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Muffy - I am so sorry to hear about your girl. I wish I could give you a big hug. The Ladies are doing very well. My husband has been training them to sit on one of his hands while they eat out of the other one. You can tell how much he hates these chickens, it's so awful.  We've got the coop done, so I'm going to see if next weekend they're ready to brave the frost (~50 deg) weather outside yet.
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Mar 18, 2013 04:11
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Sorry if I offended. I've only seen those barrels used to keep fighting birds, though I can understand how they might be an easy way to keep breeding cocks from tearing each other up. It's just something I feel really strongly about. I live in Louisiana. Cockfighting was banned only about 4-5 years ago. That doesn't really stop people though; its still pretty common in smaller towns. There's a real large abandoned ring around here that was big business back in the day and a huge blue barrel operation close to the local high school.
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Mar 18, 2013 04:30
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Disco you weren't offending, just wanted to make sure there were no misconceptions. I've known a few good breeders that were endlessly harassed because they tethered their males (some to the point of selling their flock), so now whenever I see the misunderstanding I try and correct it strongly so it doesn't spread.
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Mar 18, 2013 04:44
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Inveigle posted:How does this work exactly? I remember Chido getting pecked in the eye last year. I got pecked by a broody hen. I made the mistake of holding Dust too close to my face when I was getting hr out of the coop 
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Mar 18, 2013 04:52
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Any videos online on how to discipline ill-behaved chickens?
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Tempting Fate posted:Disco you weren't offending, just wanted to make sure there were no misconceptions. I've known a few good breeders that were endlessly harassed because they tethered their males (some to the point of selling their flock), so now whenever I see the misunderstanding I try and correct it strongly so it doesn't spread. Unprofessional, Tempting Fate, and Disco all had interesting posts. I learned new things about roosters today, thanks to you all! 
Inveigle fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Mar 18, 2013 |
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Mar 18, 2013 04:56
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Inveigle posted:How does this work exactly? I remember Chido getting pecked in the eye last year. You walk quickly up to the offender, grab them up with both hands, no nonsense, without ceremony and without any wheedling, and quickly hold them securely against your body, I like the 'football hold' which is just what it sounds like--a chicken tucked under your arm, your arm around their body with your hand supporting their breast, wings trapped, while their feet dangle. If you let them get a foothold they can gain the upper hand when they struggle and they could get hurt if you drop them. Scolding bad behaviour while you have them held helps them learn to connect the 'No!' in *that* tone of voice with an embarrassing public spectacle. This is how I carry my chickens in general (but fun petting with tender cooing at them is different than when they are in trouble) so they are all used to it, and I make a habit of walking into the flock, leaning over and petting random birds, talking to them, picking up random birds, etc. so they learn to accept it as normal for me to do this. But if someone is being a brat they get scooped up and held/petted/scolded RIGHT NOW whether they want it or not, and the embarrassment of having it done in front of everyone else while they watch is very effective.  It never hurts them, it's just a public shaming using chicken psychology. Now, chickens are smart, so once you do this once or twice they catch on and know that when you wade in like that they are in trouble, and the bad behaviour starts to abate. After a few times all you have to do is say loudly and in a warning tone, 'Noooo--!' or their name, and they'll abort whatever shithead thing they're doing.It's especially effective with bratty roos, they get all whiney and petulant, and I don't put them back down as long as they are struggling, I put them down when *I* want to, taking my sweet time. It's all about letting them know, in ways they understand, who is really Head Roo (it's always, eternally, forever and ever, ME. Amen.)
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Mar 18, 2013 08:21
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My chickens are too speedy for me to pick up. Except for Gunther. Gotta love how easy it is to sneak up on Polish chooks. Speaking of Gunther, I am learning the joy of taking inappropriate cock pictures. 
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Mar 18, 2013 10:56
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I think I need to clip some wings. Having my pregnant wife chase a chicken up and down our ridiculously steep property with a 4 year old in tow is not something I want to hear about again.
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Mar 18, 2013 13:18
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Armed Neutrality posted:I think I need to clip some wings. Having my pregnant wife chase a chicken up and down our ridiculously steep property with a 4 year old in tow is not something I want to hear about again. For your own safety (at the hands of your wife) I recommend clipping ASAP. Well, our styro Little Giant forced air incubator started fluctuating like a mad bitch after have three test eggs in it for two days. End of using styro for us! I just pulled the trigger on a brand new ReptiPro 6000 incubator, no egg turners since I'll be hand turning the lil' suckers. Also, lookit that huge viewing pane for the cam!  Chickam is goin' high-tech. 
