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| When we went to the farm store to pick up the last of our chicks, we also picked out a couple of little banty chicks without having a clue what sex they were or even what they would grow up to be. It took a few weeks for us to realize they were both roosters, but we still didn't know what kind of roosters. |
| When they were big enough to leave the brooder but still too small to let them run around the house without risk of being stepped on, we put them in a large bird cage in the dining room. Then the fun began! |
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| I began to wonder, at what age do roosters start crowing? I thought one morning that either Beau or Boss was learning to crow, but it was my African grey parrot practicing a new annoying sound which is a whole lot like a rusty gate hinge. I couldn't even remember what the juvenile roosters sounded like when they were learning to crow, but I did remember it was pretty funny. |
| A couple of days later I discovered that Beau Peep was indeed trying to learn to crow! I heard that funny noise again and peeked around the door where he couldn't see me, and there he was, stretched up to his entire six inches, hackles fluffed in the approved rooster fashion, neck stretched up and out to here, beak wide open, and sounding like he was gagging! They're so funny at that stage! |
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| Along the way on the journey of juvenile roosters, I discovered something. Never tell a young banty rooster that he's doing an excellent job of crowing. It just encourages them! I was in the utility room checking on the chicks in the brooder when I heard Beau do his gagging routine so I came back out in the dining room and told him what a good rooster he is and how well he could crow and all that gush, and he "crowed" three more times while I was standing there talking to him. He'll get it right one of these days! |
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