American Gamefowl

[Wyorp Rock]

First time tied out. He did pretty good.

 

[TJAnonymous]

First time tied out. He did pretty good.
View attachment 2489210

Sorry for my ignorance here...but what is "tied out"? I noticed that lots of the roosters on this thread have ties around their legs. Is this a way of letting the roosters mingle without killing each other?

Sorry for my elementary questions....

 

[TJAnonymous]

It’s totally up to you. I’m not trying to talk you out of it at all. Game hens that are 2-3 yrs old won’t lay a bunch of a eggs but you should get a few out of them for the next couple years.
More than likely they will be at least a little aggressive or somewhat flighty. They should go broody over the warmer months but I doubt you’d want to breed them. You’ll always have the option to use them as the incubator for other eggs.
I’m not sure if the one hen is molting right now but it doesn’t look like it and it’s missing the tail. The other bird has fresh blood on the wood in front of it. Just an observation but it could be from anything. Then you have the issue of introducing some sort of diseases into your flock.

I shared the feedback from this thread with hubby. All valid points and things that have me concerned about accepting these birds into my flock. He doesn't want to 'reneg' on the offer to take them... So he proposed taking them and just culling them to smoke/freeze. It's pretty apparent that this coworker wants them gone ASAP and doesn't want to deal with them. It makes me sad but I suppose it is for the best....

 

[roosterhavoc]

I shared the feedback from this thread with hubby. All valid points and things that have me concerned about accepting these birds into my flock. He doesn't want to 'reneg' on the offer to take them... So he proposed taking them and just culling them to smoke/freeze. It's pretty apparent that this coworker wants them gone ASAP and doesn't want to deal with them. It makes me sad but I suppose it is for the best....

Since he already offered to take them you might as well see how they do with your birds. If they become a problem then you can cull them. I would look them over very well before placing them in your run though. I’d check for mites and lice and just make sure they’re not sick in any way to be on the safe side.
Even if they do become a problem you can always let them run loose outside of the run with your other birds.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Since he already offered to take them you might as well see how they do with your birds. If they become a problem then you can cull them. I would look them over very well before placing them in your run though. I’d check for mites and lice and just make sure they’re not sick in any way to be on the safe side.
Even if they do become a problem you can always let them run loose outside of the run with your other birds.

I honestly wonder if they would even GO into the coop with the others..... I imagine they would be more likely to go randomly roost somewhere around the farm where they feel safe than to follow a herd of birds they don't know into an enclosed area???

Just my (probably illogical) thinking....

 

[roosterhavoc]

I honestly wonder if they would even GO into the coop with the others..... I imagine they would be more likely to go randomly roost somewhere around the farm where they feel safe than to follow a herd of birds they don't know into an enclosed area???

Just my (probably illogical) thinking....

They may or may not. You never know but I’d think the 3 will stick together and find a tree or somewhere else to roost.
I keep game hens loose year round and they do just fine. Worst case scenario something gets them but that’s not a definite. Beats culling them just for the sake of it.
The tie cords are to keep the roosters from coming into contact with each other exactly like you’re thinking.

 

[roosterhavoc]

First time tied out. He did pretty good.
View attachment 2489210

Looks good.

 

[TJAnonymous]

They may or may not. You never know but I’d think the 3 will stick together and find a tree or somewhere else to roost.
I keep game hens loose year round and they do just fine. Worst case scenario something gets them but that’s not a definite. Beats culling them just for the sake of it.
The tie cords are to keep the roosters from coming into contact with each other exactly like you’re thinking.

Talked to DH. We are picking the game hens up tonight. Going to put them in a stall in the barn until morning... I'm not going to cull them unless there is some serious fighting. We are going to let them decide where to roost. They can choose the coop with the others, the barn, trees, or whatever.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Talked to DH. We are picking the game hens up tonight. Going to put them in a stall in the barn until morning... I'm not going to cull them unless there is some serious fighting. We are going to let them decide where to roost. They can choose the coop with the others, the barn, trees, or whatever.

Sounds like a plan. Good luck with them. Hopefully everything works out. It’s pretty cool to compare game hens side by side with layers. You’ll be able to see all the subtle and not so subtle differences between them.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Sounds like a plan. Good luck with them. Hopefully everything works out. It’s pretty cool to compare game hens side by side with layers. You’ll be able to see all the subtle and not so subtle differences between them.

Driving them to our farm now. Coworker said they need wormed so I will do that tonight. Even putting them in the crate, the dominate hen was pecking at the little black one.... Poor girl can't get any luv