farm life
Males right and centre, female left at seven weeks old
Too Many Cockerals!
Tamsin Cooper is a smallholder and writer with a keen interest in animal behaviour and welfare
By Tam s
in Coop er
www.goatwriter.com
HATCHING YOUR OWN CHICKS? YOU’LL NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR SOME TO GROW INTO COCKERELS
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adly for them, too many cockerels really do spoil the flock, unless you have enough hens for each of them. Experts recommend an average of ten hens to every male. Fewer than that can lead to fighting cocks and overworked hens with tattered feathers where they are so often trodden by ardent mates. Last year, our hens hatched a few of their own chicks. Two hens each brooded five eggs. Each clutch had their own minihouse-and-run to protect them from predators. We figured that would result in four or five new hens and about the same number of cockerels. Males have a reputation for fighting; rarely can they live peacefully in a small flock once mature. However, our resident male, Pablo, is a gentle soul who lived harmoniously with his brothers until he came to us at about a
36 etcetera
year old. I had also read that brothers were more tolerant and less hostile. First Signs of Cockerel-Hood As some eggs turned out to be infertile, one hen hatched two chicks and the other three. Maternal hormones kicked in and each hen began to protect and teach her chicks the ways of chicken-hood: foraging, drinking, dust-bathing and perching. These skills they picked up almost immediately, and they soon began bouncing around in play and perching on low branches. Within the first couple of weeks, male chicks start running, leaping and sparring. So we could see that two of the threesome were likely to be male. It was not until the twosome were six weeks old that we recognised signs that one was a cockerel. Barbarossa we called him, as his chest was rich brown (it means “red beard”). He had very sturdy legs and
small wattles and comb, as opposed to his sister, whose comb was still only just visible. But chickens develop at different rates and at nine weeks, his comb and wattles were still quite small. By this time, he was attempting to crow. Meanwhile, within the trio, one chick grew substantial wattles and comb at only four weeks old and started crowing at five. His brother had small but distinct wattles and comb by seven weeks old, while their sister had virtually none. Rapid Early Learning When the chicks reached four weeks old, we allowed them supervised outings, so that they could get familiar with the flock and range while under mother-hen’s protection. This meant keeping our large bouncy cat indoors while the small chicks found their way around safely. They quickly learned to use perches and bushes
