A few behavior questions

[rainnotebook]

Okay so my new chickens are all grown up... okay maybe not grown up. But they are now teenagers. But I do have a few questions about my kids.

First off I know I have a total of 4 roosters out of this batch, but two of them I still have wondered about. One of the suspected ones my teen rooster tried mating with (ok he was successful) and I'm wondering if that means that she is for sure a girl. Would a rooster try to mate with a fellow rooster?

Second, My laying hens (3) stopped laying! 2 of them are fairly new and never started since I was given them. But its been a month now, and my other consistent laying hen hasn't laid in a week. I'm getting a little worried that something is wrong with them.

And third, Can you feed chickens meat? My mother in law does this with her chickens but I find it a bit disturbing. Plus I don't know how healthy it is for them.

Thanks so much!!
Deborah

 

[HEChicken]

First, If you can post pictures of the ones in question, I'm sure someone will be able to confirm if they are boys or girls.

Second, on the hens you were given, is it possible they are older than you were told and are no longer laying? Another possibility is that they are still adjusting to the move. Any move is stressful for them and it is common to stop laying until they have adjusted and feel comfortable laying in their new home. The other layer who has stopped may be getting ready to go into a molt, or just slowing down because she is getting older.

Third, Yes, absolutely you can feed chickens meat. They'll even happily eat chicken! I have a Red Star who decided a few days ago to become a mouser and is far more effective than the cat at hunting them down, catching, killing and then downing them in one big swallow.

 

[rainnotebook]

I posted pictures once before and it was suspected that the one the rooster mated with was a roo as well. But I will take more pics this weekend and post them on here... until then the one in question is this white one.

But I also wonder if one of these BR's are a roo??

As for my laying hens they area year old maybe just a year and a half old. All of them. I first got the one which was my original laying hen then I got the other two... all came from the same place and hatching. So I'm thinking the two newbies are still stressed and my other hen must be molting.

I had a lady who wanted to buy my eggs freak out at the idea that I was planning on feeding them meat. Thats what made me start questioning. Do you have customers that care or do you just not tell them??

 

[HEChicken]

These pics all look like hens to me!

On meat, my customers have not asked specifically. They often ask to see the girls and I am happy to show them around. They watch them eating grass and I point out that they also have layer pellets available free choice. If they did ask, I would tell them that yes, chickens are omnivores and do enjoy meat as they need a certain amount of protein in their diet.

 

[silkieowner]

got a question should the meat be feed raw or cooked? Also is any meat ok to feed?

 

[gryeyes]

I'll echo HEChicken - ALL of those birds look like hens to me, too.

Although chickens will catch and eat rodent without benefit of cooking them first, any meat *I* give to them IS cooked beforehand.

I wouldn't give them anything really salty, like pepperoni, for instance.

 

[rainnotebook]

Cool... I'm glad to hear they are pullets!

So we found 2 eggs in our coop today...Yay! So it looks like the girls are back on track.

And as for feeding them meat, its good to know everyone else does it and I will go ahead and feed them whenever I have left overs. Thanks all for your help... as usual you guys are great!!

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
I only feed meat cooked but of course the mice they catch are raw and they eat those whole (and uncooked) without any problems. If you think about it, bugs are also "meat" and they eat those raw too.