|
Tendai posted:Holy crap, Roostroyer is gigachicken. He's huge! He's only about 6 pounds now, I think he will be twice that once he finishes growing up  . Also you can hear my neighbor's cockerel in that video. With all roosters that there are in my neighborhood (it also helps that most of my neighbors seem to be first generation Mexicans or Latinos), I don't worry about somebody complaining about Roo crowing, when there are like other 5-6 roosters crowing at the same time  .Edit: I finally saw Roostroyer mounting Megatron. She screamed but he finished his business (my poor baby  ), however it seems that she is his favorite. Silly rooster is into blondes, so I think I'm gonna try to get one or two more chickens for him, and make sure one is white or as light colored as possible.
Chido fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Aug 13, 2011 |
#
?
Aug 13, 2011 02:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 14:53 |
|
|
Photo dumping time! My chickens are all almost 5 months old now. I know what Roostroyer is, but my other three pullets are mystery chickens. Rusty and Megatron are a bit more than 2 pounds each, while Godzilla is over 3lbs. Can you guys have a guess of what mix breeds they are? Also none of my pullets have almost any combs or wattles. I don't know if they are going to grow them at all. Godzilla   Megatron   Rusty (in the second picture she is grooming herself, what's that gland above her tail?)   Roostroyer is almost 6 pounds heavy now. Even though he looks massive compared to my pullets, he's just a very tall bird atm. Half of his body volume is fluff. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2011 19:59
|
|
|
Chido posted:
 That's the uropygial gland. Birds use it to oil their feathers to keep them well-maintained!
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2011 20:09
|
|
|
Catkin posted:
Thank you!
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2011 21:10
|
|
|
Alterian posted:They aren't any noisier than a dog barking. They make noises when they lay eggs and if they see you because they want you to come and give them food. This is the noise they make when they pop an egg out (not mine) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idUDqGZwIrw&feature=related I grew up raising chickens and they're pretty great to have around. I'm looking into buying a house and if I do, I'm pretty interested in getting a few hens. I'd like to get a small, mobile coop so I can keep the grass alive and not scratched to bare earth or have to deal with new straw and stuff all the time. The taste difference in store bought eggs and free range is pretty drastic. Jork Juggler posted:I would be very cautious about this. We have a Border Collie that is absolutely fascinated with the chickens, and spends hours every day staring at them. He was fine for over a year, just watching them roam around the yard, and one day he decided to attack one and it died a few hours later. After this happened we rarely let them out of the run. It sucks, because the chickens loved roaming free and the dog even scared off foxes a few times. Some say that no dog can be trusted around chickens. FWIW I never used toys with chicken/bird feathers on them, for this reason.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2011 02:13
|
|
|
I bought this container to make a nest box for my pullets, but I bought it this big for Roostroyer. I've seen him going into the lowest part of the coop, scratch and circle around, and make a very cute cluck to call the pullets and show the nest he is making. The tote is big enough to have two of my pullets nest inside easily, and I'm gonna cut a hole on one side big enough for Roo to go and make his nest. I just hope they like it. Would it be ok to use pine shavings as bedding for the nest?
