Our newest addition - Manny :)

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I just have to share my new guy with other chicken fans. We slipped him into the coop Saturday night and my girls woke up with him on Sunday morning. They all act like they've been together forever. The hens just follow him around, singing to him and he struts and postures and calls them over to check out some particularly tasty morsel he finds for them. He has begun crowing and I love the sound of it. Oh and he is a gold laced Wyandotte, a breed of chickens I've always wanted. The hens are Red Sussex crosses a first generation cross of Rhode Island Red and Columbia Rock that one of the hatcheries offers. The hens have been laying almost a month now and the 5 of them give me a pretty consistent 3 eggs a day which is more than I can use but I am happy to share with family and friends who like them. Anyway, here's Manny

 

[laughingllama75]

He is handsome! I have a couple GLW hens, and they sure do stand out in my mixed flock of 30+. A beautiful breed they are!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Thanks

he is certainly sure of that too (as any self respecting rooster would be

) The people I got Manny from had a few hens (which unfortunately they had no inclination to part with

) I like both the silver and the gold but gold is my favourite. I am looking forward to eventually hatching some eggs and seeing if the lacing shows on any chicks. Manny doesn't show a great deal of lacing... a little on his breast ... but the hens show it almost over the entire body. I'm not sure how well the Wyandottes lay , I understand them to be a decent dual purpose bird that has a quiet nature. Of course Manny doesn't need to worry about laying eggs lol but he is for sure quiet and that rose comb will be less likely to get frost bitten in our cold winters if the power goes out and the heat fails in the winter coop.

 

[susanne]

Too cute! I love our GLWs.

 

[ozymandias]

Oh he's very handsome...lucky ladies

I don't know anything about chickens...why do you have a male? I though you'd want unfertilized eggs? Are you breeding or do the hens produce more with a rooster around? Wish I had chickens...they are so sweet.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Well sweet isn't always a word that describes chickens, they can be pretty brutal at times. Still, I love the sound of a rooster crowing and hens singing is the most contented sound I know. Why do I have a rooster?.. well the eggs are the same to us whether they are fertilized or not, the hens do not (in my experience) lay more with a rooster around - in fact if it is an aggressive roo he'll upset them and they may lay less.I have a male for 2 reasons really, I love the look and sound of a rooster and I hope to hatch some of the eggs eventually and sell a few fertilized eggs in the spring when others are looking to hatch a few. I don't plan to keep chickens on a large scale, just my few - never more than 10- hens and a rooster. They are a lot of work to keep the pens clean if there are a lot of them. I prefer a few and a clean sweet smelling coop that doesn't take me an hour or more to clean. With my few I can clean my coop in about 15 minutes, out with old bedding/droppings and walls swept down, new bedding layed and fresh water in the waterer.

 

[ozymandias]

Thanks for the explanation.

Don't you just love seeing your critters in nice clean homes all snuggled up in fresh straw

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Funny isn't it. It is just like watching your children all snuggled into clean sheets with clean jammies after a bath lol.

 

[ozymandias]

Yes...thats it! Sometimes life's smallest things are the best

 

[Bess Kelly]

He's handsome. I'm fond of the silver laced ones. Have 10 two month old barred rocks, bought as pullet run but -- generally you get a roo or two. Want some Orpingtons and will get them in Spring, after I confirm what sex these are, LOL.

Got 6 guineas from my friend from a late hatch. She had some whites, some pearls. In Spring she had a white hatch out 15 all white but, I wasn't able to take them then (DRATS!!!!!) So when she found this white hen on a nest, she kept her protected and she had obviously been sneaking around with a gray male. Hatched all pieds. I took 6 and she kept 7 as a fox had gotten some of her adults. I really want some whites, so will get a couple hens, once I can determine what sexes I have.....

They are just starting to sound, and I know that I have at least ONE hen, LOL. They are also about 2 months and are just learning to sound off well.

I love to have the chickens and this will be first time for guineas but, always wanted them. My little "girls" are so friendly and love to be picked up. I'm going to check their saddle feathers to see if they are round or pointed, to decide which sex -- hen or roo. They have some nice full feathers now, so should be able to tell. Wish me luck!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I've never had guineas, not sure if they are able to handle our climate. I've heard they are good at cleaning up ticks but ticks are not really a big problem here usually. I did find ticks on a moose calf that died near our house (in the forested area nearby) and some years the moose are really run down because of a heavy infestation but mostly we don't see them and I've never found one on the horses (probably species specific) dogs or us other than that one time when the tick came off the moose calf onto me eeeew! Do they have any other benefits? I've always wanted peacocks/hens but the cocks are LOUD and we struggle to keep the foxes/coyotes from eating our birds and I'd be really choked if I paid the $$ for a pair and the foxes ate them. Of course I paid nearly as much for this rooster since the previous owner when asked how much they wanted said..." oh, just make a donation to the equine rescue" LOL, that guaranteed I was going to pay way to much but at least I'm happy with the way the money was used, kind of a win win thing (unless you ask my husband who was shocked that I'd spend that much for a rooster lol)

