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- Jul 17, 2007
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are too much?
Roosters have harems (to those of you who are not in the know). They will fight to the death to defend them and or their right to mate them. However, too few hens and the roosters have a tendency to kill the hens what with their medially facing spurs and the jabbing of their backs and thighs. I had to off two roosters in the last few weeks because of this. (eating rooster stew as I type) We are left with one rooster who actually was hatched on our farm. He's half arucauna, 1/4 Red Star, 1/4 Turken if you know about chicken breeds. He's old for a chicken, 3-4 years, but he's nice to his hens. I'm still nursing one of the mangled hens back to health by taking her food and water three times a day. It's been 9 days since I offed Cochin and she's very slowly improving. Rooster Turken stops by and nuzzles her, rubbing his beak against hers, but doesn't raper her, like Brahma and Cochin did. My wife says Turken is, "nice," simply because his spurs face posteriorly, but he is gentler as I watch him.
I've come to a conclusion. A rooster needs 8 hens. Fewer than 8 and the roosters will kill the hens, one by one. Chicken rape is a not often written about topic. I think it mostly has to do with poultry practices in the US where humans factory raise all the eggs that they can for sale as chicks. That propagates bad genes. I think Turken is nice because he's nice, and not just because his spurs face posteriorly.
Roosters have harems (to those of you who are not in the know). They will fight to the death to defend them and or their right to mate them. However, too few hens and the roosters have a tendency to kill the hens what with their medially facing spurs and the jabbing of their backs and thighs. I had to off two roosters in the last few weeks because of this. (eating rooster stew as I type) We are left with one rooster who actually was hatched on our farm. He's half arucauna, 1/4 Red Star, 1/4 Turken if you know about chicken breeds. He's old for a chicken, 3-4 years, but he's nice to his hens. I'm still nursing one of the mangled hens back to health by taking her food and water three times a day. It's been 9 days since I offed Cochin and she's very slowly improving. Rooster Turken stops by and nuzzles her, rubbing his beak against hers, but doesn't raper her, like Brahma and Cochin did. My wife says Turken is, "nice," simply because his spurs face posteriorly, but he is gentler as I watch him.
I've come to a conclusion. A rooster needs 8 hens. Fewer than 8 and the roosters will kill the hens, one by one. Chicken rape is a not often written about topic. I think it mostly has to do with poultry practices in the US where humans factory raise all the eggs that they can for sale as chicks. That propagates bad genes. I think Turken is nice because he's nice, and not just because his spurs face posteriorly.