First rooster

[ohareward]

My cousin ( who lives about an hour and a half away and was coming up to see her son in Christchurch) rang me and asked if I wanted a rooster. She said that she had too many and I could have it. Not lookig a gift horse in the mouth I said yes. I have the hen house finished but only half of the run. She arrived and I put the rooster in the house. Later that afternoon I was putting some food in the house for it and I had the door open. It shot out the door, and she who is to be obeyed and me spent about an hour trying to get it back in. He will be staying in there for 2-3 days to get used to his surroundings. We are going to call him Henry, as in a month's time I will be getting 6 girlfriends for him. Where he came from he was #2 on the pecking order, but here he will be Numero Uno.
He is a big gray and white striped bird and has just got his cocka-doodle-doo.
Long may he reign.

Robin

[Shirley]

Hey... congratulations! He sounds very handsome - do you have a photo?

[ohareward]

Hi Shirlz, No not yet, we will have to borrow the camera from my wife's school, and it is mid term hols. When she goes back Iwill take some pics.

Robin

[Millymollymandy]

Congratulations!

[red]

he's a lucky chap - his cards were marked for coq au vin and now he is top rooster....

[ohareward]

Another drama with Henry. He was happy in his chook run until dusk. I went out to see if he had gone into the chookhouse, where I was going to close the door to the run. When I got there he had flown over the wire netting and settled down for the night in some bushes close by. It was too dark to catch him so I left him there. In the morning we heard him crowing outside our bedfroom window. He was heading for the gate onto a fairly busy road. Luckily it was Sunday and not much traffic. He had gone over the road. I got dressed smartly and grabbed some pellets to entice him back in. I did eventually get him back in the pen. I had visions of him becoming a road kill. He is too young to die. I am going to ring the vet tomorrow to see about having his wings clipped. Friends have said that I could do it myself, but I don't want to make a mistake and make him suffer.

Robin

[farmerdrea]

Hi, Robin -- don't waste your money on the vet -- if you like, I'm going into Rangiora on Tuesday late AM, and I can stop in and show you how to do it. I've done thousands by now (been rearing chooks for over 20 years!), and it's very simple once you've been shown. It will have to be repeated 2x a year, as he moults and regrows his feathers.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[ohareward]

Hi Andrea, thanks for the offer. Looking forward to meeting you.

Robin

[ina]

It was too dark to catch him so I left him there.

Night time is the best time to catch your rooster - my friend always waits until it is dark, then she can just pick them off where they sit perched for the night! Depends, of course. If the bird sits on a 30m high tree, I wouldn't fancy going up the ladder in the dark, either...

[ohareward]

Henry the rooster has now settled down to a routine. Farmerdrea popped in and showed me the way to clip his wings. Thank you Andrea.
About ten minutes before it gets dark he walks up the ramp and into his house and I close the hatch for the night and open it again in the morning. We are hoping to get his six wives early next week. That will be great company for him.

Robin

[farmerdrea]

Very nice to meet you, Ohareward, and Mrs. Ohareward! And thank you so much for the lovely carrots. We had them in a carrot, lentil and chervil soup. Delish!

Cheers
Andrea
Oxford

[Millymollymandy]

I look forward to hearing how he gets on with his wives when they arrive!