The EE braggers thread!!!

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Here's the sassy one.
I think it's too early still. This one definitely is protective though!

Ya I would wait longer to tell

 

[MistyMountain]

Here is another one of "spiderman." They all end up boys when my boys are in charge of naming them

And another for fun... An unamed chick that I think looks like a little hawk!

 

[CGinJCMO]

I have an almost 4 week old yellow EE chick that charges me every time I put my hands down in the brooder. This last water change, it even came at me feet first. Could this be my roo out of my "supposed to be" pullets?

I don't know about the boy vs. girl aspect of it but I have two RIR x EE mixed cockerels that have bitten my hand because they didn't want to be picked up (to be put in coop for night). I butchered their father because he became to aggressive to me. Do chicks this young (6 weeks old) eventually grow out of that behaviour or will it just get worse? They are eventually destined for freezer camp either way, but it's nice not having to carry a foam bat with me when I want to do chicken chores. I'd like it to stay this way but I do miss the sounds of crowing.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
In my experience, they only get more aggressive. I eat the mean ones. I have the nicest wheaten ameraucana rooster and after him I won't tolerate jerks. His EE son is showing promise to be a nice boy at 8 weeks. He's very unlike the silver ameraucana cockerel that is on the countdown clock as he's been getting meaner as he gets older. I'm just waiting for him to fill out a little more.

 

[MistyMountain]

I have tried to handle this one more than the others. It wimps out and calms down when it is caught. With two young boys who will be learning and helping with chores here, I will have no tollerence for a mean rooster or pullet. I know my dh will definitely agree, as he has bad memories of RIR roo attacking him as a child. We will wait and see, but this one may have a career change in it's future.

 

[chirpingcricket]

Hello Hinotori and Misty Mountain,
Thanks so much for your posts.
I too have had to make the decision to cull 8 of our roosters.
They are absolutely gorgeous, but at that age where they are ready to mate and their behaviors have escalated to aggressive pecking (drawing blood on me) and not backing away from me.

I won't try to sell them since I refuse to have someone else get hurt or for the birds to be used for gaming purposes. So I'll be preparing over the next 2 days for my first time to cull. Have studied the threads and will make up a good brine.

So I'm praying that DH and I can do this while providing utmost respect for our roos, He has offered to take them to a butcher, but I made the commitment to manage all phases of poultry care...and this brings it full circle. Still, not looking forward to it. :/
Chirp

 

[draye]

In my experience, they only get more aggressive. I eat the mean ones. I have the nicest wheaten ameraucana rooster and after him I won't tolerate jerks. His EE son is showing promise to be a nice boy at 8 weeks. He's very unlike the silver ameraucana cockerel that is on the countdown clock as he's been getting meaner as he gets older. I'm just waiting for him to fill out a little more.

When that young, pop 'em upside the head (not so hard that it knocks them out), they usually will calm down.

 

[jerryse]

When that young, pop 'em upside the head (not so hard that it knocks them out), they usually will calm down.

Here is a method that I use on aggressive roosters.I take a pair of yellow chore gloves and flog the offender into submission.The cloth gloves do no harm but it is similar to what roosters do to each other to establish the pecking order.

 

[Tadkins472]

My EE Hens (20 weeks also not laying yet) keep pull the straw out of there nesting boxes is this pretty common? Should i keep putting it back in?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

My EE Hens (20 weeks also not laying yet) keep pull the straw out of there nesting boxes is this pretty common? Should i keep putting it back in?

Chickens do that naturally because they like to scratch. I had a lot of trouble keeping straw in the nests too. Sometimes they would pull it out as fast as I could put it in especially if the straw contained significant seed heads. Sometimes they would pull it out because it was too coarse and filled with thick reeds making for a stiff nest but if I put the finer stuff back in then I was back to a lot of seed heads.

I went to pine shavings and things got better. They still scratch and burrow a bit in the nest but they don't dump out the shavings like they did the straw. I find Bear Mountain a good brand as its chip size is bigger and better for bedding...some of the other stuff is so fine it tracks everywhere. Some believe pine is bad for chickens but I know an awful lot of farmers who use it and I have had no issues. Just be sure your coop has good ventilation which it should have anyway. Pine shavings also has the advantage of composting better if that makes a difference, and it amends my thick clay soil better.

Also be sure you are giving them enough depth to burrow into...with either nesting material.

EDITED TO ADD: and yes you do want something in the nest or the eggs will crack when they finally do come as they hit the hard surface. Good news is they are interested in the nests

My experience
Lady of McCamley