This rooster is a 'volunteer'. He and a hen that was with him came out of the woods one day and started eating some of my rotting tomatoes I threw over the fence. Then he figured out that my flock gets fed from the garden each morning and started showing up regularly. This morning he was waiting in the pen with the rest of my chickens to be fed so I guess he has adopted me...
He looks really unusual so I thought I should figure out what kind he is. Thanks in advance if someone can help.
Another look at him eating some old corn in the garden.
He's pretty, sort of reminds me of these....
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Games/AmerGameBantams/BRKAmerGameBty.html
scroll down to the first real photo
Julie
This message was edited Aug 3, 2007 5:06 PM
Wow, nice id there julie. that does look like jkehl's mystery man!
jkehl, American Game Fowl (Pit Gaming chickens) is correct. I have 40-50 of these birds on or adjacent to my land. We share them with our next door neighbors and best friends. They adopted both places/families. Originally there was a flock of 8 American Game Fowl living across the stream from our 2 places but the 2 Mexican fellows there who owned them were away more than they were home. The chickens like to hang around people and to be fed at least a tiny bit regularly. One lonely roo and his 7 girlfriends were looking for a loving new home. They were hungry and my next door neighbors 1/4 acre pasture with 2 turkeys were too slow to eat all their rations. Before we knew it they had moved in and this spring the 7 hens began to hide their eggs in isolated and elevated locations on our 2 adjacent properties (such as shelves in the barns and garages). We've had 40 chicks hatch from 4 nests in the past 2 months. We've also had 3 of the original adult hens die from assorted mishaps (cat got 1, trap got 1, & another hen got 1). They eat sparingly ..... the roos will beat the tar off any other roo you might have. The hens lay for about 3 months ...... one of the worst breeds for laying I've experienced. They give you chicks like crazy and they don't really require a hen house. Our flock roosts in a cedar tree that looks like a large mushroom. The wind and dreadful cold winter weather doesn't reach them in the branches. They're also out of sight at night from the predatory habits of owls. This is the best breed of chicken I've ever had in 10 years of raising poultry. They provide more for less .... 1) no chicken coop required 2) small feed bill 3) average 7 chicks/hen/yr 4) great entertainment (not the fighting) 5) live lawn ornaments. We have about 20 little roos. They are mean little buggers toward one another other. I've got to get a sign up on the highway to sell most of them because they really need to be kept apart from one another. They seem to want to fight quite a bit of the time now. At first I thought the fighting was cute but now it is getting a bit old and I prefer them getting along together without the fighting. The saga continues.
This message was edited Aug 4, 2007 1:32 PM
