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Chicken keepers

Meet others keeping chickens on our Mumsnet Chicken forum.

Let's have a cockerel appreciation thread.

46 replies

TopCatsTopHat · 18/10/2021 17:46

This is King Eric The Magnificent and I love him to bits. He is a fantastic partner and dad to his hens and chicks. He is a diligent look-out for danger and in 4 years we have never lost a hen or chick to any fox or other predator. He leads his 12 hens round the field's to forage, and gives them most of the snacks he finds alerting then with his special 'I've got food' noise (he has been seen to pluck berries and put them in the beak of his ladies), he keeps watch while they're head down eating giving danger calls if he sees something suspicious. If a hen is laying for the first time (he's older than all of them) he will recognise her anxious signals, croon to her and lead her to a safe place, demonstrate a safe position and then stand guard crooning lullabies to her, he's very good at settling the nerves of a worried first time layer. He is a polite lover by cockerel standards. He also liked falling asleep on my dd's knee during maths in lockdown home schooling, which was a lovely soothing way to learn maths for her when she was missing being at school. He is also very beautiful.
I adore this cockerel.
Come and tell me your Wonderful Cockerel stories. 😍🐔🐓🐥❤️

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WaltzingBetty · 18/10/2021 17:47

Just wants to say I love this post!

TopCatsTopHat · 18/10/2021 17:49

Thank you! So glad you think so, I just wanted to share his glory, as he won't last forever and maybe he's one of a kind, or maybe there are others... I would love to hear of other marvellous chaps out there. Grin

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Mossstitch · 18/10/2021 17:58

If only we could find men like that🐓🤔😂

TopCatsTopHat · 18/10/2021 17:59

Totally!!! He's a responsible father and a caring husband. 🤣🤣 No ltb here!

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Heyha · 18/10/2021 17:59

I'm jealous, I've only ever had one that wasn't a knobhead and unfortunately he was also the only one I've ever lost to the fox!

TopCatsTopHat · 18/10/2021 18:01

Actually thinking about it, I have mentioned to my daughter that if any future boyfriend is less of a man than our cockerel she should judge him as sub par and get rid. We laughed. Grin

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TopCatsTopHat · 18/10/2021 18:02

@Heyha

I'm jealous, I've only ever had one that wasn't a knobhead and unfortunately he was also the only one I've ever lost to the fox!
Nooooo! That's such a shame! Keeping looking maybe you'll get a good one again.
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Heyha · 18/10/2021 18:07

I'm waiting for the guy I had him from to be selling one the same colour (I keep a rare breed that comes in three colourways for the genetics but only one 'correct') and going to cross my fingers I get lucky again. He was a lovely boy! The ones I've had in the other colours have varied from being tolerable to being so awful they've had to...well, you can imagine.

The worst I ever had was a 'rescue' Silkie though. I felt sorry for him, poor little scruffy thing he was, so took him on as had a small group of mixed bantams without a man at the time- he was vile!

TopCatsTopHat · 18/10/2021 18:11

Oh dear, yes, we have experienced knob head cockerels (some Eric's sons) so I think they're is a part of me that suspects I have a rare gem on my hands. Which makes me love him all the more - he'll be a family legend forever. So many stories of his awesomeness! Rather like my handsome collie in one of the pictures... He was uncle to all the chicks who could perch on his paws. He sadly died last year, much missed.

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TopCatsTopHat · 18/10/2021 18:24

What rare breed do you have Heyha? Mine are mostly colourful crosses with only 4 actual breeds (silkie, light Sussex, leghorn one I have forgotten the name of as it was complicated 😆)

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TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 10:46

Any chicken keepers about today? 😊

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HereticFanjo · 19/10/2021 11:10

I'm not a keeper but I do adore your tribute ❤😁 All Hail King Eric!

Heyha · 19/10/2021 11:17

I have Andalusians (and a few randoms too, they are the workers that lay eggs reliably 😂) they are meant to be flighty but they follow my DD round like puppies (obviously taught her to respect the cockerel even though he was a saint). They only lay about 5 months of the year though so they are a bunch of freeloaders really, but they look nice.

TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 14:23

Had to look up Andalusian chickens - very beautiful 😍 I have a couple with similar body shape which I like, but their plumage is gorgeous.

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TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 14:25

@HereticFanjo

I'm not a keeper but I do adore your tribute ❤😁 All Hail King Eric!
Thank you, he deserves a tribute. Grin
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TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 14:27

Funnily enough, my leghorn is meant to be flighty (similar body shape) but she's a total softy.

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LetsGoBrandon · 19/10/2021 14:44

He's beautiful!! Mine is evil 😅 he tries to attack me on a daily basis..he's handsome though (Derbyshire Redcap).

TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 15:59

Handsome dies buy you a lot of leeway 😂😂 I have a neighbour who has a recipe called Aggressive Cockerel Soup for those whose aggression outweighs their beauty. 😬

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TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 15:59

Does not dies! 🙈

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TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 16:02

Derbyshire redcap colours catch the sun fantastically!

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Tal45 · 19/10/2021 16:06

My neighbours have a cockerel and it makes my life hell. There is another in the village and they complete all day. It literally starts at 5am some days, I've asked them to keep him in till a reasonable time to no avail. So please only own a cockerel if you don't have neighbours, no one would want to hear a dog barking all day from 5am.

Heyha · 19/10/2021 16:49

Must admit I never actually doffed my cap and acknowledged how smashing Eric is... I do like a redcap too! I had a leghorn hen once in a mixed bunch and she was quite opinionated but very clever.

@tal45 that's really unfortunate your neighbour hasn't tried to make their choice of a cockerel in a considerate way, if they're kept in a properly dark house they generally aren't too much of a nuisance til they get let out for the day but as you know it's a myth they only crow in the morning...hopefully the darker days will give you a bit of respite. I'm lucky that my hen house is quite near the middle of my little patch of land and isn't far from the motorway so is fairly ideal for having one lad around the place.

TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 17:13

@Tal45

My neighbours have a cockerel and it makes my life hell. There is another in the village and they complete all day. It literally starts at 5am some days, I've asked them to keep him in till a reasonable time to no avail. So please only own a cockerel if you don't have neighbours, no one would want to hear a dog barking all day from 5am.
Very sorry to hear that! I would not want that at all. In fact I was very wary of getting a cockerel but I only have one neighbour whose walls are a metre thick and he's deaf, I still don't let him out until 7 at earliest and he's in a coop in a barn, so I'm confident he doesn't bother anyone (the cow neighbours live him, cos are SO curious 😆) . My next nearest neighbour is quarter of a mile away. I would certainly not subject someone to the nuisance you are having. They do compete! It's a territorial call so naturally they announce their presence whenever the other does. Your neighbours are clearly very inconsiderate!
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TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 17:20

Heyha my leghorn is my most clever chicken too. My least clever chicken is the silkie of course, very dim even by chicken standards but quite a character. My silkie is the second to bottom in pecking order but gets away with murder when food arrives as she knows no limit to her greed and if the others tell her off for being presumptuous the fluffy topknot she has instead of a comb foils their attempt to peck her comb, so she obliviously fills her face while they're on the backfoot. 😆😆

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TopCatsTopHat · 19/10/2021 17:22

Eric modestly accepts your cap doffing compliment as the benign premier he is. 😂

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