Sometimes things don’t work the way we think.
When little chicks are bought from a feed store or hatchery, those who sell them do their best to figure out the sex. They determine male and female by the feather structure I’m told.
This past year, I bought 20 baby chicks from a feed store and ordered 23 from a Texas hatchery. The 20 were purchased in February and the 23 came in a small box by way of USPS mail during the summer.
Those from the feed store were all supposed to be future hens but 3 from the hatchery were to be roosters. I did it that way to provide a rooster for each breed purchased. Buster, a Buff Orpington was my only rooster at the time so I did not order a Buff roo.
Having too many roosters can be a problem. Calvin, formerly named “Callie” because we thought it was a girl, and Dusty, another “we thought it was a girl roo” are two Americauna roosters that came with my purchase from the hatchery. I only needed one of that breed and having two has caused a huge hoopla.
So, this week, I thought I would take one of the roo’s, Dusty, to my dad’s where there are about 10 free ranging chickens on the land. I had been letting him free range on my property to give the girls in the coop a rest, but I thought it would be better for him to have a lot of girls to run with and it seemed like such a good idea.
Yesterday, I caught and crated him and off we went to his new home. When we drove onto the property there were already several hens in the yard and it seemed to be a made in heaven situation. I was so excited and Dusty seemed to be as well because when I opened the cage, he slipped out quickly and crowed as if he owned the place. After feeding him, providing water and giving him time to adjust, I left with the thought I’d come back at the close of the day.
It just happened to be a time that I was working on my dad’s property so as I worked out near the yard, I saw a white rooster and a handful of hens pecking away. I was so excited to see “Dusty” with his new friends and it seemed to be going oh-so-well.
At the close of the day, I drove up to the property to find Dusty sand bathing by himself and as I looked to the far off field, I saw another roosters that looked similar to Dusty with a load of hens. What I realized was that Dusty was probably all alone all day long and the hens that had been there must have left him. I was pained!
And no! I did not leave him there. I grabbed him up, hugged him and told him I loved him and took him back home where he will free range in our yard and go into the coop in safety at night. He seemed so happy to leave and I know he was happy to be home because he crowed like crazy. I was happy too.
Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we think.
Josie
