Catching a chicken
This hasn't been addressed here, so listen up. Simplest, least stressful
way to catch ANY chicken is to approach the bird in the dark while it is roosting. Get a helper to suddenly shine a light in it's eyes and you grab the bird off the roost. Be gentle but FIRM. Then you...
Hi Nate. Depending on the age of your other birds, you probably would be better off with an older rooster. They don't seem to have much sense until they are a year old. A mature cock will treat your other birds much better and may be easier to find. Good luck.
The stag looks a lot older than the pullets. Nice posture and plumage. Hard to really tell about the eye color, but They should be white, or pearl. Maybe they are, but they aren't red, which is a good thing. All in all, the guy looks like a good find. The pullets don't really look related...
I'm getting a real kick out of following this story. Your Shamo stag sounds perfectly normal, but you have to realize that his behavior is going to change and it could be any time from now on. they truly are "big puddings" until they turn on, then they will challenge any other bird on your yard...
Let's see a pic of those Asil and any info you have on them. To say a full grown Shamo is "intimidating" could be a gross understatement. However, they do mature very slow and should not be considered mature until they are 2 years old. Same with the Asil and any orientals. Asils and/or Asil...
LOL, Julia Keeling (The Shamo Lady) says they are all "Big Puddings" until they reach a certain age and turn on. That's an accurate description. I have had some with attitude that had to be separated early, even with a mature cock policing them. One in particular sassed the old cock and lost his...
Hmmm, still looks a bit light for a stag. Wheaten cocks are red/black and the little stags will be almost as red as a RIR chick. Maybe it's just the pic, but still looks like a pullet. Perhaps a pic of all of them together would change that opinion.......Pop
Hi Nicol, sorry I didn't reply to your question, been insane around here for a week. Yes, you can sex wheatons at hatch by color. Stags will be reddish and pullets lighter, even yellow, or white. To help with the pasty butt issue, a small amount of molasses in their water (mix to look like weak...
Hmmm, still haven't tried the soap, but if I was gonna do it, I would rub the soap all over the end of the stub, maybe even jamb the stub into the bar. I've had cocks that bled, but seldom anything bad. One thing I do when dubbing is give the stag a vitamin K tablet about a half hour before...
Nicol, you might try saving eggs for 3 weeks before you incubate them. Seems to me a larger cluster of chicks would have a better chance of survival that 4-5. I know people say that after 10 days eggs start loosing their hatchability, but I have game hens that lay off and on for over a month and...
Nicol, I have to preface with the fact that I hen hatch all my fowl. I don't see anything wrong with what you did, as you explain it. A couple tweaks that may help, I would try a lower protein chick feed as orientals were developed and bred on low protein feed, like rice and such, but that in...
I concur with RP. Asils aren't for most poultry keepers. The males cannot be kept with other males and the females are very aggressive also. They are quite broody and lay few eggs. They are also quite expensive. Research before you leap.......P
I might add that inexperienced broodies sometimes are not reliable so be prepared in case it doesn't work. I've done as you plan many times and can verify that chickens are much better mothers than guineas. Got a hen with eight on the ground now. Good luck........Pop
In times like these, it's easy to see why it is said "it takes six guineas to make one brain". Actually, they could be foolin you and you have 2 males. How old are they? Do the two in question engage in chases around the yard? My last bunch dwindled from 20 down to 3 in the course of a year. I...
Walt, those Shamos are beauties. Kinda in your corner on the size, if you're gonna have big birds, go for it. Ya might hafta build your own show pens, lol. I like the looks of Gallo's Brazilians also. As I said before, I had to get rid of all my other orientals, both Shamo and Brazilians, to...