Chido fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Aug 14, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2011 04:20
|
|
|
Catkin posted:
Fun fact: the oils this gland secretes contain vitamin D precursors, which turn into the active form of the vitamin upon exposure to UV. The birds then ingest the vitamin D at their next preening. This is how birds manage to get their vitamin D requirements despite the fact that their skin never gets sun exposure. I just found this out a couple weeks ago, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let a useless fact like this go unshared.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2011 05:47
|
|
|
A thing I noticed reading through this thread, is that there seems to be a general lack of discussion/awareness about the birds' crop. Impacted crop or "crop bound" problems (someone mentioned that primarily grass-fed birds can get this) can be easily prevented by providing grit and small stones for the birds. Oyster grit is useful for this and also provides calcium to keep eggs from breaking when hens attempt to roll them around while setting on their nest. Bones and such (especially cooked bones) are not good for this, they often contain bacteria which can sour in the bird's crop, and they can block digestion. Too much hard grain can also cause a blocked crop. The easiest solution for a crop-bound bird is to separate them and keep them on a liquid diet (water and/or veggie broth) until the blockage softens and digests. Failing that, call a vet. You can tell if a bird is having problems because they get a big knot at the base of their neck, sort of around the collarbone area of the chest. They'll sometimes peck the feathers away, trying to ease the irritation. These birds will often become listless and not eat or drink. My family never fed our chickens eggshells until we'd washed and crushed them, because you don't want to encourage the birds to peck at anything resembling eggs - if you've got more than a couple of chickens, it's not uncommon to get a sneak-thief hen who'll peck holes in and sometimes eat eggs, so making sure that there's no tasty protein on the shells can help prevent this. I've known people to bake the eggshells too, for similar reasons. As long as there's nothing recognizable as a fellow bird (and I'd recommend taking the bones out as cooked poultry and pork bones easily splinter and can block or pierce a chicken's innards!) there's really nothing wrong with feeding chicken to chickens. It's a "civilized" human hangup to be squeamish about this, and it's better than throwing that meat into the trash. The pit bulls who killed Lyz's birds are lucky they're in the city though. Where I grew up, someone would've shot those dogs and quietly buried them, and everybody in the neighborhood would've quietly been thankful to the anonymous assassin. I'd definitely make a case for the cost for (upgraded!) materials and labor to repair the pen, and estimate how many eggs your birds would have produced over the space of a couple years - that adds up, and time isn't free. WrathofKhan posted:Crossing an Ameraucana and a Marans will produce a chicken that lays olive green eggs.
coyo7e fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Aug 16, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2011 06:53
|
|
|
Marchegiana posted:Fun fact: the oils this gland secretes contain vitamin D precursors, which turn into the active form of the vitamin upon exposure to UV. The birds then ingest the vitamin D at their next preening. This is how birds manage to get their vitamin D requirements despite the fact that their skin never gets sun exposure. Thank you for that awesome fact of  So I've been in my new house for about three weeks now. I mentioned to my super-friendly neighbor (who enjoys animals and loves my big ball python) how I wanted to have a few chickens in my backyard, but I had called the town and they said no. He was shocked they said no, and seems adamant that I can have chickens. At least I know one neighbor is for me being able to keep chickens. He's also got some close connections with the mayor, so that is another bonus! I'm going to go to the town in person sometime to ask them about having some hens..if they say no, I'm going to make a petition and ask all those neighbors closest to my house if they care and if they could sign the petition saying they don't care if I have some hens in my backyard... It's pretty stupid considering the city 25 minutes away allows people to have hens in their backyard, but in this semi-rural little "village" area, they say I can't have a couple laying hens. I guess if I wanted chickens I should have moved into the city, not out towards the country 
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2011 16:49
|
|
|
Greycious posted:
I live in El Monte, CA. My town is probably about 30 minutes away from East LA, if not less, and it is surrounded by other cities. In about a 6 block ratio, I have neighbors with horses, a guy kept a cow for a week (it died on its front yard...). At dawn and dusk I hear more than 10 roosters crow in the area, and my neighbors next door, across the street, and 2 houses down the road have chickens. I didn't find any law banning roosters in my street, but I'm not worried, With the amount of poultry that is in here, and has been around for years, I doubt anybody would complain of my 4 chickens.
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2011 07:25
|
|
|
I had a friend visit me from NYC last night. He lives right the middle of the city, somewhere in Harlem, like 135th st. I was telling him how I wanted to get a few chickens but unlike NYC, Boston doesn't allow them. He said that his next door neighbor had chickens and a rooster living right on their deck, which of course goes off all hours of the night. I'm thinking who in their right mind would have a rooster on their deck in the middle of Harlem?
