Sexist Farming
No. Not sexier farming.
Lordy – get your mind out of the gutter!
Sexist farming.
The hens and the roosters have been separated!
All the boys have been left outside.
And all the girls are in the hen house.
I do not want those huge roosters in with my hens for the winter. When they cover them their claws pull out the feathers on their backs and often (as well) the rooster will hold onto the hen by grabbing the back of her head with their beak. To hold them still.
It is a violent affair. Cover is a nice word for breeding on the Farmy.
So, sorry guys.
🤭But you are living outside.
They have two barns to shelter in and without any hens to fight over the barn yard is a much nicer place. All up I have counted thirteen roosters. Though – honestly – they are hard to count so there may be more!
The chook house where the hens are living is large and has a deep litter of straw and pine shreds and dry autumn leaves. it will make wonderful compost in the spring!
Later in the winter the hen house door will be opened in the early evening and shut again after they all go in at bed time. (If all goes according to plan the chickens will take themselves back inside the chook house in the evening because chickens always roost in the same place. This is why I leave them inside their home for at least a month to re-home them).
️I expect there to be reckoning with roosters again though!
These shots were taken yesterday evening when the sun was out!
Today is overcast and blustery. Nobody’s favourite!
Have a lovely day!
Remember we Live Simply so the Planet can Live Long. We can but try!
Cecilia
39 Comments on “Sexist Farming”
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thekitchensgarden 
Bad boys, but oh so handsome.
They are – there is one that is so huge he is frightening. And he is still young!!
Those are very large boys, naughty as many boys can be. I suspect the hens are quietly saying “thank you Miss C”!
The hen house is serene. And their feathers are growing back!
Time to cook coq au vin 😉
I KNEW you were going to say that – and lots of them are young roosters!
Ha ha – that is what most people do when they start crowing.
I wish you were here to hear the crowing!! It is amazing!
I bet they do a marvellous dawn chorus!
Roosters used to crow in a very strict order. And each has an individual crow. I look forward to taping it and seeing if they still do this with so many of them out there.
Do post that if they oblige!
I will! I may need help sorting it out and confirm if my suspicions are correct.
I’m sure those girls will appreciate the break! Those boys will certainly have their ardour cooled over the Winter months.
Cool being the operative word!!
Thirteen is a bigger gene pool than anyone really needs. Time to harvest some of those bad boys and turn them into bone broth, stew and wonderful, beautiful tail plumes. It sounds harsh, but it is the way of the farmer, and let’s face it, those boys have had a whale of a time up to now…
Gorgeous guys- smart move on your part!
Ah, a winter of peace, they said to each other…
Indeed! Ha ha!! Awesome!
Good for guiding your flock. Time to harvest a few roosters. How many do you need to cover the number of hens you have?
We actually don’t need any roosters unless we want the chicks – which we don’t! The roosters are great alarm birds though – if there are any predators they are the first to engage.
So having a few roosters about is useful as the first line of defense.
They are fancy but very aggressive
Especially when they are fighting for the hens. Pretty nasty.
I admit my first thought was stew… but you make a good point that they are a small but effective deterrent against incursions that Rhe Farmy has indeed experienced previously. They are both beautiful and useful… and if all else fails… edible.
Plus roosters are incredible mousers!
These are fabulous photographs….thank you:)
You are welcome Janet! Thank you so much for dropping in.
I just mentioned to my wife that the neighbors down a ways have had chickens for a few years; and the little farm farther off has goats. We should try our hand at it. (I did work on a ranch once). Then this story. I won’t condone violence against hens. I would need more space than I have to separate em. (LOL)
You certainly don’t need roosters. Hens get along just fine without them! And you will still get your eggs. A few chickens are so easy to manage.
In “Animals in Translation” Tempel Grandin refers to modern roosters as rapists. She says the talent of wooing the hens has been bred out of them.
They certainly are not doing any wooing. Chasing the hens down is all they do. Nasty bunch.
Wow Lovely and interesting
There is never a dull moment on the Farmy!
Yep, I would certainly get rid of a few of those nasty guys..especially the more aggressive ones..so not fair to those hens to have to fend off so many roosters. Poor things!
Rooster stew..Yum! 🙂
They were all hanging out this morning in the sun in front of the barn. Such a colourful crew of fighting guys!
Hello! I haven’t been by for awhile. I thought you had closed shop as it were. I was delighted to see you are back in the saddle. I always enjoy your farm photos.
My shop is still open – just life that ebbs and flows. I am at the farm for the winter!
I grew up on a farm and know how it goes. Roosters can be mean as hell.
Yes they are!! And without any hens to fight over they are so much more manageable.
If I remember correctly, my parents kept only two roosters—the main one and a back up. We had cattle also, and my dad did the same—two bulls that were kept in their own separate, fenced pastures, and only allowed to visit the cows once a year. Males are aggressive and territorial, but it’s in their nature to be so.