As promised, here is an update on Charlie the Rooster! In case you missed it, Charlie was a surprise to us; we weren’t planning on having a rooster. It sometimes happens that when you order sexed chicks, all female, a rooster slips by them. We decided to go with the flow and see what happens, even though we’ve heard of way too many roosters that are mean or don’t get along with others, and have to be re-homed (or worse).
So far, so good with Charlie. We try to talk to him and handle him more, and so far, while he is still skittish of us, he has not shown any signs of meanness. Hubby has held him, and while he didn’t like it, he never got aggressive. He has also seen us handle some of “his girls” when they have put up a fuss, and while he makes some noises and watches, he has not come after us or anything.
That is what we hoped for, and we will hope that continues. He also has not messed with the guinea hens or the older girls (other than one time I’ll go into in a bit).
Charlie did very well in the beginning of keeping his flock together (his flock being the girls who came the same time as him). You can see in the below photos where they are all hanging out on the brush pile, and they’d often be seen there or together in the woods. Our white girl Roxanne was the exception; she would hang out either on her own or with the older girls. As time has gone on, more of the girls have joined Roxanne. I call them “The Rebels”! We don’t know if they are just gaining more confidence and independence, or if they are trying to get away from Charlie’s – er – “attentions”.
It’s so interesting to watch how things go! Charlie will sometimes come looking for these “rebels”, especially in the evening. One night we watched him chase Roxanne around the yard, and the funniest thing to see was him chase her into a group of the older girls, and then watch our older girl, Anne, chase him away!! We laughed and said how Roxy has been adopted by the big girls as one of their own (she hasn’t always gotten away from Charlie though).
For the most part, this big boy seems pretty timid of both the guinea hens and the older girls. The only exception to that was when we saw him trying to mate with our year old Auracana, Kermit. Well, Kermie didn’t really want any of that and she puffed herself right up and challenged him!! They scuffled a bit, but no harm done. We had wondered if he would try to mate with any of the older girls, but so far that’s the only time we’ve seen him try.
So, poor Charlie’s harem has gotten smaller, but he still has Kate and her sister Sabrina, Farrah, Jaclyn, and at least one of the white girls, Shelley. The “rebels” are still seen back hanging with the crowd at times though, so certainly none of this is black-and-white at this point, though Roxy and her sister Jill do seem to avoid that crowd.
Meet two more of the New Girls:
Both Jaclyn and Farrah are also Araucanas, the same breed as Charlie. I find it interesting that they seem to stick closest to him. There is one more Aracauna I have yet to photograph, Shelley, and she has also stuck with that group.
Plus, since I originally started this draft, Charlie and all the girls seem to be hanging out with the rest of the flock more, or at least closer to the coop and house, which makes me happy. I don’t love it when they are all behind the coop and garage where I can’t see them. I also hope this might mean those girls are getting ready to lay eggs, which they’ll hopefully do in the coop!
Charlie is not such a tough guy! I’ve noticed even more on rainy days that he and his “angels” tend to stick in and around the coop, where the other birds are out wandering around in the rain more. He’s fun to watch because he’s often cruising around making little noises, trying to keep his girls together. He often sounds like he’s just muttering to himself.
As far as the crowing? We still love it. In case you, like me, thought that roosters only crowed in the morning…..Charlie crows all day long off and on. We don’t find it disturbing at all. Even the hens can be quite noisy at times, never mind the guinea hens, so listening to birds has become routine. The crowing is just another bird noise to listen to. If he crows very early in the morning, I don’t know it, especially now with the house and coop both mostly closed up on the cooler nights. But the coop is far enough away, I don’t think he would wake me anyway. We are still waiting for our first egg from the new girls, though some act like they are ready. In the photo below, Martha is checking out the little nesting area some of the older girls made in the barn.
The bottom line is that so far having a rooster hasn’t really changed things all that much, other than to make them more interesting! We’ll see what happens as time goes on. Our flock is big enough to handle another rooster, and chances are if the girls hatch their own eggs, we’ll get more. They would have to get along, however, so we would most likely take it one rooster at a time. Hopefully with Charlie as the Dad, any chicks of his would also have his even temperament!
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Charlie is so handsome! You took beautiful photos!!
Thank you! I really am amazed at what a good-looking bird he is!