 

[jacks'thunder]

What a handsome boy! I have some SLW hens and they are kinda crazy! LOL!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Crazy? Manny is the calmest rooster I've ever seen. he is a bit tense about the dogs and cat and warns his girls they might be in danger when they approach the pen but I can walk up to him anytime to give him a pet. His previous owner used to snuggle him. Lol, I'm too much a farmer to snuggle with my rooster I guess but she did and he would just bury his head into her chest and snuggle back. How are your girls crazy? I'm hoping someday to add some gold and silver laced hens so would like to be forewarned if they are flighty.

 

[Kendra]

My friend has gold and silver laced wyandottes, and they're sure not crazy - also silver penciled, so beautiful! If I had room for another breed .... ;-)

Manny is very handsome! I love my Partridge Chantecler rooster, he's so gorgeous, and so interactive. Rupert talks to me whenever I'm out there, happy little "boop boop" noises.

I just got my tiny flock in May and I am enjoying them so much. I have two more hens coming at the end of the month ... it would be awfully easy to become a crazy chicken lady, I think! Good thing I'm already a crazy horse lady, and there's only so much crazy to go around ...

 

[Jill]

I love him!!!

H and I picked up a mare from some friends on Monday and they have chickens. We would like to get some, too, maybe in the spring. I think they'd be so neat to have around!!!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

LMAO Kendra, what is wrong with being a crazy chicken lady too? and you have plenty of space

They are remarkably nice 'pets' and the hens supply eggs as a bonus.

Jill, it has been years since I had chickens other than meat birds (a whole other thing from the dual purpose breeds) and I am loving it. Nothing like listening to Manny announce he is awake and on duty and the sound of happy chickens is so heart warming (to me at least) I love to hear my girls sing. My 5 happy hens are just about the right number for me and once the pup is settled down and not wanting to 'play' with everything I will try to let them free range at least part of the time. Sasha is pretty good but I won't trust her around them loose until she matures a bit.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I will gladly trade my Joey for your Manny. Lol. Congrats, he's beautiful.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Crazy? Manny is the calmest rooster I've ever seen. he is a bit tense about the dogs and cat and warns his girls they might be in danger when they approach the pen but I can walk up to him anytime to give him a pet. His previous owner used to snuggle him. Lol, I'm too much a farmer to snuggle with my rooster I guess but she did and he would just bury his head into her chest and snuggle back. How are your girls crazy? I'm hoping someday to add some gold and silver laced hens so would like to be forewarned if they are flighty.

My friend has gold and silver laced wyandottes, and they're sure not crazy -

Well gosh I must be the lucky one who got all the crazy SLW!! These girls are the only ones who have tested the hot wire on the horse fence, fly past my head at feeding time, and will run and scream if you try to pick them up. Also I have found them on top of my coop, doing the death walk around the edge of my pool and have come in to the garage to visit my husband! None of my others do any of that. Maybe I'm the crazy one! lol! Out of 8 different varities of these lovely ladies those girls have the others beat! Sweet if they are in the nest sitting on eggs though! Maybe I should call them The Dare Devils, not the Steves! LOL!!(Steve Radar, Steve Sideways Tail, and Steeeeve! Lol!)

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

LOL, jacks'thunder, maybe its something in the air there.

Kanoasdestiny, heaven's no! Nothing could convince me to make that trade , your joey is a very lucky bird because he sure wouldn't have gotten special living arrangements here. I really enjoy my chickens but I would NOT (can't stress that enough), tolerate any rooster as aggressive as yours. I was raised by farmers and learned at my parents knee that there are some animals that don't make the grade because of temperament. We wouldn't tolerate a vicious dog, an aggressive bull or a nasty stallion and a rooster would be no different.

There are so many truly nice animals out there that keeping (and worse using it for breeding) a bad tempered one wasn't even considered so mean roosters ended in the pot, mean stallions were gelded and the bulls were turned to dinner too. I am pretty much a push over for the most part but much to practical to tolerate your Joey. I still haven't decided if I think you are the most kind hearted person ever or completely crazy . Sorry don't mean to offend but from what you told us that is one mean bird and I have never seen any rooster that bad. Of course we don't have rooster fighting here either so that may be the reason.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I still haven't decided if I think you are the most kind hearted person ever or completely crazy . Sorry don't mean to offend but from what you told us that is one mean bird and I have never seen any rooster that bad.

No offense taken. He's pushing his limits, that's for sure.