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2011 18:14
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:A thing I noticed reading through this thread, is that there seems to be a general lack of discussion/awareness about the birds' crop. Impacted crop or "crop bound" problems (someone mentioned that primarily grass-fed birds can get this) can be easily prevented by providing grit and small stones for the birds. Oyster grit is useful for this and also provides calcium to keep eggs from breaking when hens attempt to roll them around while setting on their nest. Thanks for mentioning grit, its a very important thing to remember! I don't have any pics of the olive eggs, but if you google 'olive egger' there are a ton of pics.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2011 06:18
|
|
|
WrathofKhan posted:Thanks for mentioning grit, its a very important thing to remember! http://homesteadingwithwaterlily.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/i-have-olive-eggers/
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2011 15:17
|
|
|
I'm worried about my pullets. Roostroyer has been trying to mate with them, and he's a very tall cockerel, and 6 lbs of weight. The two pullets he harrasses the most are a bit more than 2 lbs (bantam mixes after all, I really hoped they'd grow more  ), and they aren't interested in mating yet, so there's a lot of rough surprise sex and chasing. I know he'll calm down eventually, but I think I'm gonna have to get one or two more standard size hens for him to give the smaller pullets a break.Why is it that males of any species turn into assholes once they reach puberty?
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2011 15:54
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:A thing I noticed reading through this thread, is that there seems to be a general lack of discussion/awareness about the birds' crop. Impacted crop or "crop bound" problems (someone mentioned that primarily grass-fed birds can get this) can be easily prevented by providing grit and small stones for the birds. Oyster grit is useful for this and also provides calcium to keep eggs from breaking when hens attempt to roll them around while setting on their nest. Many times the grass fed birds get this because the grass is too long and just balls up. Best way to prevent this is to cut the grass short so its not long strands AND provide plenty of grit. If the birds are allowed to pluck their own grass, they tend to rip it into manageable pieces. The crop impaction due to grass seems to happen more when people mow the lawn and throw long clippings in for the birds.They can't tear it off into beak size bits so they cram it all in, and it gets impacted. Crop surgery is not fun btw ugh...nasty. But at least it's not that hard to do. Chido posted:
A question all women have comtemplated since time began.... Disco Salmon fucked around with this message at 18:08 on Aug 20, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2011 18:05
|
|
|
Chido posted:I'm worried about my pullets. Roostroyer has been trying to mate with them, and he's a very tall cockerel, and 6 lbs of weight. The two pullets he harrasses the most are a bit more than 2 lbs (bantam mixes after all, I really hoped they'd grow more ), and they aren't interested in mating yet, so there's a lot of rough surprise sex and chasing. I know he'll calm down eventually, but I think I'm gonna have to get one or two more standard size hens for him to give the smaller pullets a break. At least your pullets don't have big combs. I had to get rid of my rooster because he was just tearing my pullets combs apart.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2011 20:47
|
|
|
I was told in backyardchickens.com that my pullets look like game fowl or a gamefowl mix. I found out that this breed doesn't get too big, so I'd like to get a hen that weighs about 6-7 pounds for Roostroyer, but I only found roosters in petfinder . I'm gonna ask at my feed store if they also get grown hens every now and then, or older chicks that don't need a brooder anymore. Can you guys suggest me any common breed I can easily find that is a bit over 6 pounds? I have no idea what breed to buy .
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 09:04
|
|
|
Orpington! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpington_(chicken) So fluffy.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 13:29
|
|
|
I'm gonna ask the guys at the feed store if they can get me an orpington, that chicken is so pretty!
