At Home: Old cockerel and his lady maran x

This is my oldest cockerel. He has been with me from the start. You can tell his age from the spurs on his legs. Traditionally cockerels used in fighting would have had to been some age to grow spurs long enough to do damage in a battle. That said some breeds like 'old english game' are better equipped in that department and are chosen for their self sufficient nature ...(i.e., their better at looking after themselves than other domesticated birds.)

The only fighting my old cockerel does is keeping order with the chickens and other sub cockerels. They don't fight unless their forced to, usually they have a quick tussle of feathers and that ends it. They're smart enough to know who's carrying the spurs. The old sussex rarely gets challenged. The girl next to him by the way, is a maran. She lays the very dark eggs, that were in my egg blip (5th Jan 13) x