Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Japanese Bantam

This black chicken is "Toshiro"our new rooster. Some folks in Bellingham had a few too many roosters for town, and he needed a new home. He is named after Toshiro Mifune one of my favorite Japanese actors, and is a Japanese Bantam chicken. Bantam's are a miniature chicken breed, so we are hoping the smaller size means he will be less rough on our hens. The old Speckled Sussex roosters were plain mean to them!


Can you see the resemblence to the actor?

As soon as I turned him in with them, the older hens ran over, and they've all been getting acquainted. He's been sweetly pecking out tiny morsles of feed for the gals and offering them to the hens, between flapping displays and feather fluffing. They keep crowding around him like it's the prom... I think he's a hit!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, he is handsome. I have never done roosters before, but sure wouldn't mind if they were gentle.

Oldnovice said...

The new kid always gets the attention; fresh blood!

Anonymous said...

He looks like one happy cock in that bottom pic!

I'm glad the chickies are all getting along. And he sounds like quite the romancer, giving them food. I've read that there are problems with inbred roosters these days failing to court hens, bullying them instead, reducing breeding success and stressing the hens out of laying. So its good you got a bird who is a 'romantic'.

(now watch this post get censor-flagged by someone who doesn't know that 'cock' is a proper word for rooster.)

Seven Trees said...

Poor Toshi sure courts the ladies with gusto, but his short legs don't leave much to grip with when he hops on. Oh well...everyone seems to love him anyway ; )