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 15:16
|
|
|
Chido posted:I was told in backyardchickens.com that my pullets look like game fowl or a gamefowl mix. I found out that this breed doesn't get too big, so I'd like to get a hen that weighs about 6-7 pounds for Roostroyer, but I only found roosters in petfinder Orpington, Australorps, EE, Plymouth Rocks, Barred Rock...basically any standard size chicken breed will be around 6 lbs or so. In my flock atm, all my girls are about 7 lbs each at the low side. The bigger girls are closer to 10. I have Easter Eggers <EE>, Black Australorps, Buff Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks, and in the past I have had the Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and Cochins. Orps/Australorps are pretty close to being the same thing. The Australorp breed was developed in Austrailia from Orpington lines, so they are very similar. They are sweet happy curious birds with a tendency to get beat up and be lower on the pecking order. They are gorgeous birds tho...mine have wonderful personalities. Rocks in general tend to be VERY gregarious lol I love them they are funny personalitied birds who tend to be higher up on the pecking order in mixed flocks from my experience. EE are a mixed grab bag...I have had several that were the BEST layers I have ever had, and fantastic personalities. In fact the head hen for my flock is Mercedes, a EE. She has kept everyone in line for several years now. But I have also had EE that are flighty and scaredy cat birds...literally chicken. Silver is that way in my flock. She is almost 4 and still runs screaming in terror when I put something new in the pen, and won't come out of the coop for a good 30 minutes or so. They do lay pretty eggs tho!! They lay all colours of eggs depending on the genes they have. They are supposed to lay eggs ranging from green to aqua blue to olive. I however, have had one or two EE mutts who had a defective blue egg gene and gave me brown eggs Rhode Island Reds are good all around hens, quiet and usually sweet tempered. Again, they tend to be bullied by the flock so they are lower on average in pecking order in mixed flocks. Cochin are great birds...but they can have issues with the feathers getting in the way for breeding. They also might have more issues with the heat temperatures. Mine did ok, but they were some of the first of my flock to kick off, so I can't say much more than that. They did have a nice temperament however, but they did get bullied a bit and were prone to being overweight too...at least the ones I had were.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 17:49
|
|
|
Jork Juggler posted:I live out in the sticks, and my family has kept a few chickens as a hobby for about 15 years. We get eggs out of them and they are a form of mild entertainment. That looks awesome. I feel like I should build a better coop for my chickens now.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 17:53
|
|
|
I've been looking up breeds of chickens and I've settled on about 5-6 types I would really like. The thing is, I only really want a total, MAXIMUM, of 6-7 hens. Mainly because my yard isn't very large...at all. I've narrowed it down to: Golden Laced Wyandotte (OMFG BEAUTIFUL  ), Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Red, and White Plymouth Rocks. Would it be okay to have only 1-2 of each breed of hen? Or would it be better to many just stick to two breeds max, considering the small number of chickens I want?
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 23:05
|
|
|
Jeez dude, just get the GL Wyandottes so I don't have to mix breeds when/if I get chickens. A lot of the order sites seem okay with letting you mix breeds and stuff when you order them.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 23:16
|
|
|
Greycious posted:I've been looking up breeds of chickens and I've settled on about 5-6 types I would really like. I was wondering the same exact thing. When (if) I get chickens, I decided I want a rainbow of different colors. I was thinking about a Rhode Island Red, a White Leghorn, a Welsummer, a Plymouth Rock and a couple Easter Eggers. I've been researching this, and the consensus is that it's bad to have a flock of one breed and one that is different because that one might be picked on, but if all of them are different, then the chickens have a broader vision of what it means to be a chicken. Is this what other people observe?
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 23:22
|
|
|
geez get what you want lol they REALLY don't care for the most part. The only time I have seen issues when they were all raised from chicks is when the other birds tried to pull the feathers off the top of my polish's topknot. They really don't care about what the other chickens look like, if they are raised together it wont really be an issue from what I have seen. and really? unless you are interested in breeding true breeds? It wont matter what is in your flock for the most part. So rainbow breed away! Get whatever ones you want...i have 5 different breeds in my flock atm and they are all fine together.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 23:32
|
|
|
I've been reading a lot about game fowl lately, specially since my pullets might be part american game, and oh god they are so beautiful! Also they look like the kind of chickens I grew up watching at my grandparents' house and town in Mexico (cock fighting is legal there, so that kind of bird is pretty common). My pullets are really sweet and cute, if game hens were bigger than 4plbs, I'd get 2 more. Why is chicken keeping so addictive?
