It’s Official: Two Roosters
Meet my two roosters, Sunshine and Chestnut.
I’ve known Chestnut (an Ameraucana) was male for a long time. I never really doubted because he acts roosterish. He now has longish, pointed tail feathers and a golden mane of neck feathers that he puffs out when he’s showing you how bad he is. I’m seeing some lovely green irridescence in some of his feathers, too. He has a striking appearance, though I don’t know if I’d call him handsome. Perhaps he is still an awkward youngster? He’s … kind of scruffy.
I was pretty sure Sunshine was a boy early on, too, because he started developing a big red wattle and comb early on and the other Buff Prpington chick, Buttercup, did not. You can see them both in the photo below. They look pretty different, don’t they? And yet, I hoped he was a she. But, it’s official as of yesterday: Sushine is definitely a cockerel. I heard and saw him crowing in a kind of teenage-trying-this-cock-a-doodle-dooing-thing-on-for-size way.
So, out of ten chicks we have raised since February 17, we have two roosters. Not great odds, if you ask me. Honestly, we didn’t want roosters at all. And I’m not at all sure what we’ll do with them. My boys say that killing and eating them is out of the question, even though that’s probably Ian’s preference. There is a slight chance that the two will get along even as adults; it does occasionally happen. But more likely, they will begin to compete for the affections of the hens.
May 27, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Well, I feel for your boys, and I don’t know if I have the constitution to actually kill and dress a chicken for table.
The rooster could just “go away” (to a butcher) and then make a mystery cameo appearance in a nice coq au vin one night, could he not?