A few of Frodo’s fans inquired about how he was doing last week, so we thought we’d devote this Fowl Friday to all things Frodo.
"This post is all about ME!" - Frodo
Our young Dark Brahma, Frodo, is now 22 weeks old. If you’ve been following along, you know he’s been through a lot in his short life. Turned against by his flock-mates, he was ousted from the coop before he’d even grown in his first full suit of feathers. Then after weeks of feathers falling out, and growing in again, reintroductions to the flock were disastrous when Siegfried tried to shred Frodo through the side of the chicken run. Taking a chance with the older ladies, Frodo seemed to do well at first with our orchard hens, right up until one of our hens, Ginger, snapped, ripping Frodo’s tail out, leaving nothing but a bloody stump. It’s really not been easy being Frodo.
...it's not easy being different...
The last few weeks Frodo has been separated from the other chickens. After Ginger attacked him, we were hesitant to keep him outside while his wounds healed, primarily to protect him from flies. Flies, open wounds, and warm summer weather, can be the perfect recipe for…I really don’t want to say this…maggots. Makes me cringe just thinking about the nasty little creatures. Keeping the wound clean and dry, and Frodo fly-free, was absolutely imperative for him to heal as quickly as possible, and prevent any infection. After a few days sequestered indoors though, Frodo’s wounds were scabbed over enough to send him back out to forage around in the sunshine, on fresh green grassy weeds during the day.
Don't laugh, this was all that remained of Frodo's tail after Ginger attacked him
It’s now been almost a month since we pulled Frodo from the orchard, bleeding, with a featherless derriere.
However, as you can see in the video below, he’s absolutely no worse for the wear…well, except perhaps for being more wary of other fowl on the farm. His wounds healed without any complications, and Frodo was fortunate not to have any damage to the feather follicles, so his feathers are growing in strong and straight.
In just the last week he’s actually looking like he (almost) has a tail again.
Frodo's tail is looking much better today
His tail feathers still have a lot of growing to do, but it won’t be long before they’re back to the length they were.
His tail feathers will grow much longer over the coming weeks, providing we keep him away from the hens
His saddle feathers, although shorter than they should be courtesy of Ginger’s pruning technique, are just now starting to grow long again…
Frodo's saddle feathers on his back, just forward of his tail, are growing back
The saddle feathers are long and slender, and will drape down Frodo's side in front of his tail
…and his hackle feathers have been filling in well since Siegfried gave Frodo a haircut.
No more mullet! Frodo's hackle feathers are filling in nicely around his neck
Speaking of feathers, Frodo did acquire his name for a reason. His feet! Even though he’s still nowhere near full-size, and won’t be for another 6-8 months, his feet are getting huge, and more feathery than ever! Really, Frodo Baggins has nothing on these feet…
Frodo's toes are getting huge!
Frodo's feet are heavily feathered, and more feathers are still growing in!
In the last few weeks Frodo has also been starting to connect with his ‘inner rooster’, and the one thing all roosters are famous for, is crowing. Siegfried has been crowing for weeks now, but Frodo’s crooning abilities are somewhat lacking. Hear it for yourself, this is how Frodo sounded a couple of weeks ago when he first started to realize that crowing was something he should be doing.
You can hear that Siegfried tried to coach him from afar, but Frodo appears somewhat tone-deaf, sounding more like the horn from an old Model A, than a real rooster.
Even now, he doesn’t yet have the typical sounding rooster crow. Although he has progressed somewhat from the ‘Ahooga’ horn sound over the last couple weeks, but it’s clear his voice is still changing, and he needs a lot more practice to get his rooster song down cold.
He obviously won’t be auditioning for any episodes of Glee anytime soon! We expect in a few more weeks though he’ll be fully rehearsed, and crowing like a pro. Hopefully by then, we’ll have Frodo’s new house started finished!
There’s a lesson in Frodo’s tale, or should I say tail, for anyone considering chickens. Being different in a flock, whether it’s significantly different in size, in color, pattern, or rate of growth, can cause some members of the flock to single out the individual that’s different. In extreme cases the flock may kill the individual that stands out. This usually won’t occur until the chicks are larger. In Frodo’s case, by 7 weeks of age he looked significantly different than the rest of the flock, and that’s when all his trouble started.
At 7 weeks, Frodo really stood out in a crowd
It doesn’t mean that a varied flock will always have problems, it just increases the possibility, even when they’ve all been raised together.
When we selected our chicken breeds, we intentionally chose breeds that would all grow at about the same rate, and all have a similar weight range as adults. Frodo was our surprise bonus from the hatchery, but it’s unfortunate that considering the breeds we had already selected, that the hatchery didn’t choose a bonus chick that was more evenly matched at least in growth rate. This clearly has been Frodo’s downfall in the eyes of the flock. However, although we may never have selected the Brahma breed on purpose for just that reason, we do love having Frodo around. So much so that I at least would love to have more Brahmas here in the future. It just would have been so much simpler if Frodo had been accepted by the flock.
He seems to be happy now all by himself. I’m glad he’s doing well!
Aww how nice, thanks for the Frodo post!
What an story~I am glad to catch up with his mis-adventures! gail
Good! It’s nice to know that Frodo is feathering back up and doing better. Hopefully once he finds his inner rooster, he will command a little bit more respect from the various flocks. Although I have seen an adult rooster viciously attacked by his own hens… I hope Frodo finds his niche in your poultry ecosystem.