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 23:51
|
|
|
Amethyste posted:
I beg to differ, Roostroyer likes his girls blond and petite, that's why that white fatass keeps having surprise sex (literally surprise sex, he's just standing next to her, suddenly goes nom on her back of the neck, mounts her, and the deal is done in 5 seconds) with Megatron. He's also mounted Rusty, but not nearly as often as Megatron, and he's tried to do the same with Godzilla a few times, but she fights him and chases him around really angry when he does. Edit: I should have included this in my previous post, sorry for the double post!
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 23:54
|
|
|
Zeta Taskforce posted:I was wondering the same exact thing. When (if) I get chickens, I decided I want a rainbow of different colors. I was thinking about a Rhode Island Red, a White Leghorn, a Welsummer, a Plymouth Rock and a couple Easter Eggers. I've been researching this, and the consensus is that it's bad to have a flock of one breed and one that is different because that one might be picked on, but if all of them are different, then the chickens have a broader vision of what it means to be a chicken. Is this literally suggesting chickens are racist/breedist? Because that could be one really cool study to read. I was thinking about 3 australorps and either 3 buff orpingtons or 3 easter eggers. You're allowed 6 in the city where we're moving, with permit, and most sites require you order 3-5. I figure if I split the flock down the middle like that, at least everyone will have someone to hang out with. If for some reason they don't just mix of their own accord.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2011 23:57
|
|
|
Fluffy Bunnies posted:Is this literally suggesting chickens are racist/breedist? Because that could be one really cool study to read. Chido are you getting eggs from your hens?
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 00:11
|
|
|
Most of my chickens are different breeds and I haven't had a problem as long as they were raised together. Even then, the only big problem was my silkie. His fluffy head freaked out all of my other chickens and they tried to pull out his feathers.  I think it was because when chickens fight their neck feathers stand up like tiny dinosaurs so they thought he was picking a fight.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 00:15
|
|
|
Kerfuffle posted:Chido are you getting eggs from your hens? Not yet, but my four chickens are about 5 months old this week, so I guess it can be any time now. Also, sometimes I think I'd like to let one of my pullets sit on her eggs if she gets broody and the eggs are fertile... but the dad would be a possible 12 pound really docile brahma rooster, the mom a most likely 3-4 pound game hen... the embryo might be too big for the eggshell and they wouldn't hatch, I think. But can you imagine the combination? It'd be awesome!
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 00:46
|
|
|
Sweet, glad to know they aren't going to destroy each other if I get a rainbow-flock like I want
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 02:58
|
|
|
Greycious posted:Sweet, glad to know they aren't going to destroy each other if I get a rainbow-flock like I want oh ya order waht you like lol Just remember about the birds with fancy crests tho like the Polish. For some reason it is just so much fun for the other birds to pull at them. Granted it doesn't happen often but it still is a strong possibility. Enjoy your chickies!! I cannot wait to get more I wish i could now but I am at 7 atm... don't want to piss off the neighbors by adding more. So far they don't seem to mind the Ladies, but I don't want to press my luck.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 06:22
|
|
|
Sup chicken thread, been a great read but I've got some questions that I think haven't been addressed: 1) How much water do chickens need to drink a day? I live in the desert and temperatures right now peak in the 110-117 range so I worry about dehydration. 2) How do you keep pigeons from eating all the scratch?
