Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Beekissed]

Sorry...just had to post a gratuitous rooster pic so that we wouldn't have a silky up there in the corner of the page as I'm viewing the OT page. It's an offense to my chicken sensibilities.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I love OT pop quizes........how else are we going to learn?

 

[al6517]

Sorry...just had to post a gratuitous rooster pic so that we wouldn't have a silky up there in the corner of the page as I'm viewing the OT page. It's an offense to my chicken sensibilities.

Ohhhh Ok that was a silkie in the previous pic ????, I thought it looked like the shoe brush I misplaced cause i lost my brown one.

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

Nikki, I'm gonna re-post that famous Madison Square Garden poster again.  Remember when I said I have a Rock matrix in my mind's eye?   (can I BE anymore esoteric?) (geeesh)   Man, I wish I could describe in words, what a "mind's eye is".  But anyhow, here's that poster again.




 





Now, here's a couple of photos of one of our pullets I like.  Sorry, again, for the crappy photography, but I hope you can see her OK.  Can you see how the birds pictured above influence why I think my own pullet is "right"?   If you can, then you may have a glimpse into understanding my "mind's eye".

I certainly see tremendous differences between my "BR" and the picture, as well as your pullet! Beginning with my hen's head, her comb and wattles are significantly larger than both the picture and your pullet's. mine is almost the size of the rooster in the old pic. The "right" birds all have a deeper chest than mine's as well. I feel as though I am beginning to see what you're looking for, Fred. And I like what you said about breeding for the breed's origins, not for modern-day show standards. At this point in my chickening, I'm not set on one specific breed to propagate, but I feel like I'm gaining a world of knowledge on how to go about that when I'm ready. In the meantime, I'm planning to start working on my own utility flock in the spring. I'm going to be looking hard at my other hens this weekend to see if I have some that I have overlooked.

I truly truly appreciate your OT wisdom and guidance. Thank you, Fred, for your patience and your thorough explanations accompanied by pictures

I'm ready for that pop quiz now! Love this thread and all the invaluable information it provides on a daily basis!

 

[armorfirelady]

Ok Ot's looking for your opinion. My hen is laying but she is laying in the bottom of the coop right below the nesting boxes. Now I know she knows where they are since I was watching her this morning to see if I could see her lay an egg and she spent a good amount of time in them kicking out all the shavings.

I have put hay & pine shavings in the nest box in the past. But they always went in there and emptied them for some reason........


Do I put a couple of golf balls or easter eggs in there so she gets the hint or put the egg she laid below in the nesting box till the next day? The divider in the middle comes out if you think a bigger nest box might help? She is big but she easily turns herself around in one nesting box without a problem.

 

[Fred's Hens]

A chicken is a ground layer. Teaching or training them to lay up in the nests you provide, can be done. Since your pullet has no lead hen to follow and play monkey see, monkey do, I assume, you'll have to try the golf ball thing. It works well enough.

Me? I don't use elevated nests. My boxes are crude and just set on a 1/4 block, about 5" off the ground. They take right to them. Of course, I normally have older hens for the younger pullets to model off. This may sound laughable, but I've got an older trainer hen. She runs all the rookie's through their virgin paces. She's trained over 40 young pullets and has never failed.




That's her, the white lady on the left. She's something else.

 

[Beekissed]

I use trainer hens also, Fred. I think that's the beauty of having a rolling flock with the elders teaching nesting, foraging and survival instincts to the youngsters. It makes this whole chicken thing so much easier.

You know what I notice about the breeder versions of the hatchery mutts we have, besides the superior size and conformation? The extremely fine barring on the feathers of the BRs and on Kathy's Delawares with their beautiful barring at the neck. The deep mahogany of the RIRs and even the deeper red of the NHs, compared to hatchery stock. The hatchery stock all look like very bad copies of the original...sort of like monopoly money compared to the real thing.

 

[Beekissed]

Ohhhh Ok that was a silkie in the previous pic ????, I thought it looked like the shoe brush I misplaced cause i lost my brown one.

She was looking for a buyer for that roo, Al. I told her you were looking for breeding stock and to look you up. She was even going to have it decrowed for ya!

Now, that's a bargain, buddy!

 

[armorfirelady]

A chicken is a ground layer. Teaching or training them to lay up in the nests you provide, can be done. Since your pullet has no lead hen to follow and play monkey see, monkey do, I assume, you'll have to try the golf ball thing. It works well enough.

Me? I don't use elevated nests. My boxes are crude and just set on a 1/4 block, about 5" off the ground. They take right to them. Of course, I normally have older hens for the younger pullets to model off. This may sound laughable, but I've got an older trainer hen. She runs all the rookie's through their virgin paces. She's trained over 40 young pullets and has never failed.




That's her, the white lady on the left. She's something else.

I use trainer hens also, Fred. I think that's the beauty of having a rolling flock with the elders teaching nesting, foraging and survival instincts to the youngsters. It makes this whole chicken thing so much easier.

You know what I notice about the breeder versions of the hatchery mutts we have, besides the superior size and conformation? The extremely fine barring on the feathers of the BRs and on Kathy's Delawares with their beautiful barring at the neck. The deep mahogany of the RIRs and even the deeper red of the NHs, compared to hatchery stock. The hatchery stock all look like very bad copies of the original...sort of like monopoly money compared to the real thing.

Thank you Fred & Bee,
Well no trainer hen for me so I will try the golf balls. The boxes are about 24 inches off the ground. They look higher from the angle I am taking the pic from.
But when I build my hoop coop in the spring I will know to keep them lower to the ground

I might just repurpose that doll house coop for uses in the hoop coop. Dont think I could honesstly sell it to a new chicken keeper knowing it was to small. But repurposing it I can do !!

And hopefully one of these 4 hens will become a great trainer hen to train other pullets I get ........thats my plan at least.

 

[KnobbyOaks]

Here's something I'm wondering about, OT's: How fast does the comb and wattle change colors? Is it a happy/sad thing like a mood ring where they can change the color, paler or brighter depending on their mood or security? Or is it a sign of overall health and maturity and slow changing? The reason I ask is I have one of my young chicks who has been picked on for a while and I've humored them along while trying to treat her with purple wound note, Poultry Protector, and triple antibiotic (that was a mistake). I have yet to see a bug on her but she continues to be picked on, purple feathers and all. She eats good and weighs as much as the other bigger ones but her comb was a little paler than the others. About 5 days ago I had to move her out of the common pen and into a dog crate because her "hot spot" was getting worse. Almost over night her comb color got pinker and she was talking to me when I fed and watered her. I've tried to re-intergrate her with the group during the day only but they are like vultures. She tries to stay away from them. I've even begun free-ranging them so they would be distracted but that hasn't worked either because they come back in to pick on her. Last two days she's back to being alone all day in the garage

.

Anyway, my question was about comb color but any other suggestions would be appreciated.