Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Molpet]

Going to see about getting some starter plants for chard

They start easy from seeds

 

[LTAY1946]

They know where the goodies are stored. Mine do and they know the difference of a bag of layer crumbles and a bag of cracked corn scratch feed.

 

[Shadrach]

Given that Prima is so far away from point of lay, I don't think she can actually choose her suitor yet, can she?

Some start eyeing up the talent early.
Hens choose roosters for all sorts of reasons. Aiming for the most senior rooster often doesn't improve that hens status or mean she'll get his full attention, particularly if the rooster has senior favourite hens.
More junior hens will sometimes pick the junior rooster and try to build their own tribe. The junior hens that do this become the senior hens in the new tribe.
There doesn't seem to be a this tribe is better than that tribe, senior is senior.
It gets into full swing when one of the junior hens that join the junior rooster sits and hatches.
It seems all the hens know who has and who hasn't been a mother and having sat, hatched and raised chicks that hen gets seniority points for that. The more capable hens gone on to be that tribes primary mother. She even tries to prevent more junior hens from sitting. Fat Bird was a nightmare for this as was Dink.
I've had three males three in a single tribe a few times (the number of hens didn't seem to make much difference) and mostly the arrangement failed. I'm not sure if it's a personality thing or a natural order thing. I used to eat the third male at around six months if I couldn't rehome them as a male and female pair.
I still managed to keep 6 to 9 males spread over 4 tribes seperately housed at times.
My Fayoumie keeping friend just keeps breeding pairs, sometimes a dozen or more and eats most of their offspring if he can catch them. The Fayoumies were pretty much feral although the some some hens did use the nest box enclosures he built. It looked quite strange given they were arranged like long pens to see five Fayoumie hens sitting in a line.
The males usually went of looking for females and starting fights as males tend to without the guiding hand of the opposite sex.
If people managed to keep two roosters in their chicken groups it would be a major achievement in keeping more roosters alive. In fully enclosed keeping I think this is next to impossible over a long period of time. There are no coops as such for these birds. Some roost in the trees, some in the hay/produce open loft at the top of the house, some on the next property last time I heard.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Some start eyeing up the talent early.
Hens choose roosters for all sorts of reasons. Aiming for the most senior rooster often doesn't improve that hens status or mean she'll get his full attention, particularly if the rooster has senior favourite hens.
More junior hens will sometimes pick the junior rooster and try to build their own tribe. The junior hens that do this become the senior hens in the new tribe.
There doesn't seem to be a this tribe is better than that tribe, senior is senior.
It gets into full swing when one of the junior hens that join the junior rooster sits and hatches.
It seems all the hens know who has and who hasn't been a mother and having sat, hatched and raised chicks that hen gets seniority points for that. The more capable hens gone on to be that tribes primary mother. She even tries to prevent more junior hens from sitting. Fat Bird was a nightmare for this as was Dink.
I've had three males three in a single tribe a few times (the number of hens didn't seem to make much difference) and mostly the arrangement failed. I'm not sure if it's a personality thing or a natural order thing. I used to eat the third male at around six months if I couldn't rehome them as a male and female pair.
I still managed to keep 6 to 9 males spread over 4 tribes seperately housed at times.
My Fayoumie keeping friend just keeps breeding pairs, sometimes a dozen or more and eats most of their offspring if he can catch them. The Fayoumies were pretty much feral although the some some hens did use the nest box enclosures he built. It looked quite strange given they were arranged like long pens to see five Fayoumie hens sitting in a line.
The males usually went of looking for females and starting fights as males tend to without the guiding hand of the opposite sex.
If people managed to keep two roosters in their chicken groups it would be a major achievement in keeping more roosters alive. In fully enclosed keeping I think this is next to impossible over a long period of time. There are no coops as such for these birds. Some roost in the trees, some in the hay/produce open loft at the top of the house, some on the next property last time I heard.

My 3 cockerels seem to have worked it, with only 9 pullets. For the most part, they get along and work together to keep the girls safe and fed. That doesn't mean that they are not already eyeing the young ladies growing up in the run next to them. ;-)

 

[fuzzi]

Some start eyeing up the talent early.
Hens choose roosters for all sorts of reasons. Aiming for the most senior rooster often doesn't improve that hens status or mean she'll get his full attention, particularly if the rooster has senior favourite hens.
More junior hens will sometimes pick the junior rooster and try to build their own tribe. The junior hens that do this become the senior hens in the new tribe.
There doesn't seem to be a this tribe is better than that tribe, senior is senior.
It gets into full swing when one of the junior hens that join the junior rooster sits and hatches.
It seems all the hens know who has and who hasn't been a mother and having sat, hatched and raised chicks that hen gets seniority points for that. The more capable hens gone on to be that tribes primary mother. She even tries to prevent more junior hens from sitting. Fat Bird was a nightmare for this as was Dink.
I've had three males three in a single tribe a few times (the number of hens didn't seem to make much difference) and mostly the arrangement failed. I'm not sure if it's a personality thing or a natural order thing. I used to eat the third male at around six months if I couldn't rehome them as a male and female pair.
I still managed to keep 6 to 9 males spread over 4 tribes seperately housed at times.
My Fayoumie keeping friend just keeps breeding pairs, sometimes a dozen or more and eats most of their offspring if he can catch them. The Fayoumies were pretty much feral although the some some hens did use the nest box enclosures he built. It looked quite strange given they were arranged like long pens to see five Fayoumie hens sitting in a line.
The males usually went of looking for females and starting fights as males tend to without the guiding hand of the opposite sex.
If people managed to keep two roosters in their chicken groups it would be a major achievement in keeping more roosters alive. In fully enclosed keeping I think this is next to impossible over a long period of time. There are no coops as such for these birds. Some roost in the trees, some in the hay/produce open loft at the top of the house, some on the next property last time I heard.

