CLUCKY ROOSTER???

[lindikalmar]

[glow=red,2,300]My rooster is "acting clucky".[/glow]

He has 4 'wives', 2 already sitting & two younger who have just started laying in the last 2 weeks. The other day I saw him fussing around the spot where they were both laying and one of the hens seemed to be stressing. Later I saw her chasing him and he had an egg shell in his mouth. Result - I named him Calligula and divided the pen & separated all the hens (the 2 sitting hens in one section, older laying hen in another, and rooster & youngest hen togeather (due to no more separation options & incase it was the older hen breaking/eating the eggs).

The hen that is in with the rooster has continued laying, I gave her a wicker basket on its side as a nesting 'box', there were a couple of breakages, but not eaten (so I stopped calling him Calligula ). I kept noticing the eggs strewn about and thought the basket was too small so I replaced it with a crate.

Soon as I had finished putting in the crate the rooster went to investigate, he went in and carried on with clucking noises simillar to the ones he does when I give them food, but gentler. At first I thought he was saying 'look come here and check it out' but later through the day he was back in there, sitting on the 'nest' but shuffling around and (seemingly accidently) kicking out the eggs as he shuffled around.

What is this behaviour? Do roosters get clucky or try to encourage their hens to sit on the nest, or is he just a bit loopy and needing to be separated from her?

The breed of these ones is Golden Lace.

Cheers,
Lindi

[JamesC]

Lindi:
The behaviour you describe is normal. A male finds a suitable spot for a nest and calls the females to it. Most of the time that behaviour stops after nests are selected but sometimes the activity continues after the hens begin to use the nest. He responds to hens' calls and continues to call them to the nest.
This past season, I had a male which started going back to the nest after the I had stopped incubating eggs, thankfully. The result is that I lost most of the eggs laid by his mate. He was not breaking them on purpose but was trampling them. I learned to check the nest more frequently to get the eggs before that happened.
Keeping that particular male in a separate pen is the only answer. If you want fertile eggs, put him in with the female for a "visit" a couple of times a week.
James

[lindikalmar]

Thanks James,

I have actually already separated them, after posting the above message I went back out and found 3 crushed eggs, so I put the younger hen with the other one.

Sad really, because in all aspects (beyond clumsy egg crushing) he is such a great husband, fussing over and feeding his 'wives', even giving the treats I offer to him (as a suck-up-get to know him- bribe) to them, breaking up bigger bits and calling them to it, etc.

Maybe I need to do some research and find a famous clumsy oaf-good husband type to name him after now. I am glad he is not relly a Calligula though.

Cheers,
Lindi