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Mar 18, 2013 19:26
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Armed Neutrality posted:I think I need to clip some wings. Having my pregnant wife chase a chicken up and down our ridiculously steep property with a 4 year old in tow is not something I want to hear about again. Definitely do it. I'm currently pregnant and would be super pissed if I were having to chase our chickens up and down the hill we live on! We only ended up needing to clip ours once last year. Even though their feathers have grown back and they can now easily fly high enough to get out of our yard if they wanted to (the fence is only 3 feet high in some places) they've all become so content in the yard that they don't even try. I think it helped that we did it before they ever actually went over the fence. So they did not have it in their heads that there was anything interesting on the other side. Anyone have any tips/things we should consider for moving our chickens across town in mid-May? It's going to be a short move (~2 miles) and the ladies are just over a year old. Their coop and run are being moved as well, so it won't require any change in housing for them. My plan is just to put the four of them in the dog crate (48" wire type) while their coop and run are being broken down/moved/set up and for them to be moved in our friends truck (the back of the truck is covered and they'll only be going 25mph). Anything I'm not thinking of that I need to consider? If I need to prepare anything it needs to be done in the next month since I'm going to be just a couple weeks postpartum at the time of the move and pretty much need things to be ready to go for my husband.
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Mar 18, 2013 20:05
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Velvet Sparrow posted:For your own safety (at the hands of your wife) I recommend clipping ASAP.  I can't wait for this year's hatch.
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Mar 18, 2013 20:36
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Ceridwen posted:Definitely do it. I'm currently pregnant and would be super pissed if I were having to chase our chickens up and down the hill we live on! When I moved our 36 chickens, it was a 10 hour trip over 400 miles, through deserts and mountains. Hauling a bunch of pissy, carsick chickens with nervous bowels was SOME FUN, I tell you. I used el cheapo laundry baskets with a chunk of cheap indoor/outdoor carpet (NOT the loop stuff so they couldn't hook any claws in it) for traction/absorbancy, added some cut up apple quarters and raw corn on the cob chunks for food/hydration/entertainment (food & water dishes spill, so none of that nonsense) and had a piece of hardware cloth for lids ziptied on securely. I placed birds that tolerated each other well together and got 3-4 birds per basket, depending on size. They all did great, even if they weren't pleased with me at ALL. We had a temporary coop/run built at the destination before we moved, and moved the birds last so that they went from the old coop into the carriers & car, straight to their new digs. Went back a few days later, broke down the old run, packed it up and moved it up here, rebuilt it and moved the chickens into their old run at our new place--that way at least their housing was familiar to them. You might want to offer them some unflavored Pedialyte (electrolyte solution, get it at the grocery store in the baby aisle) to drink after the move for a few days, it will help combat the stress. Also they may fall briefly out of lay while adjusting to their new surroundings. Chickens hate change, so anything you can do to make the move as uneventfull as possible is all good, as is surrounding them with things familiar to them, like their regular nests, food & water dispensers, etc. Give them some extra attention and love after the move to reassure them and make them feel more secure. It'll be May, so consider the heat and keep them as cool and comfy as you can.
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Mar 18, 2013 23:46
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Thankfully in May here it's very mild so normal conditions will mean 60s and 70s during the day with 40s and 50s at night. I'll definitely pick up some Pedialyte to offer them and all their normal housing/food/water will be going with them, so that should reduce their stress. Thanks for the tips!
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Mar 18, 2013 23:58
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Velvet Sparrow posted:-Moving With Chickens- :ohgod: That kind of reminds me of the story on TheOatmeal, only with cats instead of chickens. (This Panel) 10 hours with a bunch of squawking, panicking, prissy chickens? Does not sound so fun. Question tho: Would it have helped to make it as dark as possible, and maybe have them go to sleep? Or is that only for other birds? Vaga42Bond fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Mar 19, 2013 |
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Mar 19, 2013 00:07
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Velvet Sparrow posted:For your own safety (at the hands of your wife) I recommend clipping ASAP. Very cool! How many eggs are you planning on incubating this year?