Today my Sussex are 5 months old. I have 2 cockerels, 3 pullets, and 4 additional younger Dominique pullets. I have not noticed any fighting between the males, though the higher ranked one mounted the other recently while the lower male was trying to mount a pullet against her wishes. They seem to have worked it out without bloodshed, so far.

 

[LTAY1946]

I don't bother looking for a Cornwall pullet in the log pile now at closing time. I just spray it down and run her out and back to the coop she goes. If I don't move those logs out she and other will start nests in them. Have a friend with a backhoe that I should hear from soon about moving them to where I can keep them sprayed with urea and they will compost down in a year or two. The excessive heat has the new coop building at a standstill. Neither I or my helper can take it like we are spring chickens anymore. I do have to hurry every chance I get as those Cornwall boys are getting more hormonal by the day. They will soon be 6 months old.

 

[TropicalChickies]

I'm trying to get their system settled down a bit after the berry picking of the last few weeks.

I feel that. Mine were eating some kind of wild berries in season for the past month. I found some of the berries and tasted them. They were mild tasting, a little gritty/fibrous, and not overly sweet so I figured they were ok -- wouldn't cause a crop problem anyway. No one came down with sour crop but they were pooping dark purple pudding everywhere. Glad that's over for now.

 

[ManueB]

Things certainly happen fast on chicken time. What a day. I knew it would come, but was hoping for a little more time to get prepared. But at just 11 weeks old, little Tobias and Segundo decided to try to kill each other for real.

The reason appears to be pretty little Prima -- the only pullet out of the 4 chicks that hatched between April 30 and May 7 from two broody hens. Prima looks exactly the same to me as she did yesterday and the day before, but something must have flipped from "neuter chick" to "cute girl" because not only did Toby and Segundo fight like demons, Prima was viciously attacked and driven from the main coop this evening by Frida (the very shy 6 mo old pullet who, until now, was at the bottom of the order.)

Here's how the action unfolded: This morning I installed the roost bars in the new coop area (formerly our laundry area) behind our outdoor shower. Since this area already has a bamboo frame and is covered with a big roof (the most important thing in a rainforest), I was able to get it ready for chickens in a much shorter time than building a whole new structure.

"Hey, check out this place!"
View attachment 3579340

But who will get the girl?

View attachment 3579342
The dashing Segundo...

View attachment 3579343
View attachment 3579345
Or tidbiting Tobias?

The (formerly) three amigos went right for the new roost after breakfast and seemed to be having a grand time cavorting. Then I saw something new: Toby jumped down and started to tidbit and call Prima. Prima went to investigate Toby's offering. Segundo jumped down and went straight to challenge Toby. They had play-skirmished a bit as little chicks but this was for real. I watched them tussle a bit thinking we'll, this is gonna happen -- and neither one of these fellas is gamecock material, it was like watching drunks fight. I broke it up when Toby took a piece out of Segundo's comb. I separated them to opposite sides of the common ranging area (60 meters of so apart) and tended Segundo's wound. Toby had some bruises and nicks, but was ok. Segundo was breathing heavily and had obviously come off worse, so I put him in the hospital pen with some electrolyte water.

Right before I served them lunch, I let Segundo out of the pen. He seemed better and calmly went about nibbling grass so I went to prep their food. Well, in those few minutes this little instigator made a beeline for Toby looking for a rematch. I heard the screeching and by the time I found them in the forest, they were staggering after each other like Rocky and Apollo after twelve rounds. Segundo was clearly losing (again) and while I really try not to meddle in their affairs, watching one eleven week old cockerel kill another one isn't really on my personal highlight reel. So I scooped up a very woozy Segundo and took him back to the hospital, cleaned his wounds and dabbed on antibiotic cream, went back and found Toby to take care of his wounds, and then fed everyone in separate areas -- Toby and Prima by the forest, the adults in their usual spot, and Segundo in his hospital bed. He was pretty punch drunk after the second fight, but he recovered to eat a good amount. Today's Sardine Sunday.

The outcome. Toby took some knocks too, but Segundo took more
View attachment 3579344
"I coulda been a contender, I tell ya!"

So, yowza, these two scrappers have known nothing but care and camaraderie since they hatched together. They preened each other and were best buds. Now, in one day, bam.

