is top rooster, he leaves Zeus alone for the most part, although he's been known to peck Zeus once in a while, but he never persists. Jake made it his life's mission to hurt Zeus and we had to finally dispatch him with a shotgun because he was so wild we couldn't catch him. I'm pretty sure Chicklet was Jake's progeny. And the five teenage roos from last summer's hatch are probably all Jake's, too. They still think Zeus is their "mommy," so they don't pick on him, but they're starting to fight with each other and they're not even 5 months old yet. Or maybe it's just because there are too many of them. So far, I've only had one new rooster at a time, and they don't start becoming a problem until after they're a year old (except Chicklet started early).
So there will be more chicken dinners to come, and sooner rather than later. Right now Chicklet is chilling out in the fridge, and we'll have him for dinner in a day or two. And Zeus is NOT bloody today, and is acting normally for the first time in a month. In fact, this morning when I opened the coop, Zeus and Odin were perched so close they were touching each other. Zeus was on a lower rung, of course, but Odin's thigh and tail were touching Zeus' shoulder, and they were just fine together.
Rich told me that if Odin ever did decide to harass Zeus, I was going to have to make a hard choice and let him die, but I won't. If it comes down to it, I'd rather eat Odin. Zeus is the nicest and calmest rooster, and if he were completely unopposed, he'd take up his roostering duties again. Rich said he thought he wouldn't, after all he's been through, but I think he's just been pounded on too many times and he doesn't challenge the other roos anymore. If he were the only rooster, life would be peaceful in the chicken coop. So, Odin, you'd better be on your best behavior, you hear?
~Lannie