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Mar 19, 2013 01:25
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^^^^I'll have to see how many will sensibly fit in the thing, I'm going to use either both shelves or one depending on how the temperature at each shelf position tests out.Vaga42Bond posted:That kind of reminds me of the story on TheOatmeal, only with cats instead of chickens. (This Panel) It wasn't a fun ride, it was just as stressful for my daughter and I as it was for the chickens. I had to rent the biggest minivan I could find and fold down all but the two front seats in order to fit all 14 of the carriers, my husband 12_String drove the other car.   You can only see one layer of the carriers in the pics, but a few chicken faces peeking out. We had to do it during the day, thank God the van had A/C. We only stopped for gas and to snarf down McDonalds while standing over a gas pump since we wanted to get them there as quickly as possible. There was much plaintive wailing on the part of the chickens and we were constantly talking to them. We drove up Highway 395 from southern California to just below Lake Tahoe, through deserts and mountains and I think over at least 5 summits of 5,000 to 8,000+ feet each. We got to our destination an hour or so after dark.  Doing it at night would have been better for the chickens, but it's a dangerous drive at night since it is so dark for hundreds of miles and deer like to run across the road then. Most of the drive is through hundreds of miles with very few people. Along the way one egg was laid (with cackling) and someone managed to poop way up on the inside of the van, although how they managed it I don't care to think about.  Between moving the chickens and the tear down/rebuilding of the coop/run, 12_String and I have agreed that we are never moving again. I'm stayin' here till I rot in place.
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Mar 19, 2013 08:52
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Where did you get those giant rolls of hardware cloth? Do you remember the dimensions?
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Mar 19, 2013 11:18
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You can just see the stinkeye you are getting from those chickens in the minivan.
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Mar 19, 2013 15:29
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^^^It was MAJOR stinkeye, along with hours of the occassional pitiful 'Let me oooouuuuttt!' wail during the trip. Phoenix the Head Roo just gave me this really hurt, betrayed look, as if to say, 'Wait--I'm in here. Surely you didn't me to put me in here...?' I apologized for 400 miles.Alterian posted:Where did you get those giant rolls of hardware cloth? Do you remember the dimensions? Home Depot, they were rolls of 4 foot x 25 foot...? Big honkin' rolls, anyway. And yeah, hardware cloth is more expensive, but you have to balance the cost by how many years it will last, how strong it is vs. cheaper wire that will rust out in a year or get brittle. When we moved we broke down the old run built in 2006 and brought it with us, so that meant not only that we didn't have to buy all of the materials again, but that it was already cut, and since we'd already built the run once it was much easier the second time. It is just as strong today as it was in 2006, no breaks, dents or worn places. It had a high PITA value to have to break it down, move it, and rebuild it, but it saved us a ton of money. If anyone wants to see how we built the current coop & run, pics of the 2 week process are here: http://velvet-sparrow.livejournal.com/109303.html The metal pipe framework for the run was an old scavenged carport frame, the heavy metal security screen doors a curbside find. The stuff we bought here to build included insulation for the coop, plywood sheathing, tar/shingles, rental of a trencher, 2x4's for the doorway frame, assorted hardware and concrete to set the run posts in--we get winds from Hell itself here. The coop building was here when we moved in, but we had to move it to it's new spot. We've also added on a second, smaller run since those pics were taken. Also, MY INCUBATOR HAS BEEN SHIPPED! 
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Mar 20, 2013 07:55
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So, once you started shoving them in the baskets, did the others catch on to what was going down, and lead you on a merry chase? Ideally with an acompanyment of Yakety Sax.
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Mar 20, 2013 09:18
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Vaga42Bond posted:So, once you started shoving them in the baskets, did the others catch on to what was going down, and lead you on a merry chase? Ideally with an acompanyment of Yakety Sax. No. We went into the run that morning carrying the baskets, closed the door and didn't let them out. They are mostly all really tame, couldn't run away far, and besides, we had corn and apples...food won. Their overall reaction to realizing that they were in the baskets and not getting out was betrayal, not panic. And of course, heavy-duty chicken glare that could peel paint. Usually when we don't let them out of the run they know something is up, usually we want to manhandle them for some reason, like their semi-annual worming/health check. But they ALSO know that with these indignities comes an instant reward of a handful of mealworms, just for them. They become SO conflicted--!
