B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[pysankigirl]

Question on my baby dorking roo. 10 weeks old

He is not being nice to the pullets...he is occasionally pulling on their neck fethers or pecking them, making them squawk.

He isn't our only roo but I was going to give the others away, as he is my only dorking roo. but now I am questioning the wisdom of that. The other two roos I have not seen doing this, although one has staring contests with them on a regular basis with his neck feathers flared out.

what age do you know how nice they are going to be to their ladies?
I'd rather have no Roo at all than have a mean one.

I LOVE the temperment on my pullets. they are so friendly.

 

[ki4got]

IMO, ALL baby roos are jerks. it takes them a while to learn how to 'finesse' the ladies. I have noticed when a younger roo starts harrassing the older girls who 'know it all,' they will usually FLATTEN him quick.

for that reason i've got a bachelor pad for all the baby roos, and only when i think they're ready for a breeding pen I give them an 'experienced' lady for training. they learn pretty quick how to play the game.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Question on my baby dorking roo. 10 weeks old

He is not being nice to the pullets...he is occasionally pulling on their neck fethers or pecking them, making them squawk.

He isn't our only roo but I was going to give the others away, as he is my only dorking roo. but now I am questioning the wisdom of that. The other two roos I have not seen doing this, although one has staring contests with them on a regular basis with his neck feathers flared out.

what age do you know how nice they are going to be to their ladies?
I'd rather have no Roo at all than have a mean one.

I LOVE the temperment on my pullets. they are so friendly.

I also have 10 week old chicks, 14 pullets and 11 cockerels. This is the age where mine are trying to establish a pecking order, without regard to gender. However, the cockerels are spending more time at it. The flaring neck feathers and tussels are nothing to worry about, as long as peace reigns most of the time. However, CONSTANT aggression or harrassment by one that is out of line with the norm is possibly a problem. Most of my boys will bully each other or a pullet, but when the other chick backs down it's over. That's normal. I have one cockerel that isn't satisfied with a show of submission and continues to harrass (he was the first to crow, the first to adventure out into the field, the first to be every person's friend, but the most aggressive to his flockmates). As soon as he's big enough to roast, he'll be culled. But pecking order behavior doesn't always correspond to sexual behavior. Oftentimes a jerk is a jerk, regardless of the species. But I've seen some of the nicest roosters be very aggressive with hens during breeding, and I've also seen some very aggressive roosters be sweet "dancers," waiting for the hen to squat down and never pulling a feather. But being sweet to the hens is often a learned skill -- the teenagers are always a bit too enthusiastic and can scare a young pullet or an aged hen. Ideally put the young boys with a group of second year hens -- hens young enough to tolerate the initial aggression but old enough to not put up with it and teach them some manners. But not everyone has that option, so you just have to wait to see if this dorking ends up being a sweet boy.

 

[Snozzle]

Oh yay I just came across this threat and had to stop in. I just hatched my first Dorkings and I am hooked on these little guys, they are so sweet and are gaining weight so fast. I have 3 silver greys, but only one single red hatched. They were shipped from pretty far away and the post office hasn't been very gentle here over the last few months. The red is my favorite though and I was wondering if anyone around the southern east coast raises the red variety and sells hatching eggs.

 

[ki4got]

well, my dorking flock is now where i want it, numbers-wise. got rid of all the extras (all 30 of them!) LOL

now i have it down to a manageable bunch. no eggs from the sandhill birds yet, but they all look like they're getting closer.

my 3 from rudy are growing well, but one pullet is a complainer. constantly... about to drive me nuts LOL. the only time she stops is when she's stuffing herself.

also added 10 new chicks to the roster as well. my old colored girl showed up yesterday (well, i knew where she was but let her keep 'hiding') with 10 fuzzy colored/sg chicks. I managed to wrangle her into a pen so i can handle the chicks more.

besides, if she'd stayed loose, she might have hurt the dog. LOL she kept challenging my standard poodle who just wanted to look at the chicks. LOL

 

[blessedacre]

Hi everyone!!
My dorkings are 7 weeks old. I ordered a straight run from Murry McMurry. Out of 15 --3 passed- I think I have 4 pullets -- `1 Australorp (the exotice "gift") and the rest are roos........ ALL of my roos are running around with purple mohawks and some with full purple masks from all the blue kote I am putting on due to the pecking order being established. I was wondering if this would subside soon. One little guy was beat up pretty bad, I put healing salve on him, and applied the blue coat (which deterred the constant pecking really quickly). At that time I didn't realize it was a pecking order thingngoing on and because I had noticed the Australorpe being quit agressive with the other in recent days, as well as he was how I found the injured little guy because the Australorp ran up to him as he was laying down and the dorking shook ........ i removed the Australorp and mended the dorking but left him in general population. But this morning ALL roos were drawing blood!!!!!!!!!1 I have 6 large buff orphingtons who started laying last week

............ and the 7 wk dorkings with the australorp..........My coop is 8 x 16 and includes inside hen house with screened in run, purches both in hen house and outside run....... then I have a fenced yard which brings total squared footage accessable to 521 sq feet for 18 chickens.... this should be enough space (I also let the buffs free range most days) ... I have 3 watering stations (I live in florida and it is HOT right now) I am giving an electrolyte mix in one of their waterers.Here is a pic of our set up...... any suggestions on how to improve things appreciated




this is the one who got the worst of it... this morning he was fighting back but he seems to always be alone

you can see the Australorpe in solitarey confinment under the hen house. this area we built for a nursery and isolation purposes.



same chick as upper pic....sorry I thought I took out the repeats....

the buffs, although they will give a glare or a quick peck, don't peck the little ones



this is the only feeder I have....... should I get another for out in the yard??



