The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: plumseverywhere on December 25, 2010, 07:14:26 pm
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Coco the (huge!) cochin cockerel was duly delivered yesterday, by santa, for Eloise my 7 year old. did the usual, slipped him in at night so he would know where his house was etc.
by midday one of my rhode rocks had torn his comb and wattle and it was bleeding quite badly (more because of it being a vascular area than the size of the wound I think) so I sprayed him with gentian violet and between trying to cook a large xmas dinner for the family kept a close eye on him, spraying as needed.
He has tried to fight back but he seems like a bit of a gentle giant bless him. am hoping the nastiness will stop soon..
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oh bless i hope he settles in ok, i really like cochins, a friend of mine has quiet a few they are lovely very comical :wave:
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Our first cockerel got a really hard time from the six hens we had at the time. He was called Henry (six wives) and was a huge, beautiful Buff Sussex but boy, did those girls beat him up. Dan said it was like putting a porn star into a convent ;D He was getting so beaten up, we let them out sooner than planned and they all ran away and left him, poor boy. Henry nae pals. They soon grew to love him though. ;D
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:) thanks for the replies. fingers crossed they will also learn to love this one, even my hubby is feeling stressed about it and he doesn't 'do' livestock !
just went to let them birds out and the cockerel seemingly wanted a lie-in so hopefully he won't be an early cock-a-doo-do-doo-a!!
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we had a lovely OEPF cockeral once, then after a year got 20 ex-laying hens, all completely free range, but they picked on him severely and wud make him cry. he use to hide under the car all day so we sadly rehomed him in the end. if he needs protection u cud put him in a large crate during day so they could see him but not hurt him for a week or so, and put him in with them at night when its dark. goodluck. try anti-pecking spray cos that really works, got it in my mouth by accident once, absolutely foul, (excuse the pun) il find out brand name cos def worth it, once hens taste the blood, theyl keep pecking, good luck
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oh no!! make him cry?! that's conjured such a sad image in my head!!
well coco has come out of this stronger. he's taking no nonsense from the ladeeez at all now! he stands back while they get treats but if they try to interupt while he has his feed, they get a peck.
bless him, he won't go to bed himself until he's put all of them to bed and still no noise from him ;)
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Great to hear that Coco isn't a clown after all. Really good to know that he is now holding his own. There is something totally sad to see a cock bird bashed about.
Good on y', Coco.
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it is as sad as seeing a man hepecked...... ;)
both look so sad wanting to escape
:chook:
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or a bull heifer pecked
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am starting to think that's why hubby had so much sympathy (?empathy??) for the cockerel!!
no, coco is doing good. he has a regular girlfriend now and the whole flock tend to follow him about so all is well currently.
best bit is, they've started laying really well! 7 eggs today from 13 hens which for december can't be bad?! tony reckons they are trying to impress coco ::)
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thats great for December- well done girls!
share a photo of him on here, he's so handsome (Coco I mean, though I'm sure Tony is as well) ;) ::)
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LOL! well here he is, stood outside the broody coop (could it be a sign?!)
(http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af154/itsbaaathtime/P251210_1242.jpg)
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gosh he is a beautiful big boy....... ;)
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hehe, he is indeedy ;) that's rusty the little goldline that shares a coop with him and snuggles next to him all day :love:
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Lovely ;D ;D He doesn't have the big tail feathers, is that the breed or is he still young?
Good he's settled in alright. Our girls never fought with the boys because they knew them from toddlerhood. then they grew up and started bossing the girls around ::)
Wow for your eggs - we've not had one for 4 weeks! :chook: :&>
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I don't know about the tailfeathers - will have to do some research - he did have one sticking up but it got pulled out ::)
the only research I have done so far was based on how would a cochin cockerel fit in with small children and how noisy do they tend to be LOL and I was chuffed to bits to keep getting the words 'placid' 'cuddly' 'quiet' 'comical' come up. I do insist that the children only ever come in with me though as its not worth the risk and he is almost as big as Scarlett my 3 year old.
only 3 eggs yesterday but still very pleased with that!!
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my cockeral is waiting for his tail feathers to grow back after his moult. when we first had chickens, our pullets were not keen on leaving their house to go outside, after a few weeks we got a cockeral and instantly they felt safe and would go out and explore. its nice to see their interaction. hes lovely tho.