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Mar 20, 2013 10:10
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Mealworms are chicken crack. My husband has taken to feeding them from hand so much that even putting my hand in to take out and rinse their water dish is an event for the Ladies. In other news, my husband loathes crickets now, and we probably won't be getting any more of them for the girls. Which is a shame, because they are the most fun food the girls have had so far. But crickets are kinda gross to keep. Stinky. I never thought I'd say it, but the mealworms are perfect. Not stinky, easy to capture, and they don't escape. God how the crickets escape.
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Mar 20, 2013 17:48
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Lynza posted:Mealworms are chicken crack. I just set the little container they come in in the cage and they go crazy digging through it.
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Mar 20, 2013 18:05
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Please don't hit chickens. "Hit" is probably a strong word. I've just been tapping them with the end of my finger, not even as hard as you'd tap the screen of an iPhone. But I'll still stop. Hopefully they'll learn or maybe all the bitey ones will be roosters and we'll just eat them. I can already tell that one is a boy. He's got the biggest reddest comb of the bunch (and is the biggest butt). I'm also feeding mealworms, so maybe they're just too excited to control themselves.
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Mar 20, 2013 21:41
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Their overall reaction to realizing that they were in the baskets and not getting out was betrayal, not panic. And of course, heavy-duty chicken glare that could peel paint. By early evening they'd forgiven us and were their usual selves, but you don't expect to get the cold shoulder treatment from a hen... that often, anyways.
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Mar 20, 2013 21:47
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Explosions! posted:"Hit" is probably a strong word. I've just been tapping them with the end of my finger, not even as hard as you'd tap the screen of an iPhone. But I'll still stop. Hopefully they'll learn or maybe all the bitey ones will be roosters and we'll just eat them. I can already tell that one is a boy. He's got the biggest reddest comb of the bunch (and is the biggest butt). I'm also feeding mealworms, so maybe they're just too excited to control themselves. I'm sorry, I should have explained 'why' in more detail. It isn't just that you might hurt them, but also because chickens use a peck to the head in order to maintain their rigid social order (pecking order). When you 'peck' them on the head (no matter how hard), you are dispensing a pretty severe social punishment/embarrassment, and roos especially take this to heart and can carry a grudge. Each successive 'peck' you give acts in a kinda cumulative way, and pretty soon you've got a mean-rear end, vindictive rooster that will remember all this until the end of time and spend his days trying to get back at you in a feathery vendetta, plus a bit extra in order to prove to his hens that HE is top dog. That's why I suggest the 'scooping up/head cover/under your control as long as YOU please' technique. It's a firm lesson that they understand in a very clear way and gets your point across, without the brutal (as they think of it) peck to the head. I learned all this weird chicken psychology the hard way, I still carry a bunch of criss-crossed scars to the backs of my hands from a tiny banty roo we had over 15 years ago who schooled me well. Example: Once he was in the house wandering around one morning (he'd come in the open back door) and he fell off the edge of a box he was investigating. I laughed. He gave me a classic, incredulous 'Oh no you didn't' look and started doing that rooster 'awwwww..' noise that precurses a roo whippin' and started to stalk me. Of course, I found this hilarious from this tiny guy and kept laughing. He eventually slow-chased me into the bathroom where my husband was shaving. I had to climb through the bathtub and hide behind my husband, an outraged roo cackling at me the entire time, disappointed because he couldn't get me--which made me laugh even harder. Husband took him back outside. He just bided his time for rooster jihad. It took that little roo two days before he flogged me enough to where he felt vindicated.
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Mar 20, 2013 23:32
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I finally got my paycheck from one of my par-time jobs to buy the supplement feed for Baba you suggested, VS. Baba is still very skinny but the temperature has been changing so much lately that I decided to just let her join the flock, and I put a saddle back on her. She hasn't gained weight, but she's acting normal and still laying huge eggs. Besides the mealworms, cottage cheese, and eggs that I give her almost every day, what other high protein food can I give her? She didn't care much for spinach, so I gave up in giving her that. Btw, silly Baba now associates me with food, you can see her tiny eager eyes stare at me whenever I go outside. She even lets me grab her easily now, that silly bird. I can't wait to graduate next quarter and start applying for real jobs. I really want to have a vet do a checkup on my flock just to make sure everything is ok.
