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  1. SamLockwood

    Rooster incompetent? Bullying?

    If he's under a year old, they take time to learn things even if there's an older rooster around to show them what to do. My youngest cockerel would grab a pullet by the neck, get her to squat, and then start humping the ground. I saw him do that for about six weeks before he figured out he was...
  2. SamLockwood

    Three hens in single digit temps

    Back before I covered my run I had three old hens (one was over a decade old), that would never sleep at night in coops. They even stayed out when we hit single-digits a couple years ago. I rigged some plastic on the one side of the run that was exposed to wind, and that night they got up on...
  3. SamLockwood

    When to put hens back outdoors

    It depends on how well set-up the coop is: if it's dry, free of drafts, and decently ventilated anything above zero is probably OK. We often get temps in the teens or single digits where I am and my birds have zero problems due to the cold beyond the rare bit of very minor comb frost-bite on...
  4. SamLockwood

    Too many eggs! Suggestions?

    There's a wide variety of preparing eggs: pickling, frittatas, custards, sfougato, and so on. Worst comes to worst, find somwhere to donate them to. I give excess eggs away to the needy.
  5. SamLockwood

    Injured rooster

    That's typical pecking-order-dominance injuries. They bleed a lot but as long as you clean him up he should be just fine. About the only thing I use for that is some antibiotic ointment, just don't use the kind with pain relievers as the dosage is too high for chickens & can poison them. If...
  6. SamLockwood

    Aspirin for chickens?

    I've never used it on chickens that had wounds, but I have used it one ones that had leg and foot injuries and it seemed to help them. I like the asprin powder sold at, among other places, Tractor Supply. For a standard size bird, I use a pinch of the powder in some water I keep some supplies...
  7. SamLockwood

    Guineas?

    To answer your questions: Thy should have a coop to sleep in at night time, otherwise they're vulnerable to nocturnal predators. Guineas are vulnerable to the same kind of predators that other poultry are. The main difference is that in a large enough group they will become rather aggressive...
  8. SamLockwood

    Rooster vibes are changing everything

    He seems pretty well behaved to me. As far as the keep them inside thing goes, one thing to keep in mond is one of the rooster's jobs is flock organizer. He will try to keep all his hens in view at all times so he can keep them safe. Either your cockerel is just being insecure, or he's noticing...
  9. SamLockwood

    Injured hen hawk attack

    If they're in a lot of pain they won't eat and they'll drink very little. You can give them aspirin for the pain, either crush up a tablet let or get some aspirin powder from somewhere like Tractor Supply. Mix.it on with her water. I think the dosage is a maximum of 150 milligrams for a full...
  10. SamLockwood

    Everyone's a critic now.

    I haven't found that simply changes outfits has any effect on the chickens. The guineas get confused if I wear anything that changes my silhouette: like a backpack or a hat. They all do get freaked out by certain colors and patterns. In particular mine get freaked out by anything bright orange...
  11. SamLockwood

    Moving keets outside

    At four weeks if you have an outdoor enclosure that keeps them dry and out of the wind they should be fine. I even had a few escape into the woods one night where we had a thunderstorm and two out of the three showed back up the next morning not looking too much the worse for wear. As far as...
  12. SamLockwood

    Real world experiences with rooster to hen ratios 18 to 2?

    It depends on a variety of factors: breed, space, free ranging versus keeping them cooped up, etc. I've had three roosters for 20 hens for several years without any major problems, but they also free range daily and I've got more than one coop.
  13. SamLockwood

    Do most/all layers, who are allowed to free range, eventually relapse to egg-hiding?

    In my experience, generally no. If I introduce new pullets they'll sometimes pick weird places to lay but they eventually figure out to use the nesting boxes.
  14. SamLockwood

    Do pecking order fights normally include shaking the other chicken?

    It's a bit excessive, but maybe not out of line if they're still strangers to each other. How long of an "isolation period" did you have? How much roosting space is there? The most squabbling I have even in my established flock is over roosting space, and sometimes those conflicts get ugly. I'd...
  15. SamLockwood

    Bobcat has made it personal

    Good luck, bobcats are extremely intelligent and they're insanely agile. They can climb a tree faster than you can run on level ground. They're also incredibly brazen. I had one take a hen not more than 30' away from me while I was on watch with a shotgun (my thinking was I would bait it and...
  16. SamLockwood

    Swapping current rooster for 2 new mature roosters in a flock

    In my experience it's best to let them have a look at each other for a couple weeks without being able to physically interact. My setup involves an outdoor brooder with a built-in mini run. I let the newcomers and the established birds look at each other as the adults free range. When the...
  17. SamLockwood

    Invading Neighbors Garden

    I had a similar problem on my 16 acres with my mixed flock of chickens and guineas. They'd wander into neighboring properties or try to get into the nearby public road. I ended up fencing in about 5 acres to keep them contained and keep ground predators out. 5' high 2x4 wire fence on T posts is...
  18. SamLockwood

    Roosting for winter with a mixed flock

    I'm also on North Georgia. About half of my flock likes to roost "outside" in the run, which was always fully enclosed (2x4 frame with 1/2" hardware cloth). I ended up adding a corrugated polycarbonate roof and a piece of corrugated plastic on one side to act as a wind break for the roosts. The...
  19. SamLockwood

    Botched Chicken Introduction - what now?

    From the pictures that coop looks way too small. The outfits that sell those pre-fab coops tend to grossly over estimate how many full-size chickens they can hold. The general rule of thumb is 2 square feet of coop per chicken and one linear foot of roosting bar each.
  20. SamLockwood

    Rooster doing a weird crouch thing making a screechy sound when I approach him.

    If He.might be going out of his way to show submission to you. If so, this is a good thing if he's the alpha rooster because.it let's the other roosters know that he thinks you're the boss. In a healthy flock, a lot of the pecking order rituals are performative: the leader pretends to be scary...
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