Wow … Froddo has indeed had a troubled life!! It’s so nice to see him recovering … albeit in fowl seclusion. I do hope there’s a place for him in the fowl flock. Bonus points for his efforts at crowing … not a real talent of his though!!
Hopefully his crowing will improve with practice 😛
Dear Clare, This is such a success story and, having followed the tale [no intended pun] of Frodo from the beginning, I am delighted that everything has turned out so well for him. What I am unclear about is whether or not he will have to live all of the time in his isolation unit, separated from the rest of the flock, or is that just at night?
At the moment Edith, he’s separated full time. He can see and hear the other chickens, and Siegfried, during the day. Until his new house is finished, we bring him in at night to protect him from predators.
We’re hoping once he’s settled in house, we’re hoping we can integrate him with some docile hens so he’s not alone. Who knows, maybe even a few Dark Brahma pullets of his own? 😉
Clare, Frodo is looking quite dapper in his new tail feathers. He is gorgeous really! He seems to strut happily from your loving attention. I love your videos!! They never fail to make me smile and the music is perfect. I am feeling such a fondness for Frodo and find his attempts at crowing dear. Perhaps as his saddle and tale feathers grow back out, tone and confidence will rise in his voice. Your fowl tale seems sadly to reflect our world… in many flocks being different can be dangerous. Wonderful post. ;>)
Hi, Clare ~ Frodo looks much better, now. My gosh…he is tone-deaf, too. Well, he is lucky to have your tender, loving care. He has another thing going for him…a fan club. Go, Frodo!
Thanks for the update on Frodo. He does have big feet! And they do look quite ‘hobbitish’. What a fitting name.
He is such a striking bird, unlike anything I’d ever seen. I enjoyed listening to his crowing lesson, though my wife was afraid I was ordering some chickens when she heard it!
I’m glad he is discovering his inner rooster. 😉
Poor little Frodo – picked on like that! He’s a lucky, lucky rooster to have such caring owners such as you. Thanks for the update and for the videos!
He looks wonderful now Clare and he is sounding better by the week.
Oh, what a dear little rooster! Now, tell us, what time in the morning do the two start their concert? (Being fond of a good 9 hours of sleep, I’m not sure I could handle it…)
Haha! Well, Siegfried starts about 6:15 AM. Very civilized really. Frodo doesn’t usually start attempting to crow until closer to 7:30 AM, but when he does, Siegfried feels obligated to answer back. We have a bit of a rooster rally going on for about half an hour each morning as they crow at each other. Otherwise we just hear a few crows during the day, and that’s it. So far they’re both being reasonable, and not crowing at all hours 😛
Reading your Frodo Tales has given me a whole new appreciation for the age-old idioms “hen-pecked” and “birds of a feather.” So glad to see Frodo recovered. He does look handsome again. Love those feet!
I love reading about your chickens!! I would much rather have chickens than an uptight HOA… Maybe Frodo can be the chicken poster fowl for diversity and acceptance!
frodo is my hero!
I loved seeing him crowing. My dog started to bark while the video was going 🙂 Glad Frodo’s tail feathers are growing back so quickly. He sure is a cute rooster.
Despite all his trials and tribulations, Frodo really is turning into a very handsome rooster.
Clare, I’ve grown really fond of Frodo and look forward to your posts on his sometimes less than excellent adventures. He’s grown into quite a handsome fellow, too! Frodo is da bomb!
Clare – you have the best animal names and ‘day in the life’ stories, most of us can only imagine?!!
My ‘baby’ brother moved out to the far western suburbs of Chicago (where believe it or not, can be very rural). He made ‘best buddies’ with all the farmers around him and inherited a rooster and some hens. While I had to see it with my own eyes, he not only read up on taking care of his new birds – I ended up calling him the “Chicken Whisperer”! He ended up being a pro! (go figure?)
BTW – I wanted to let you know that I put a link to your blog on my latest post. I was reminiscing about life in the Blogosphere and noted garden blogs that influenced me. Thanks! –Shyrlene
Frodo’s bum is adorable!! So glad for the update and his cute crowing! The Model T sound just cracked me up. You make an excellent point about the “bonus chick” deal. I totally agree that outstandingly different things, to a chicken, are not always welcome – the turkeys i guess are that to an extreme. but it’s very good advice, I appreciate that. So happy to see that handsome lad filling in and continuing to thrive. He’s so lucky to be where he is, truly. Cheers! Bonnie
What an appropriate name for a thing that grows hair on its feet…We used to buy chicks for our children. We’d hide them in the backyard because our CC&Rs won’t let us because they could disturb our neighbors. Then the chicks were no longer chicks, they learned to crow…like Frodo. They’d do it over and over again during the day and then early in the morning. The neighbors became curious so we gave them to our friends who liked in the country. 🙁
So glad you were able to help Frodo fight off infection. He’s really looking good these days! That’s really nice of you to build a house just for him.
Hello Clare – Frodo’s going to be a beautiful boy with his irridescent blue wing and the ostrich feather decor. Lovely to hear him crowing and soon he’ll be ready show the others what this cockerel is really made of. Strut your stuff Frodo!
Laura x
Hi Clare, your saga of Frodo and Siegfried is very entertaining. I had no idea there were such personality differences and almost human conflicts among fowl. And so much TLC needed on your part. That is one lucky chicken.