Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Country Bill on October 10, 2007, 12:36
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my kids want to get a welsummer cock,are they good natured as i dont want anything too flighty.they already have a mix of hens, b/rocks, specks and warrens. Thanks Bill.
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they are sometimes bossy , but get a young one and then it will come on ok . i love em :wink: .the welsuumer will throw some strange mixes if you breed the hens with him .but the cockerals will eat and the hens will lay :wink:
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To be honest I don't know a lot about keeping cocks. However my father in law has had quite a few, 1 of which was a welsummer, and he got very protective over "his" girls. Every time my father in law wanted to check the hens for mites etc and picked one up, he was subjected to "Jacko" showing his great displeasure in this.
I don't know if this is the "norm" but thats my experience.....
Good Luck
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the cocks doing what comes natural but care should be taken when dealing witht them ,despurring the cockerel helps prevent any damage to yourself and the hens .its a simple process and totally pain free ,training a cock to back off starts at an early age , making yourself bigger worked in my flocks, any cockerel that got stroppy was quickly dealt with iether by throwing water over it or by using a crush board used by pig breeders to control pigs by blocking the pigs sight , a 2ft x 2ft piece of ply will do with a handle hole cut in it .. really aggresive cockerals have only one place to go and thats " casserole " incidently i had a rather large turkey stag would attack anybody else including dogs cows etc .but it would sit on my lap while i stroked its head and wattles :lol: :lol:
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would he do better in the hen pen or would he be better to free range with the couple of warrens that roam about.
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which ever you choose but id always free range birds if possible , :wink:
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Thank you ,what sort of price should i pay.
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its like buying a new puppy firstly dont just pay n go .. you want this years birds not some old rooster thats been looking for its pension book ,take some time to look around the place look at the set up and the birds themselves .do they look content and feeding or are they layed with thier heads low ,do they look healthy ... is there adequate water containers about , dont just take the first bird offered ,ask how many he has on offer , look the bird over well ,check under its wings is it full of mites n ticks .are its legs clean no scales bursting up from the leg.clear eyes and no snotty nose ,feel the wieght of the bird is it heavy or very light ,feel the keel bone for a cockerel it should have good meat on there . are its feathers clean around its butt , satisfied pay the man and ask for a gaurantee that you will get a new bird or a refund within 21 days if this one dies or comes down with illness .. you will of course keep the cockerel away from your own birds for this time ... so tell him so .... yes say thanks shake his hand . no ....... cya mate :wink:
oh and always ,,,,,, ALWAYS WALK AWAY FROM A SELLER WHO WONT LET YOU SE HIS / HER BIRDS
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cheers, i will let you know how i get on.
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£10 for a good bird bill :lol:
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I have a wellie cockerel and a Buff Orpington cockerel they are both daft as a brush, as Munty says get them young and they are great
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This is one ofmy lovely and very friendly Salmon Favorelle cockerels - he is only about 5mths and very tame cant recommend this breed enough- he is quite nosy as you can tell :lol: !!
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t122/Kelly_Katherine/septchickpics07015-1.jpg)
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i l-o-v-e the photo!!! :lol:
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Thank you!!
His name is Bigfoot and I think he is very much shows what a healthy happy bird should look like - I think you can really see his personalty in the photo. I have raised him from an egg -you can see him as a chick in one of my earlier posts! :)
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bill, did you source a cockerel? I have some beautiful welsummers - parents are beautiful (no joke), they are about 2 months old, off heat, and yoy are welcome to one or two (3 or 4) cockerels if you like. pm me if you are interested - no money required. not too far away
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this is Welllington my Wellie cockerel
(http://shutter14.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/11/002/3B/5F/41/FA/rLY+a9tYhoxDOr1xOcqMXA+dDdtBdZ9W0300.jpg)
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he's a cracker ,2yrs old?
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No hatched this year. still a baby really not crowing yet, is this because I have other cock birds maybe? He is very quiet just chatters really.
Eggs I got off Ebay :) Hatched 7th of june
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he is goodun then :wink:
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He is lovely to look at bit of a loner but follows me round, My Orpie cockerel is devoted follows me everywhere comes running when he hears my landie :)
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:lol: :lol: had a flipping goose did same :lol:
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got 2 " flippin gooses" do the same Munty :lol: :lol: :lol: feel like the Pied Piper some days glad its birds not kids though!!
Bill how about these:
Rhode Island, this is Gary he is very gentle and cute but still a baby
(http://shutter13.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/13/007/4E/57/50/59/sgu1+S+qwg1G-HWKHHIxBhrYFVhDZde70300.jpg)
Mr Darcy Orpington not quite pure buff, he is moulting here looks a lot better now :oops:
(http://shutter14.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/14/008/31/6E/1E/ED/Z+4UUrTKzY-SHaSmwxnEb7VVxXa2vLwY0300.jpg)
or this Gold Lace orpington - Samson is still young but huge, doesn't look it in this photo though
(http://shutter13.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/13/006/3D/AF/62/30/DvbJwYIyxDX+E50QnOCKGRcKQ9T0hIiH0300.jpg)