Australorps breed Thread

[chasinthedream]

Sorry, I'm a little late responding, but we don't have insulation. The coop is ship-lap pine so reasonable wind proof. There is a screen door that I put a sheet of lexan on for the winter and I close the screened windows. They were basically shut-ins for 2 months. There are 40 birds in there and they heat it a little. I believe they call it "frost bite" and not "cold bite" for a reason. Like us, the chickens feel a damp cold more than a dry cold so venilation is critical even more so in the cold. Comb and wattle damage is caused by too much moisture in the coop. My birds are going through 3 gallons of water a day which does end up on the floor or in the air.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Just my 2 cents, My 11 mo. old roo, Max, definitely pure BA but of questionable lineage (supposed to be off a quality line but doesn't look it other than being larger than a typical hatchery bird) anyway, he is a huge woose! Just yesterday I looked out the window and there he was, head down to ground, butt in the air, matching the stance of my little leghorn mutt hen. Not the first time I;ve seen this between these two and with the same result. Two seconds later Max is high tailing it across the yard with this little white girl in hot pursuit!

He will come running if one of the girls squawks when I pick her up, but all he does is a version of his food dance. If I step toward him he runs off.

Someone told me chickens arent full grown till after a year .
He is still young ...he is probably still growing ..& the male hormones have not hit yet .
He hasnt tried to or mated with any of them yet has he ?
Once he is mature he will deal with that bossy girl ! then he will be the one chasing .

 

[chickisoup]

Quote:

This crazy "teenager" has been jumping anything that will stop moving or even slow down long enough!!! His hormones are fully functioning and have been for at least a month, and according to my neighbor, is a month or more behind his brother who was not initially stunted.
Think human children. Teenage boys aren't full grown either, BUT

As for him "dealing" with Noodle, that's what he gets on the rare occasion he gets up the nerve to try to mount her! Or gets in her way, or............ yet they roost together because she is alpha hen. He must annoy her sometimes then too because he is missing some shoulder feathers

 

[mollybuck]

Hello. I'm not sure I've ever been on this thread s I am sorry in advance for hijacking! I lost one f my BA hens neighbors dog yesterday and I wondering what it would cost to replace her. She wasn't exactly show quality but they are nice pets and great layers. She was just a year old too. Thank you.

 

[ronott1]

Hello. I'm not sure I've ever been on this thread s I am sorry in advance for hijacking! I lost one f my BA hens neighbors dog yesterday and I wondering what it would cost to replace her. She wasn't exactly show quality but they are nice pets and great layers. She was just a year old too. Thank you.

I am sorry to hear that!

It would help to know where you are located.

 

[tigercreek]

Hello. I'm not sure I've ever been on this thread s I am sorry in advance for hijacking! I lost one f my BA hens neighbors dog yesterday and I wondering what it would cost to replace her. She wasn't exactly show quality but they are nice pets and great layers. She was just a year old too. Thank you.

In my area, a 1year old layer costs about $20-15......

 

[mollybuck]

Oh sorry! I am in western ny. Yea. It was pretty sad. We had company which made it that much worse...
Thanks again!

 

[tigercreek]

Jim, It has been a long time since were on this thread until here lately. I hope things are going better for you than they were.

Stan you could be right! I have been known to be a little different!

Dan

Unless he is much nicer than your Gilbert boys, I would not breed him. If the Gilbert birds are from the same breeding pen and are brother and sisters, might use him for one round. How are your other birds? Sometimes something strange will set them off. Heard of someone being attacked only when wearing crocks.....
I. Had a rock that would go after my brown work boots. Never bothered me any other time.....

 

[hellbender]

In my area, a 1year old layer costs about $20-15......

In West Virginia, you can charge up to twice the value of the bird if Malicious Indifference can be shown. Allowing a dog to roam freely will get you there. If you want to stay on good terms with your neighbor, take no less than $25 bucks...they should know they are getting off easy.

 

[MeanV2]

Unless he is much nicer than your Gilbert boys, I would not breed him. If the Gilbert birds are from the same breeding pen and are brother and sisters, might use him for one round. How are your other birds? Sometimes something strange will set them off. Heard of someone being attacked only when wearing crocks.....
I. Had a rock that would go after my brown work boots. Never bothered me any other time.....

Stan, I set my Breeding pens up a couple of months ago. One with the TC Boy, and 2 with the 2 Gilbert boys I kept. I have never had either one of the 2 Gilbert boys show me any aggression, and I routinely just reach down and pet them. The TC Boy is a different story. I have to keep an eye on him and even then he has come at me face on. If I turn my back on him it is a given he is gonna flog me. For a while I would just grab him, and pick him up while I petted and talked to him. It never seemed to change anything.
I just hatched chicks out of all 3 pens 2 weeks ago, and leg tagged all of them. I am not sure what this means but as chicks his offspring is easy for me to identify even without looking at leg tags, their down, percentage wise is much more Black than my Straight Gilbert chicks. It will be interesting to see how they grow out. On the TC boy I really liked his body type, comb not so much and since it got frostbite this winter it really looks weird.

Dan