This post is as it was related to me by my husband:
The first bantams we got were a pair of Cochins, a little blue rooster and a little black hen. They were about three months old when we got them as part of a Serama purchase my wife made. Our goal has always been to allow our chickens to free range as much as possible and the Cochins would be no exception. As soon as they had settled in, I began releasing them outside their coop around the barn. Annie, the little hen, weighed in at a whopping 18 ounces and Kong, the blue rooster, weighed in at about 22 ounces and believed, as all roosters do, that he was the "cock of the walk". The pair were a pleasure to watch and listen to as they walked around the barn looking for anything of interest. Annie soon learned that if she came into the barn where I was working, she would be rewarded with a handful of dried meal worms. She would then ride around on my shoulder. Kong was a little skeptical of this practice but eventually followed her into the barn. He kept a safe distance and guarded their retreat as she enjoyed the treats from my hand. It would be good to remember that a rooster does not know how small he is and will stick up for his hen(s) against all interlopers.
We had previously purchased Belgian Malines from Greenfire Farms and they were reaching maturity at about 5 months of age. Malines are a large breed chicken with the roosters regularly reaching 12 pounds and the hens reaching 8 pounds early in their development. Luckily, they are also known for being "gentle giants". I had been allowing them to free range outside but in an area separate to the barn so that Kong and Annie, who by now were my favorite pets, could keep their own space. Malines, however, are excellent free ranging chickens and over the course of several days began to navigate farther and farther around the barn until they were overlapping Kong and Annie's area. At first there were no conflicts since the diminutive Cochins gave way to the much larger Malines. One of the Maline roosters, named Prime, was larger than the rest and at six months weighed in at an impressive 10 pounds.
One day Annie made her usual inspection of the inside of the barn where she received her treats, but I noticed that Kong did not follow her in. I walked to the end of the barn and peered out onto the drive and could only watch in complete fascination as little Kong squared off against Prime. I did not have my phone with me and I am not sure that I would have had the presence of mind to film it anyway. With hackles raised, Kong was jumping into the air as high as he could trying to flog and peck Prime. Prime, with hackles raised, had a puzzled look and was bent down at the neck trying to figure out how to attack this tiny rooster back. Obviously, jumping and flogging were out of the question since Kong was so short. He seriously looked at Kong in amazement following each of Kong's jumps as if to say, "How do I jump lower to teach this guy a lesson?". Each attempt made by Kong was futile since his highest jump was several inches short of even reaching Prime's bowed head. There they stood for what seemed like several minutes. Neither one could get any satisfaction from this stand off. No one got hurt (not even their pride) since both had given it their best! Prime eventually walked off leaving Kong to turn back toward the barn and give a triumphant crow.
We lost Kong about a year ago. He just didn't come out of his coop one morning. To this day I miss his calls to Annie when he would lose sight of her and his crows of assertiveness. We still have Prime, a respectable representative of his breed. He still is the yard boss taking on any and all challenges. He is always a docile and protective rooster that, even at his present weight of 12 pounds, looks at our 17 month old granddaughter as an oddity to be studied.
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