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Mar 21, 2013 01:57
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Chido posted:I finally got my paycheck from one of my par-time jobs to buy the supplement feed for Baba you suggested, VS. Baba is still very skinny but the temperature has been changing so much lately that I decided to just let her join the flock, and I put a saddle back on her. She hasn't gained weight, but she's acting normal and still laying huge eggs. Besides the mealworms, cottage cheese, and eggs that I give her almost every day, what other high protein food can I give her? She didn't care much for spinach, so I gave up in giving her that. Any meat, of course. Yogurt, beans, seeds like flax/pumpkin/squash/shelled sunflower (raw) are high in protein. If she doesn't like spinach, try other dark, leafy greens like turnips tops, kale, dandelion greens, swiss chard, etc. Alfalfa hay can also offer green matter, although it isn't fresh at least it's something--you want the stuff with the little dried leaves/flowers, not so much the grass hay. Green leaves that are safe for chickens off of things like roses (they love certain edible flowers as well, like roses & nasturtiums) or other plants are good, as are grass clippings--just make SURE they haven't been treated with anything! My chickens were all 'meh' at spinach at first too, now they love it. You might try chopping up the raw greens and mixing them with bits of cooked egg or meat so the greens get coated with other yummy foods so they'll eat them. Mix in a bit of some kind of omega oil as well (I give mine a product called 'Kickin Chicken', I just put a squirt or two mixed in their feed ration or into their goodies). Tonight they got a mixture of leftover cooked lasagna noodles (boiled with a bit of bacon grease, pasta sauce and chicken broth), two crumbled bread heels, three eggshells, chopped spinach and Kickin Chicken, all chopped into bits and mixed up really well. Think if it like sneaking veggies into a kid's diet. Don't give up, keep offering leafy greens! And congrats on graduating soon!
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Mar 21, 2013 04:46
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That's the stuff I bought today, kickin chicken. It should arrive in a few days I hope, and I'll keep trying with the spinach and see what else I find at the supermarket. we have rose bushes and still most of the grass in the backyard (it was mostly dead but new green parts are spreading again), so she's been eating that. I'l also buy a bag of raw shelled sunflower seeds from Payless and see if she'll eat them. Poor thing is just so skinny, and yet her eggs are humongous, and lately the shape is almost normal 
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Mar 21, 2013 05:35
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Velvet Sparrow posted:For your own safety (at the hands of your wife) I recommend clipping ASAP. Thanks for the information VS! You convinced me and I just ordered mine a few minutes ago. There's free shipping right now at incubators.com, and when I heard the cons about the Brinsea, it really was a no brainer. I ordered one egg turner to go along. I'm planning on using the aquarium pump idea to handle the oxygen problem because who knows where I am going to be from day to day. I can't commit myself to be there to open up the door. You've been very helpful!
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Mar 21, 2013 21:23
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Almost 3 weeks old! Edit: they are in their new enclosure. A metal dog crate 4'x3 and 3 feet tall. As they are getting used to it they have taken to "zooming" back and forth where they beat their wings to propel them quickly without leaving the ground, this is new behavior and hysterical. Are they trying to fly or just figuring out how these wing things work? Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Mar 22, 2013 |
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Mar 22, 2013 00:26
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Errant Gin Monks posted:Almost 3 weeks old! Silly flapping is a lifelong pursuit for chickens, in their minds it makes 'em zoom faster!  When big round hens do this when running (waddling) for food it's a scream.Bantaras, very exciting about your incubator! Mine is still in transit, somewhere in Kentucky fer chrissakes. Be aware that the ReptiPro has NO ventilation holes that I know of, you may HAVE to open the door a few times a day to let enough O2 in *AND* CO2 out, dunno if the aquarium pump will be enough. When mine gets here I'll be testing it a lot, so I'll report back.
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Mar 22, 2013 03:36
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Velvet Sparrow posted:you may HAVE to open the door a few times a day to let enough O2 in *AND* CO2 out, dunno if the aquarium pump will be enough. When mine gets here I'll be testing it a lot, so I'll report back. I called and talked to the nice folks at Reptipro, and they informed me about the holes provided for the turners in the 6000 version. They told me about their own successful poultry hatches and I felt very much assured. I thought I might put in a tube with an aquarium pump, but the build up of CO2 could be a problem if those little holes aren't enough. ( I actually forgot about CO2!) I guess I can wait till it comes and look at the possibility of modifying the holes.