He is just so handsome and Farrah & Jacklyn are so pretty. I guess Araucanas just have really pretty coloring? Glad everything is going well so far. I thought it was funny him muttering to himself sounds just like a man when the women aren’t doing what they want. LOL
xoxo,
Bell Fur Zoo Mama
Haha, you are so right about that!
Araucanas do seem to have some very pretty coloring, and they are all different which is interesting too. One in this group is just all white though, and the only give away to her breed is her green legs (they all seem to have green legs).
Charlie is one handsome rooster! We’re not sure we’d like the crowing all day long though, but we bet you get used to it.
You really do.
He sure in one handsome devil! 🐔No wonder the ‘chicks’ dig him.
Heeheehee – so true!!
I think Charlie is sooo handsome! I would love to hear him cock-a-doodle-doo!
Sometimes he puts this funny little whiny noise at the end – it is too funny! I’ll have to try to record it, but it’s hard since he won’t crow on demand. 🙂
Charlie is a super handsome dude! But, I have to say that I love the spirit of the rebels! Way to go, Roxanne – assert yourself 🙂
They’ve pretty much converted everyone now too, poor Charlie can’t keep them together at all!!
I could make a ton of jokes about men and the trouble they cause – but I still get a kick out of him turning out to be a boy in the first place. I thought Bear was a girl and named him Lily. I took him to the vet and she didn’t catch it either. She thought he was pregnant and took him back to ultrasound. They shaved half his belly when his man-ness made an appearance. I wasn’t prepared for a male and quite frankly, probably would never have chosen a male cat (spraying, territory, male plumbing) – but I can’t imagine my life without him now. A blessing in a little different form than I expected 🙂
Sometimes life gives us something we didn’t even know we wanted or needed! ♥
All is sounding well with Charlie and his angels, and the rest of the flock, so good to hear!! He is so handsome with his gorgeous colors! Of course, you and Tom help by trying to teach him calmness by gentle handling, great job.
He really is kind of a shy guy – so sweet!
that charlie is definitely a character!
He’s brought a new level of entertainment around here!
Charlie is a very handsome boy! There is a rooster that lives not far from where we do and we hear him cock-a-doodle-doodling at all hours. We always thought they were just supposed to call out when the sun was rising!
That’s what I always thought too! When Charlie started crowing all day I had to get right on the internet to see if that was normal!!
They are all so pretty. Charlie sounds like a sweet guy. Do you follow Purrseidon’s blog? They raised baby chicks and just discovered a third rooster in the bunch. They had to send them off to live on a farm though because they live in a gated community that doesn’t allow roosters.
Aw, that’s too bad! I’ll have to check out that blog, it sounds familiar but I don’t think I’ve ever visited them.
How fun to follow how Charlie is doing with his “angels”!!
Thanks for the update!
It seems like there is always a story to tell around here!
Charlie’s Angels I love it it. I like Charlie. Wishing you luck with him and the girls.
Thank you!!
Awww, you got very lucky with Charlie. He’s a handsome devil too. I love all your birds. Reminds me of growing up on the farm.
Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Awww Monday and week. ♥
I hope you can re-live your childhood a little bit through our blog! 🙂
I always wished I’d grown up on a farm. Better late than never, right?
“Charlie and his Angels”. I love it! Kate was always my favorite because I first saw her on “Dark Shadows”. Anyway, I’m glad all is going so well with all the flock!! And that Charlie’s not a meanie!! I’d hate for you to have to re-home him! One of our neighbors up the road has a rooster, but we hardly ever hear him crowing at all. I heard him one afternoon right after I read your last post about Charlie and haven’t heard him since.
Kate was my favorite too, though I forgot she had been on Dark Shadows before that!
Good Luck Charlie with your gals! You are a handsome fella! I too like listening to a rooster crowing.
It seems now I can’t start my day without a crow from Charlie! 🙂
What a handsome rooster! I’m barely getting cat politics, but chicken politics sound even more complicated!
They definitely are!!
Charlie could get a second job as an owl because he is quite the hoot!
🙂
we love your charlie… he really walks like a king through his kingdom ;O)
He certainly does!!
Charlie is really good looking. We hope they all continue to get along fairly well despite having some grouping.
They are really starting to integrate more and more with the whole flock, so there’s a little less grouping off now. We see some spats here and there, but nothing too bad (knock wood). The young ones are starting to learn to stand up for themselves, and the older girls are definitely not afraid to put Charlie in his place! He always backs off, which is good.