Jack is slowly but surely learning to be a good husband .... a good chicken husband that is.
A good cockerel, as well as fertilising the eggs, pulls the flock together in a way a flock just doesn't act without a cockerel. They lead by example.
For instance he calls the girls over with his 'chuck chuck' call when tasty titbits are thrown into Chicken World, he leads them to cover and safety when the rain starts to suddenly pour or the wind gusts, if a low flying large bird comes past he will call out to the girls and they are super aware of any potential danger. He keeps an eye on them when they squabble and puts them in their place if things get overly rough. Any unusual noise or happening and he's straight in there investigating to check out what's going on.
Of course in return for all this his fifteen wives have to do their part and put up with his sometimes over amorous juvenile advances each morning. It's not always easy for him to 'hop on' he has a huge problem in the size difference between him and some of the larger girls. Because Jack is a Lavender Pekin Bantam, a half sized chicken and some of our girls, especially the Black Marans are big dual purpose birds. The first couple of months that he tried to 'get frisky' with them they simply chased him away but as with any young male faced with such feathery gorgeousness he was not too fazed and carried on in his persistence to let them know that persistence and Mother Nature will conquer all.
They now virtually all look up to him, well especially if he puffs himself up to his biggest proportions, stands on his tippy
They seem to have forgotten that a mere seven months ago he was this little pipsqueak on the right, hanging around on the periphery of the flock with his sister Jill and Mum Mother Goose, looking to his Mum to get him all his tasty treats and his fair share of the chicken food .
They grow up so quickly our little feathery children :-)
Sue xx