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He’s a beautiful rooster.
He’s a nice rooster. To me.
I’m not afraid of him.
He has never attacked me, stalked me, threatened me, watched me the way Mean Rooster did.
He’s gorgeous….and makes for gorgeous photos.
He spends a lot of time on the porch….
….often in the company of the crooked little hen.
He looks real comfy there, doesn’t he?
I spend a lot of time chasing him off the porch and trying to keep him off, but Dookie and Boomer need to come and go from the porch and Dr. Jekyll and the crooked little hen take advantage and sneak back up.
Gentlemanly as he is to me, he’s not really a nice rooster. He’s also Mr. Hyde.
He’s mean to the other roosters. He’s a mistake in a batch of (we hoped) sexed chicks from the spring. I originally thought he was a male Golden Comet, but I believe he’s a White Leghorn now that he’s grown. He’s the one I called Refund. Mean Rooster ran him around the yard and put him in his place back then. Here he is in his younger days, shortly after his chicken yard graduation.
He had yet to grow into his wattle and comb back then, but Mr. Hyde plotted and planned and bided his time while Mean Rooster ruled the roost with his steely beak. And when Mean Rooster was gone, Mr. Hyde took over.
Most of the time, I let the roosters settle their own business. Chickens have a pecking order and I feel it’s best in most cases to leave them alone to conduct their affairs according to their nature. I watch them, when I can. Of course, I can’t watch them all the time. But….
Several weeks ago, not long after Mean Rooster died, I was sitting on the porch and had my camera in my hand. I saw Mr. Hyde chasing one of the red roosters. I take photos and video all the time–you never know what’s going to happen with animals. Sometimes it turns out cute and I use it. More often than not, it turns out to be nothing and it never sees the light of day. I shot this video from the porch in a sort of random mode at the time. I just happened to be there and Mr. Hyde just happened to be chasing another rooster. You’ll notice that in the first half of the video, I’m recording from the porch. Around the middle of the video, you’ll see I’ve moved down to the gate of the goat yard. By that point, I was getting worried about the red rooster and was deciding whether or not to intervene. In the last section of the video, I’ve gone through the gate and followed Mr. Hyde and the red rooster into the goat pen. The red rooster was trying to hide under an old table the goats climb on while Mr. Hyde was pecking him to death. I hesitated for a few more seconds, flashbacking to Mean Rooster, considering whether or not intervening in the middle of one rooster establishing his dominance over another rooster was going to result in an attack on me and whether or not I needed to find a broom or rake before intervening. Eventually I decided to go ahead and I kicked Mr. Hyde away from the red rooster with my boot. He didn’t turn any of his aggression on me at all. With me, he’s Dr. Jekyll all the way.
WARNING: This is a video of real roosters acting like real roosters. They aren’t nice to each other. You may not want to watch.
I discovered that the red rooster had been bleeding when I looked down at my jeans after I’d carried him to the chicken yard.
For his safety, I shut him up in the chicken yard for the rest of that day.
He recovered just fine, by the way, though I believe if I hadn’t rescued him, Mr. Hyde would have killed him. I would have just found the red rooster under that little table and would have had no idea what happened to him. I haven’t seen Mr. Hyde go after him again, and I figure it was just part of settling the new pecking order post-Mean Rooster. But, the entire incident has left me wondering ever since……
Did Mr. Hyde kill Mean Rooster?
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Hyde looks more like a Delaware or possibly a Colombian Rock to me. A Leghorn rooster would be pure white and not as big as a Rhode Island Red rooster. Refund is a good name. I like it. I hope he was an extra that was tossed in the box and not one they made you pay for.
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It sounds to me as though you may have found the culprit that did in Mean Rooster, it may be that Mr. Hyde is much more of a problem than poor Mean Rooster,–is it proper give roosters as a New Years Gift? Is there a home somewhere for wayward roosters? Just sayin—-
JO
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Thank you, Suzanne, for the warning regarding content of the video. I know it’s nature and all that but I don’t like to see things like that. Too tender-hearted or something I guess.
I, too, would keep the roosters apart.
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It’s too bad their nature makes them so aggressive. I’m so glad you decided to intervene and save Red Rooster. Hope he doesn’t come to more harm.
Your photos are beautiful, Suzanne. Mr. Hyde/Mr. Jekyll/Refund does make a handsome subject. Life on the farm is never boring
We have light snow here this morning and 15º. The birds are hungry!
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~Jenny~
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Susan
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He is one beautiful rooster though. I especially like the 5th picture down………..
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I told you so Suzanne….Mr. Hyde did not necessarily kill Mean Rooster aka incarnate “sweet cheeks”…remember when he passed and you found him, just a lump of mean roo …You would have seen signs of Rooster dominion (blood droplets,etc.) as you saw in your red roo just after a few minutes…if he had been killed by Mean Roo..you would have known it for sure…
Mean Rooster is back! The incarnation is Mr. Hyde!…Since you have so many roosters, his meaness is deferred at this point to dominion of the flock….better hope he doesn’t kill all your roos and change his aggression…WATCH HIM!
PS…I’m sorry to say that I think his love of the porch and(you) is so he can keep better vigilance over the flock…I’ts one of Mean Roos tactics….
PS..The mystery is how did “Mean Roo” change over again,…well, sometimes meaness can cause their demise…and….maybe he just wanted a change of venue or a new feathered outfit..or both.. happens..his comb wasn’t the prettiest and Spring will be springing soon….
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I only raise hens, no roosters, so I’m not sure what could have happened to your other rooster, but Mr. Hyde does not seem very nice…..
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Rodney King, May 1, 1992
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Oh by the way, I posted something today (12/30) on my blog that I am sure you will be interested in, due to your fantastic photography.
And, if any other of your readers love photography and contests, they may want to stop by too!
Thanks!
http://myretirementchronicles.blogspot.com
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Happy New Year!
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Love your blog even if I don’t comment very often.
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http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html
I think you have a Sex Linked (Golden Comet) rooster. That would make sense given what you ordered and the color of your rooster as a chick and now as an adult. They are the result of mating a Rhode Island Red rooster with a Delaware hen. The resulting hens are mostly red while the rooster offspring look more like their Delaware mothers.
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joycee at grannymountain
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“I have a pot just YOUR size, mister!”
It may be why he’s soooo nice to you … struts and schmoozes on your porch. Just keeping a careful eye. On the chickens and you. Calculating Mr. Hyde. Tsk, you know that name is going to stick far better than Refund … come on, he took out one roo, he owes you chicken ‘n dumplings [evil cackle].