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 21:32
|
|
|
DrPain posted:Sup chicken thread, been a great read but I've got some questions that I think haven't been addressed: I'd say to always keep the wateter full of water and available for your chickens if you can, and if it's big enough, put a frozen bottle of water inside so it keeps the water cool for the chickens. About scratch, birds will always eat it, what I do to minimize the loss is to just spread a bit of scratch in the morning so my chickens can eat most of it, and I often move the feeder around so the birds don't get used to it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 22:27
|
|
|
DrPain posted:Sup chicken thread, been a great read but I've got some questions that I think haven't been addressed: 1) My hens drink on average here in Seattle area about 1/3 to 3/4 cup of water a day...more if hot. Course our hot is NOT your hot lol we only get to 100 or so every once in a while. Hottest i have ever seen here was 107 a couple of years back. We rarely get the hot hot heat waves like they do in other places. Easter Washington tho gets hot!! 2) We give scratch in the pen, and it is a large modified dog kennel with deer netting and steel fencing w/hardware cloth over the top to prevent hawks and other predators. The holes on the side of the pen are not big enough to really let the other birds in except for the occasional little robin etc but they go in at their own risk. My girls LOVE fresh little bird meat. We let the girls out in the back garden for an hour or so in the late afternoon when we get home from work so we can watch them. We have too many hawks in the area to trust them during the day on their own not being penned up. And daytime racoons 
Disco Salmon fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Aug 23, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2011 01:45
|
|
|
I went to the feed store to buy some food and ask if they also sell grown up chickens, and they told me yes. As I was talking with the store owner about the kind of breeds I was looking for, a lady came into the store to drop her tree hens. Apperently you can "donate" your chickens to the store if you don't want them or can't keep them anymore, and they'll sell them to whoever wants them. One of the chickens is a barred playmouth rock, a breed my brother-in-law was interested in, and he bought it on the spot. The hen is a bit over a year old, it feels a bit underweight, but she has no nasal discharge, her feathers look in pretty decent condition, no raised scales on her legs, no mites on her legs or under her wings. Her eyes are shiny and clear and he breath smells ok. I wasn't quite ready to get the hen right now, as I've read that I should isolate her, but my BiL decided to let her out in the yard. My other chickens are already in their fenced area, so they can see each other without being able to reach each other. Only their heads fit through the wire, and Godzilla already tried to pick a fight with the newcomer... and she ended up bitten in the face and a bit of blood, but it was just a scratch. Now the four chickens keep their distance from the hen, and she is hanging out in a shaded area next to the wire. I'll keep them separate like this and put the hen inside a dog crate at night so they can all sleep in the coop but without fighting. She is really docile and pretty! Btw, we named her Spaghetti because of her stripes , now I just hope I don't mess up their introduction any further, I wish I could have isolated her inside the house for some days, but what is done is done, I'll keep an eye on all the chickens just to make sure they'll be ok.
Chido fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Aug 24, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2011 23:11
|
|
|
Chido posted:Not yet, but my four chickens are about 5 months old this week, so I guess it can be any time now. Also, sometimes I think I'd like to let one of my pullets sit on her eggs if she gets broody and the eggs are fertile... but the dad would be a possible 12 pound really docile brahma rooster, the mom a most likely 3-4 pound game hen... the embryo might be too big for the eggshell and they wouldn't hatch, I think. But can you imagine the combination? It'd be awesome! Careful about letting hens hatch their own eggs... most of them really have no idea how to raise chicks since the eggs are always taken away from them and hatched in an incubator. I say this because my husband told me that his co-worker had found some hidden corner where his hens were laying eggs and had actually managed to hatch some... and then suffocated the newborn chicks because they wouldn't move till all the eggs were hatched. Domestic chickens are all kinds of stupid.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2011 00:13
|
|
|
I don't think I'll ever let my chickens hatch their eggs, 6 chickens is the max I can take care of, even though they are adorable
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2011 00:17
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 14:53 |
|
|
Could i have just one hen? Or will she get lonely and slit her combs? (Just curious, my parents have several, but where i live i don't have a very big yard and live with vegans so i don't need that many eggs.)
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2011 01:49
|
|
