Introducing Lucas McCain!

Meet Lucas McCain, the resident Roo at HoW!  He is a handsome fellow, don't you think? He was bred and hatched on our farm in Georgia. He is half Rhode Island Red and half Easter Egger...have you ever seen a RIR with a beard?!  Lucas is named for the TV character, the Virginian. We name all of our roos after old Western cowboys, and when I asked the Hillbilly for the name of a huge, but mild mannered cowboy, Lucas McCain is the name that immediately came to mind.

Thankfully for Lucas, he got his mother Duckie's temperament, and not his father's. His father, Jasper, ended up making a hasty trip to Freezer Camp when he decided to pen me in a corner, and all I could lay my hands on was a five foot long log. But that is another story for another day.

All in all, Lucas is a good Roo. He watches out for his Girls, calls them when he finds treats and is great at warning them when he spots a hawk. His only problem is, he is huge! He is about twice as big as all the hens!

Our giant of a rooster

I believe that this size differential is leading to some breeding issues with our hens. A few months ago, when one of our Rhode Island Red hens, Georgia, went broody, we had high hopes of her hatching out a good baker's dozen of chicks for us. Sadly, only three hatched, and I have to wonder, is it because we are not getting good fertilization because of how big Lucas is?

Anyway, Georgia did hatch out three chicks, and she is a very good Momma.  Today, Georgia got to take her babies out of the brooder pen, to explore the big, wide world, or at least as much of it as they will see inside the Electronet! They also got to meet their Daddy, Lucas for the first time, and everything seemed to go just fine!

Captain saying hi to Dad while Georgia keeps an eye on things

The interesting thing about breeding your own chicks is watching to see what you get when you mix different breeds. For example, Lucas is half RIR and half Egger. The chicks' Mommas are most likely Eggers, which makes them 3/4 Egger and 1/4 RIR...still with me? All the chicks have Egger coloring, but two have the classic "green" legs of EEs and one, a light colored chick called Captain, has yellow legs like dear old Dad. Only time will tell what color eggs we get out of our newest flock members!

Hey, I just had a thought! Maybe I should order a few of the 'heavy breeds' of chickens to get some girls that can handle our big Roo...hmmm...Think the Hillbilly will go for that? I am always looking for a reason to get more chickens!