Segundo was feeling better by the afternoon, so I put him in the big mobile enclosure I use for brand new chicks so he could eat grass and kept him near me while I worked tying netting around the new coop. It was starting to turn dusk and drizzle, and just as I was wondering if I should actually install anyone in the new coop or just wait and see, I heard another big screeching ruckus from over by the original coop. When I got there, Frida was attacking Prima and Toby and driving her off the "preferred" roost bar. She was pecking Toby more like an annoyance, but she was going after Prima with hate in her eyes. She and Toby jumped to the extension roost and cowered there in the drizzle. That seemed to be a sign. So I plucked those two up and carried them over to the new coop where they settled right in. I let Segundo out of the enclosure and (with relief) watched him walk over to the main coop. Interestingly, when I went to make sure everyone was roosting as it got dark, Segundo was next to Frida and she wasn't hassling him at all.

Which also makes me think that somehow Prima was the object of all the attention today.

I'm going to talk to our new neighbors from the States about taking in Segundo (and a couple pullets for him). They expressed interest in keeping chickens and they're just a few hundred meters up the road so I could help them get set up with housing and feed and start a whole new colony.

I'm just thinking, even if he did settle down to "low man on the totem pole" here, I'd rather give him a better life with a tribe of his own while I can.

So, yeah. Chicken life comes at ya fast.

I also think whenever it's possible it's best to have the rooster start his own group of hens, even if that means moving. But I wonder at what age it's best to do it. Not even three months old, they are just baby cockerels. I had a really bad experience putting Théo when he was maybe just two weeks older in my group of adult hens that didn't have a rooster before. Having an adult rooster around teaches life to the cockerel, until it becomes a rooster and wants to challenge the leader, and that seems to happen around one year old. So what would be the right age for rehoming ? Do you want to try to separate Segundo as soon as possible or do you think it's best to try to temporize for another few weeks ?
I'm also concerned as I have at least two cockerels in my hatch, maybe more, and I'm wondering when to start to try rehoming them.

I can't stand it when one of them is hurt.

I don't like it either but I think it's something you need to come to accept when you keep chickens. I'm always guilty of too much intervention. I hate keeping them in crates once they are hurt. But my experience has been that systematically separating the fighters also means they don't get a chance to possibly work it out.
Of course it's necessary to separate when it feels like a fight to death.

 

[ManueB]

Going to see about getting some starter plants for chard anything else I may be able to grow over the winter.

Like Molpet I have more success growing them from seeds. Everytime I tried with starters they went to stems very quick, even the ones I did at home.

Over winter, other than all kales and cabbages and winter salads, we grow snap peas and fava beans. We plant them early november. In my climate they freeze in winter and start again in march, and are ready to eat in may.

It didn't open

What ?!

 

[Perris]

Some start eyeing up the talent early.
Hens choose roosters for all sorts of reasons. Aiming for the most senior rooster often doesn't improve that hens status or mean she'll get his full attention, particularly if the rooster has senior favourite hens.
More junior hens will sometimes pick the junior rooster and try to build their own tribe. The junior hens that do this become the senior hens in the new tribe.
There doesn't seem to be a this tribe is better than that tribe, senior is senior.
It gets into full swing when one of the junior hens that join the junior rooster sits and hatches.
It seems all the hens know who has and who hasn't been a mother and having sat, hatched and raised chicks that hen gets seniority points for that. The more capable hens gone on to be that tribes primary mother. She even tries to prevent more junior hens from sitting. Fat Bird was a nightmare for this as was Dink.
I've had three males three in a single tribe a few times (the number of hens didn't seem to make much difference) and mostly the arrangement failed. I'm not sure if it's a personality thing or a natural order thing. I used to eat the third male at around six months if I couldn't rehome them as a male and female pair.
I still managed to keep 6 to 9 males spread over 4 tribes seperately housed at times.
My Fayoumie keeping friend just keeps breeding pairs, sometimes a dozen or more and eats most of their offspring if he can catch them. The Fayoumies were pretty much feral although the some some hens did use the nest box enclosures he built. It looked quite strange given they were arranged like long pens to see five Fayoumie hens sitting in a line.
The males usually went of looking for females and starting fights as males tend to without the guiding hand of the opposite sex.
If people managed to keep two roosters in their chicken groups it would be a major achievement in keeping more roosters alive. In fully enclosed keeping I think this is next to impossible over a long period of time. There are no coops as such for these birds. Some roost in the trees, some in the hay/produce open loft at the top of the house, some on the next property last time I heard.

Mine are an odd lot. Maybe because they stay as one flock, and because multiple coops are near one another the sleeping arrangements vary, both in the roosting sense and in the mating game. Head hen = oldest plus annual and reliable broody, respected by all and popular with most; I have never got the impression she stops other hens sitting. And I have seen her several times play aunty to other hens' youngsters needing reassurance or protection. 2nd = almost as old, but never gone broody, almost never falls out with anyone, but status never challenged; 3rd = next in age, most frequent broody, and unpopular with everybody; 4th = a year younger, has been a broody but didn't retain the attitude once the hormones subsided (she's the most timid hen in the flock) and gets bullied by some younger hens who haven't been broodies. So I'd be inclined to go with the 'it's a personality thing' rather than 'a natural order' thing.