2018 Newbie Chat!

[PNW_Peepers]

I'm thinking that Diamond might be a cockerel. She's 5 weeks. Has actually had more pink/red in her comb than the others for a couple weeks now. She's my only cochin so I have nobody to compare her to though. What do you think? She's my friendliest one so if she is, at least that's good. I know it's too early to be sure, lol.View attachment 1543087 View attachment 1543090

I think it’s a cockerel! Very red comb at such a young age! At ten weeks you can call MPC and they’ll refund you the money you spent on him.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I'm thinking that Diamond might be a cockerel. She's 5 weeks. Has actually had more pink/red in her comb than the others for a couple weeks now. She's my only cochin so I have nobody to compare her to though. What do you think? She's my friendliest one so if she is, at least that's good. I know it's too early to be sure, lol.View attachment 1543087 View attachment 1543090

I think cockerel because of the redness but either way she/he is a beauty

 

[BBZZZZTT]

I think it’s a cockerel! Very red comb at such a young age! At ten weeks you can call MPC and they’ll refund you the money you spent on him.

You can kind of see in the pictures, but in real life the wattles are also red!
That's what convinced me xD

( I tend to be the one to say you can never tell until they're older...Since I was concerned Kida was a rooster for sooooo long and then the one I was SURE was a pullet turned out to be the real rooster)

Speaking of Anna-turned-Kristoff! For those who don't know, Anna was one of my EE chicks who turned out to be a rooster--I couldn't tell until he started crowing... At like 17 weeks or something?
Anyway, I found someone to rehome him pretty quickly- A friend of a friend who has a small homestead. He now lives free-range with a number of hens all to himself, and is a proud father of 7 chicks!

 

[CannedMonster]

I will be giving her supervised free range time as of tomorrow or Wednesday - my plan is to keep her indoors for today and maybe tomorrow, my reason being that I want to give both Roo and Lilah time to adjust plus I am hoping to break Roo from her dependency on Lilah and teach her to come to me for her needs and when the others become aggressive rather than trying to be with Lilah who lets the others get on with it.
I feel bad for both Lilah and Roo, - Lilah has been very patient given that she gave up parenting a week ago, but I realised ages ago that Lilah was itching to be with the flock night and day, but having Roo around hampered Lilah's full integration into the flock, plus Roo was leaving herself wide open for attacks because she wouldn't leave Lilah and wouldn't run to the hiding places but would try to get under Lilah instead, then Lilah would walk off and the others pounced on Roo who would still try to get to Lilah instead of going behind a board or something.
The flock had peaceful days and got to the point where they let Roo nap under the trampoline with them, but the difference in the flock and Lilah with the group, without Roo was remarkable and the three hens were hanging out together as though they were best buddies.
I think it unfair to Lilah, unfair to Roo and unfair to the rest to leave things as they have been, plus I worried for Roo who seemed to be getting so depressed, everyone here noticed the vast change in Lilah, the flock and in Roo once I'd separated them. Roo wants and needs constant attention, she loves to roost on a shoulder or chest and will snuggle up and falls asleep while being gently stroked, Lilah is very active, she rarely rests, she forages continuously throughout the day and Roo was getting exhausted trying to keep up and yesterday slept for almost the entire day once I'd got her in.
I believe in my heart I am doing the right thing for the flock, for Lilah, for Roo and for us but I guess only time will tell.

I think you made the right call.
One thing we frequently tend to forget is that Roo’s circumstances are unusual.
Chicks usually have a bunch of hatchmates to pal around with, nap with and cuddle with.
That’s why Roo constantly wants to be with Lilah.
It’s not so much that Lilah is/was “Mum” but that Lilah is the only flock Roo has known.
Roo has no hatchmates.
My 12 babies will always hang out together.
They’ll break up into groups of twos and threes and even forage alone sometimes but they always end up coming back together at nap time and especially roosting time.
Some are more independent than others.
And Lilah doesn’t chase Roo or peck (at least not often).
One drawback to house raised birds is that they don’t learn any caution regarding the dangers of predators. They just lose that sometimes.

I think Roo will be just fine but you have to realize it’s really tough on a single bird being introduced to the flock.
After only 3 days the flock will often treat a bird that used to be a part of them like a complete stranger.
That’s why it was important to me that they could see Agatha every day for most of the day.
And Lilah may start to peck and chase also when Roo is reintroduced.
Usually the dominant bird doesn’t because they’re secure and confident in their position.
It’s the lower ranking one that’s the worst.
I don’t say this to criticize or discourage but only to give you forewarning so you’re not surprised.
Is there a way you can section of a part of the garden temporarily for Roo?
Or even get a puppy play yard for her?
Actually, on second thought, that wouldn’t work because she’ll just try to get to the other chickens so she’s not alone.
I guess humans will have to be her flock for a while.

