Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

What I wonder do you think the female genes provide; just the good bits.

No. Hens are probably just as cruel as roosters (in general) only in a different way.
I’ve seen hens behave very mean to young pullets/cockerels. But it’s impossible for me to compare out of experience.

 

[notabitail]

No. Hens are probably just as cruel as roosters (in general) only in a different way.
I’ve seen hens behave very mean to young pullets/cockerels. But it’s impossible for me to compare out of experience.

Hopefully the "meanness" of the hen to the cockerel pays off.

 

[fluffycrow]

Odd in my opinion. The landrace breeds are the ones worth preserving.

Well see, these new people think that the landraces are simply random mixes that have no historical significance, OR actual roots to this land. Merely modern-day mixes.

Yet these "mixes" can be found all around Greece, look the same, and all the oldies I've spoken to recognise them

The oldies that are still in the breeding business are at large, not interested in breeding the landraces. They only bred them out of need; now that "better" mixes have come to the market (cornish cross, ISA brown..etc), they've all switched to those

 

[fuzzi]

Follow up:

The chicks are not hiding close to the broody hen any more, but exploring, investigating all areas of the run. I was pleased to see how active they were, despite a drizzling cold day. The older chicks will be two weeks old tomorrow.

This evening before dark I brought a small amount of shredded cheese to the run. The hens milled about, excited about an expected treat. What surprised me was the chicks joining in, dashing in between the hens to snatch a crumb here and there.

Total change in behavior 24 hours post-rooster.

 

[LaurenRitz]

What I wonder do you think the female genes provide; just the good bits.

If behavior can be inherited, no way it would just be the male genes that pass it on. It must be two sided, although the specific behavior may not show itself in the hen. Just like any other trait, it must be a combination of male and female.

I think the problem is that because the behavior isn't activated in the hens it's assumed not to be there. But we know that females carry genes that they pass only to their sons. Although no studies have been done that I am aware of, certain aspects of behavior could very easily be that kind of maternal inheritance.

 

[Molpet]

The only chicks I have seen being attacked was by hens, but the broodies would defend them... unless it was turkey hens doing the attacking. ... because they had younger poults. My first turkey hen killed a lost week old cockerel when he came within reach of her 3 day olds. This was her first hatch and way too protective
She wasn't as bad after a few weeks or future hatching. Totally my fault.

 

[BDutch]

Follow up:

The chicks are not hiding close to the broody hen any more, but exploring, investigating all areas of the run. I was pleased to see how active they were, despite a drizzling cold day. The older chicks will be two weeks old tomorrow.

This evening before dark I brought a small amount of shredded cheese to the run. The hens milled about, excited about an expected treat. What surprised me was the chicks joining in, dashing in between the hens to snatch a crumb here and there.

Total change in behavior 24 hours post-rooster.

Good to hear this positive news After all you/your chick(en)s have gone through!

If behavior can be inherited, no way it would just be the male genes that pass it on. It must be two sided, although the specific behavior may not show itself in the hen. Just like any other trait, it must be a combination of male and female.

I think the problem is that because the behavior isn't activated in the hens it's assumed not to be there. But we know that females carry genes that they pass only to their sons. Although no studies have been done that I am aware of, certain aspects of behavior could very easily be that kind of maternal inheritance.

I like the logic of this theory and I believe you got it right even without proof.

 

[BDutch]

The only chicks I have seen being attacked was by hens, but the broodies would defend them... unless it was turkey hens doing the attacking. ... because they had younger poults. My first turkey hen killed a lost week old cockerel when he came within reach of her 3 day olds. This was her first hatch and way too protective
She wasn't as bad after a few weeks or future hatching. Totally my fault.

I have seen a bad attack from Kraai towards the chick (Tintin) when her eggs didn’t hatch at all. Katrientje is lower in the pecking order, has a friendlier character and didn’t defend the chick.

Kraai and Katrientje were sitting side be side, both on 3 eggs. But the outcome was very poor.

I closed off the small coop to give Katrientje and Tintin the peace they needed. 2 days later, another hen (Pearl) sneaked in, but she was behaving nicely to both Katrientje and the chick. My chickens seem to believe that a hatch needs at least 2 mothers.

 

[Shadrach]

No. Hens are probably just as cruel as roosters (in general) only in a different way.
I’ve seen hens behave very mean to young pullets/cockerels. But it’s impossible for me to compare out of experience.

Chickens don't do cruelty; they do chicken. The problem is often people don't want chickens to be chickens, they want them to be something else.

 

[MrsNorthie]

If on the other hand such attacking chick is more common than I've portrayed then I would be interested in knowing the keeping circumstances.

My Original 3 boys, were very friendly to the new pullets and 2 cockerels. The younger group were kept in a nursery run with a shared wire wall with the main group, so they mostly socialized through the fence, but there were occasions where, when I would go in to feed the younger group, Spud and or Goldie would dash in, and they were never aggressive. (Some of the older girls, on the other hand, were down-right stinkers.) The boys would tidbit them through the wire and were adorably charming.

When we started letting them fully mingle, they would still go to roost in the nursery coop at night and every morning, I would open the main coop first and all 3 boys would run to the door of the nursery coop and wait for me to open their door, and they would escort the younger group out to the main run and encourage them to eat with everyone else.

I do not really have any fear of any of my boys injuring/attacking chicks. Blue, Spud and Goldie have shown that they are kind and accepting. I am not 100% sure about Pip and Squeak, but given the protective nature of the other boys, I think that, if they were inclined toward any violence, they would be educated right away. I am, however, not so sure of my girls. They can be a bit jealous and may not be so kind to with chicks hatched by one of their "sisters".