Possible breeding program

[LaurenRitz]

I heard one of the babies crying. She was halfway around the house from her coop. She followed me back, and their food bowl was empty!

Since they haven't been outside the coop much (see above, the boys not letting them out) they don't know how to find their own food. I suppose they'll learn, eventually.

 

[LaurenRitz]

These are my JGxRIR back-cross cockerels, currently 9 weeks old. Sorry for the quality, there's something wrong with my phone camera.

Two of them will be my roosters for this coop. At this point I'm hoping for one of each color to preserve their father's amazing coloring.

 

[troyer]

These are my JGxRIR back-cross cockerels, currently 9 weeks old. Sorry for the quality, there's something wrong with my phone camera.
View attachment 3782304

Two of them will be my roosters for this coop. At this point I'm hoping for one of each color to preserve their father's amazing coloring.

They look healthy!
I enjoy following along on your progress.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Thank you.

I see the same behavior toward the new chicks as I saw toward their sisters. The new chicks are just smaller and easier to intimidate.

"No! You cannot play outside, you need to stay safe!"

The darker boy has stopped trying to challenge me, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[LaurenRitz]

The boys finally let the chicks out of the coop. Still acting anxious if they're outside the fence, but they're learning to walk softly so the chicks don't get scared and scatter.

It seems to be rather out of sight out of mind for the two brown boys. If they can't see the chicks they don't care. The black one seems more aware, although he's settled a little. He'll forage for a while, run into the coop to check on the chicks there, then stand at the fence to check on the chicks outside it. No apparent distress, but it's interesting to watch.

They met the older cockerel yesterday through the fence and he seemed more curious than upset.

And I finally locked the older girls out of the chicks' run. They were not happy about it.

 

[LaurenRitz]

When I talk about the chicks' behavior it's mostly speculation. I'm going for a return to naturally polite behavior on the part of the roosters, which also implies a high level of intelligence and the ability to learn.

I tend to see their behavior in that light, but at this point it's likely wishful thinking. Still, I'll continue to document any behavior I find unusual, and speculate on what it means.

 

[LaurenRitz]

At least three of the rangers are cockerels. The runt disappeared the other day and I suspect he was snatched by something hungry. So of the four remaining, three are cockerels.

I'm not too satisfied with Hoovers gender identification at the moment. The Rangers were straight run, so I was hoping for at least one female. That piece was fine. But the remaining 15 were supposed to be all female and I think I have 5 cockerels. There may be more, since they're only 5 weeks old. But I'll be a little peeved if all the Marans are male. Especially since the Midnight Majesty group are supposed to be sex linked.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Well, I went out to the coop this afternoon and the runt was back.

Tonight I found his hiding place. Quite a clever one, too, except for one of the other chicks choosing to share it and screaming that she was lost. The runt didn't peep, even with a big THING prying him out of his safe place.

I'll post a picture tomorrow. He found a place just his size inside the support of one of my water tanks.

He won't fit in his hiding place in another week, I think. It'll be interesting to see what he does then.

 

[LaurenRitz]

He was tucked back in this corner. I never would have found him, but the other chick was screaming and when I looked down along the wall with a flashlight I saw tail feathers.

Update: he wasn't in there tonight, so apparently he found another place that the BSM (Big Scary Monster [tm]) doesn't know about.

So in the coop, 9. Somewhere well hidden, 1. Although I don't want him for breeding, I'm seriously tempted to keep him just to teach the others how to survive.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I just did the egg analysis for the 5 laying hens. The Bielefelder is laying 9 days on, 1 off. One is laying 7 on, 1 off. A third is laying 6 on, 1 off. This is an average, not including the winter. The Bielefelder is unfortunately the best layer, but I won't be setting her eggs because of some reproductive issues.

Then there's the youngest BA, which I have fondly nicknamed The Beast. She's laying 2/1, which gives her 4-5 eggs per week and is quite respectable, but she's nowhere near all the others. Unless something else comes up that really makes her stand out, I won't be setting any of her eggs.