Friday 12 August 2016

What a Difference a Year Makes


This is Jack at the moment. 

 Resplendent in all his adult Lavender Pekin Bantam plumage and knowing full well how wonderful he is.  He's a confident and caring cockerel, and as I told you yesterday when I went in with the scarecrow and the chickens all ran for their lives, he was quick to gather his ladies together and lead them to safety away from the strange thing that had entered Chicken World with the human that feeds them.


Exactly this time last year here he is with sister Jill and Mum, Mother Goose.  
He's the one furthest away on the photo.


He always knows who's where and who's doing what on his patch, and is always quick to come and check things over if anything new appears or any of the girls start calling out and squawking.  Like any good cockerel if there are tasty morsels and new food to be had he calls his ladies over and lets them have first pick.


He has some pretty large wives to contend with, but at last they all recognise him as the leader of the flock now which is nice.  It took him a while, especially with the biggest girls, the Black Marans.


The one place he never goes into during the day is the henhouse, leaving it to his ladies to have a peaceful sit in the nesting boxes when they feel the need to lay an egg.  If there is any noise from the house he will go up the ramp and peer in but it seems to be a 'girls only' place during daylight hours as far as he's concerned.


His sister Jill and her best friend Ebony are still sitting together in one nesting box.  

They are not laying eggs at the moment as their window for hatching out chicks in good weather is almost over and Pekin Bantams have a very short laying period as they are such small birds.

All is peaceful in Chicken World at the moment, which is just how I like it ... and no doubt just how Jack likes it too :-)

Sue xx


15 comments:

  1. Lovely chicken post Sue. They seem a really happy flock (and so they should be with their lovely home). Love the photos. Have a good weekend. Regards, Louise S, Cheshire.

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  2. Wow how interesting I would never of thought that chickens are so like that what a nice article. I so love to hear your stories Sue they are so enlightening and too so well written.

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  3. What a lovely chicken-y post. I didn't realise cockerels look after the hens so well. I learn something from your posts all the time :)

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  4. Great post, very illuminating...I love learning new things!

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  5. I really enjoyed reading this and looking at the photos.
    Do you need a cockerel to have chickens that lay eggs for you ?
    Or can you just have a few ladies to lay eggs ?
    You Jack seems so nice and takes care of his ladies.
    I have read blogs where the cockerels are mean to the other chickens.

    cheers, parsnip and thehamish

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    1. No you don't need a cockerel for your hens to lay eggs. Hens have a cycle of producing eggs the same as we women do, only theirs isn't monthly it's approximately 25 hourly. They have a fixed number of eggs that they lay in their lifetime and then its into retirement.

      Cockerels are there fertilise the eggs as well as making the flock a more cohesive unit. One mating means the eggs that hen lays will be fertile for up to 10 days, but an egg will only develop into a chick after a few days of sustained heat, for example in an incubator or with a broody hen sat on it. They sit for 21 days to allow the chick to complete it's development and be ready to hatch out.

      As well as being good cockerels Pekin Bantams make really good mothers 😊

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  6. Jack is a very handsome rooster!

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  7. Your cockerel sounds like a real gentleman. It is nice to see a cockerel taking care of his girls, and we had one once who would spend ages showing the hens new egg laying spots!

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  8. I've just caught up on the last couple of weeks, everything looks amazing, I love the chickens.

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  9. What a handsome fellow. I had no idea that roosters looked after the flock like that

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  10. You obviously are having much more luck with your hens than I did. My Marans refused to lay, and were eventually killed by next door's 3 marauding dogs.

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  11. You obviously are having much more luck with your hens than I did. My Marans refused to lay, and were eventually killed by next door's 3 marauding dogs.

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