 

[CannedMonster]

I'm thinking that Diamond might be a cockerel. She's 5 weeks. Has actually had more pink/red in her comb than the others for a couple weeks now. She's my only cochin so I have nobody to compare her to though. What do you think? She's my friendliest one so if she is, at least that's good. I know it's too early to be sure, lol.View attachment 1543087 View attachment 1543090

He’s going to be a beautiful Cochin cockerel!
Frodo matured very quickly and crowed at 4 weeks!
It took forever for him to get a tail though lol.
He was a very dominant little guy too.

 

[CannedMonster]

You can kind of see in the pictures, but in real life the wattles are also red!
That's what convinced me xD

( I tend to be the one to say you can never tell until they're older...Since I was concerned Kida was a rooster for sooooo long and then the one I was SURE was a pullet turned out to be the real rooster)

Speaking of Anna-turned-Kristoff! For those who don't know, Anna was one of my EE chicks who turned out to be a rooster--I couldn't tell until he started crowing... At like 17 weeks or something?
Anyway, I found someone to rehome him pretty quickly- A friend of a friend who has a small homestead. He now lives free-range with a number of hens all to himself, and is a proud father of 7 chicks!

I wonder about one of my EEs sometimes.
I haven’t raised a pea combed breed yet so I don’t know what early signs might present themselves.
Skye is very independent and acts like I’m challenging “her” when I touch her to pick her up. She does let me though but doesn’t enjoy it like Charlotte, Sweetie & Elsie.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

He’s going to be a beautiful Cochin cockerel!
Frodo matured very quickly and crowed at 4 weeks!
It took forever for him to get a tail though lol.
He was a very dominant little guy too.

Oh gosh, it took Diamond forever to get any feathers! S/he still has a tiny little tail and only a couple feathers on her back. That also makes me think cockerel because I've been reading a lot about cochins lately and it seems the cockerels feather slower than the pullets.
I'm going to try keeping her even if she's a he because I've also read that cochins crow quieter than other chickens. Maybe nobody will hear him? I'll just have to wait and see, lol.
My worst case scenario for the flock as a whole is that Amber turns out a cockerel. She wouldn't be good for breeding because of her crooked beak. I don't know how I'd be able to rehome her. She's not showing any signs of being one but then I guess it's hard to tell with Polish till they're bigger. So cross your fingers for her!

 

[CannedMonster]

Oh gosh, it took Diamond forever to get any feathers! S/he still has a tiny little tail and only a couple feathers on her back. That also makes me think cockerel because I've been reading a lot about cochins lately and it seems the cockerels feather slower than the pullets.
I'm going to try keeping her even if she's a he because I've also read that cochins crow quieter than other chickens. Maybe nobody will hear him? I'll just have to wait and see, lol.
My worst case scenario for the flock as a whole is that Amber turns out a cockerel. She wouldn't be good for breeding because of her crooked beak. I don't know how I'd be able to rehome her. She's not showing any signs of being one but then I guess it's hard to tell with Polish till they're bigger. So cross your fingers for her!

Oh yeah Frodo feathered very slowly.
Slower than any of the others.
He was my only Cochin in that batch of chicks.
As far as crowing goes his was not quite as loud as the LF cockerels but not as quiet as Silkies crow.
In fact, Silkie has the funniest cutest crow I’ve ever heard!
It still makes DH and I smile everyday.
Crossing fingers for Amber!

 

[No More Empty Nest]

Oh and by the way, the anti-feather-picking stuff is still working great! The others don't bother Amber at all anymore and she's getting feathers. I still put it on every few days, at least until the feathers are all in. Love her purple head, lol. I have to get a picture. I'm lucky she's so friendly too, it's not hard to put it on her. I give her meal worms afterwards. She's crazy about them.

 

[CannedMonster]

So Angus decided to attack DH today.
Not a smart decision on his part.
DH sends aggressive birds to freezer camp.
He had gone into the coop to get the egg Emily laid and when he came out he passed Angus and then within seconds Angus rushed up behind him and kicked with his feet and claws.
DH kicked Angus back!
It was a glancing blow thank goodness but I noticed when I got home Angus was a bit subdued.
He’s unharmed but I really hope he doesn’t do that anymore.
For his own good!
Also, the egg had a hole pecked in it!
DH found it in the nest box that way.
I think one of the teenagers might have done that out of curiosity.
Thankfully they didn’t eat it and it’s a fresh egg so we put it in the fridge and we’ll eat it tomorrow.