Nutty is nuts for me

An interesting development has occurred with my rooster Nutty that I would never have predicted.

If you recall, Fruity and Nutty were the two baby chicks that I hand raised from the egg last year when I was down in Costa Rica. I used to carry them around everywhere with me and sometimes they would sleep in my shirt or tucked behind my ears in my hair. At night time, they would sleep in a little box beside my bed. They couldn't stand to be separated from me. They would scream their heads off and come running if ever I ventured too far. I knew that they were imprinting on me as happens with most precocious birds such as chickens or ducks that will imprint on the first caretaker, no matter what the species. However, I had no idea that the imprinting would continue onto adulthood. This seems to have happened with Nutty. Here's why I think so.

A few days ago, I went up to feed the chickens at my neighbor's house. Nutty came charging at me and pecked at my finger. I thought he was being his usual bossy, macho self. I thought he was trying to scare me away from the hens. I picked him up and scratched him around the ears, which he has always liked, to reassure him that I meant the hens no harm. That seemed to calm him down.

Today, when I went up to feed the chickens again, Nutty came charging again, but first he did the rooster chicken dance around me before pecking at my leg! Roosters only do this to hens that they're trying to dominate and impress. He was treating me as if I was a hen to woo and seduce! I picked him up again and scratched his ears.

After putting him down, I starting eating some bananas. I tossed some pieces to him. He also did the usual rooster cluck, cluck call for me to indicate that there was food to be had. Roosters let hens eat first when they come across a food source. When he saw I wouldn't eat the banana on the ground he did another impressive rooster dance to show off to me!

Should I be flattered that he thinks his adopted mama is a hot mama?!!! I saw a video recently of a wildlife cameraman being jumped on and humped on the neck by this wild crazy bird. I hope that's not what Nutty's intentions towards me are. I'm a much more respectable chick than that.