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Mar 22, 2013 04:19
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Here's some pictures of my new Rooster. I have Wheaten Marans and our Rooster died recently. We think the problem was genetic since the breeder didn't have much diversity in the bloodline. I started looking for a breeding age rooster and man o man was it difficult to find one. I quickly learned that no one is going to have an older male unless they have intentions for him. It was an almost impossible search. I hooked up with some folks that are trying to preserve this rare breed and they were very happy to help, and finally found me a wonderful Rooster (with the 'Cottage Hill' bloodline if anyone keeps up with that kind of thing, my originals are 'Bev Davis' line) The pictures are on the day of his arrival (last Wednesday the 13th) to Florida after traveling overnight from Tennessee. I had put him in an isolation cage because I didn't want him to be hen pecked and all while he was dealing with getting over the trip. He didn't seem disoriented or anything and was actually annoyed that he couldn't get right to the ladies. I placed the cage right next to the main coop so they could get acquainted. He joined the females the next day.    Aside from a thick Tennessee accent he is doing fine and I couldn't be happier. He is about twice the girth of the Rooster he is replacing and very mild mannered. I hope to have some great results using my new incubator in a couple of weeks.
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Mar 22, 2013 04:36
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Waffle lays green eggs, and they are big  Edit: awwww he's a very handsome boy! Look at hiss serious face, he means business, and by business I mean 
Chido fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Mar 22, 2013 |
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Mar 22, 2013 04:42
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Bantaras posted:Here's some pictures of my new Rooster. Handsome boy! That's pretty cool about trying to keep that 'Cottage Hill' bloodline going. Would the people who you got the roo from be willing to send you some fertilized eggs so you might get some hens from that same bloodline? Or do you just need one bird to keep a bloodline going?
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Mar 22, 2013 06:39
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Bantaras posted:
The ladies do melt for that slow southern drawl. Love how the girls are all gazing at him. Beautiful rooboy!
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Mar 22, 2013 07:16
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I'd really like to get a rooster (a Faverolle preferably). It looks like my husband is on board for a big shed/goat house/chicken coop next year, so we'll probably wait on a rooster until then. I'm envisioning a 10x12 or so space, with one end for goats and the other for chickens, and above-head storage for feed/bedding/whatever else. I figure we could have nesting boxes along the chicken "side" and some kind of separator and separate doors for goats and chickens to get outside/inside without stepping in ... landmines, as it were. Anyone have any experience with building a biggish shed like that? I'd love to pick your brain.
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Mar 22, 2013 22:02
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Lynza posted:I'd really like to get a rooster (a Faverolle preferably). It looks like my husband is on board for a big shed/goat house/chicken coop next year, so we'll probably wait on a rooster until then. BYC has an entire forum dedicated to coop design, building & maintenance, lots of help there: http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance How many chickens will your coop realistically need to hold? I say 'realistically' because everyone starting out falls victim to chicken math, eventually, so plan ahead. My advice would be to be sure to plan ahead for tunneling predators/vermin, give your coop an impenetrable floor, solid, latchable doors, good ventilation without creating drafts, make the coop easy to clean and accessable to you so sick or injured birds can't get beyond your reach and take into account your weather--we had to insulate our coop because of cold winters but we also get hot-as-Hell summers, so ventilation was also a must. We also get ridiculously high winds here, so the coop & run are secured with concrete footings to keep them in *our* yard.
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Mar 22, 2013 22:24
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Inveigle posted:Handsome boy! Well, in order to get some genetic stability, My plan is to breed this Roo with my hens, then breed the offspring with another male from the cottage hill line. In other words, the first generation from this roo will not be bred to the father (sire) but to another male in order to get a bit of diversity in the genetics while still maintaining the breed. The offspring from that breeding can be breed back to this original rooster. There's more technical terms and reasoning behind this plan, but I'm just letting the experienced folks tell me what to do. My original Rooster died because of being way too inbred. The breeder I bought him from had just too many generations going back to her same male. Velvet Sparrow posted:The ladies do melt for that slow southern drawl.
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Mar 23, 2013 01:50
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