Surely over crowding is not my problem? Is this just standard and did I mess up by removing the Autralorpe?? Will the status fighting start a new when he reenters??? We plan to cull for the dinner table and the Australorpe will be dinner as well but will this continue until then???? Thanks in advance for all your help. although I don't respond much I read the posts all the time and I learn sooo much from yall. in a month or so I will post pics of the dorkings and ask for your input on culling.

Thanks again

 

[ki4got]

wow. i haven't had any agression problems with my guys... they free ranged until their combs started growing in, then i tossed all the boys into the 'bachelor pad', with an adult roo who ruled the roost. maybe that's why i didn't have problems. big red established immediately that HE was in charge. LOL maybe putting larger/more feeders would help. that is a bit small for so many birds I think. even my free rangers have 2 feeders to pick from, and even then there's tussling and squabbling over who gets to eat where. and that's just with 2 adult roos and a bunch of hens/pullets. (all the baby roos went to the swap last weekend).

one other suggestion, i didn't notice, but i'm also not wearing the right glasses LOL... are there plenty of roosts in the pen for the ones getting picked on to get UP and out of the way? i prefer to have at least 2' per bird in perch space in the pen, then they can get up and spread out away from the bullies. for example, my 8x8 run has 2 8' 2x3 going down the sides (so i can get the feeder in the middle). i've had as many as 12 birds in there at once (crowded, i know, but they were waiting for a swap to happen) and there was plenty of space on perches/ground and in the coop for everyone to be comforatble.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Hi Blessedacre,
You've got a beautiful setup, very clean and well maintained. But you've got 11 teenage roosters and no place to hide. And once the "gang" smells fear or blood they can be vicious to the underdogs. Do you own the wooded area on the other side of the fence? If so, would it be safe to extend their range into that area so the underdogs can hide in the brush and the bullies can explore? If that's not an option, then putting things in their pen that would provide some cover might be helpful. Just be sure that whatever you put in for cover has two exits, so a victim can't be cornered. Wooden boxes, "half-wall fences," large pots, really tall perches, whatever you've got that can be used as a sight barrier, physical barrier, or will limit access to only a few birds at a time. Also, they are probably bored at this age and in such a pristine pen. And when young males of any species are bored, they cause trouble, usually by fighting. Giving them places to hide will also give them places to conquer, so they'll torment each other less. Hanging treats up high can also help, since it gives them challenges. And multiple feeders and waterers are important, since the underdogs may be scared to visit a single station and fail to grow well, which will keep them underdogs forever. I also have 11 cockerels (6 Red Dorkings and 5 Barnevelders), 11 weeks old, but they have lots to do and lots of places to hide if they're bullied, so there's been no blood. I think of having a flock of chickens like junior high school -- if everyone is kept busy and exhausted, then the fighting is kept to a minimum. If everyone is bored, then the bullies rule, and they're too young to have any judgement or empathy. It's brutal!!!

The other thing to take into consideration is that you have maturing buff orpingtons, in addition to these 15 dorkings and one australorp. Different breeds have different temperaments. In my experience (which may be different from other people), the buff orpingtons are easily bullied, and the australorps tend to bully (this is my first flock of red dorkings, so I don't know how aggressive/passive they'll be as adults, but their reputation is good). Hopefully this won't be a problem for you because your orpingtons are older than the other breeds. But definitely watch for issues when the dorkings and australorp mature.

Good luck. It can be very frustrating.
--April

 

[blessedacre]

I think I have enough roosts--- I have 5 6 ft long roosts----- 3 are high and 2 are knee highth --- I will get another feeder. as far as a bachelor pad goes, wouldn't I have the same problem?? if all the roos are locked up together won't they fight just as bad??? or are they fighting over the pullets and if they were locked away then they wouldn't fight anymore?? I didn't plan for a "bachelor pad" when designing the coop and yard area.

what would the bare necessities be for a pad and would that be perminent until they are culled? Speaking of which....I know dorkings mature slower but what is the prime age for processing?? Thanks for the feed back

 

[blessedacre]

Hi Blessedacre,
You've got a beautiful setup, very clean and well maintained. But you've got 11 teenage roosters and no place to hide. And once the "gang" smells fear or blood they can be vicious to the underdogs. Do you own the wooded area on the other side of the fence? If so, would it be safe to extend their range into that area so the underdogs can hide in the brush and the bullies can explore? If that's not an option, then putting things in their pen that would provide some cover might be helpful. Just be sure that whatever you put in for cover has two exits, so a victim can't be cornered. Wooden boxes, "half-wall fences," large pots, really tall perches, whatever you've got that can be used as a sight barrier, physical barrier, or will limit access to only a few birds at a time. Also, they are probably bored at this age and in such a pristine pen. And when young males of any species are bored, they cause trouble, usually by fighting. Giving them places to hide will also give them places to conquer, so they'll torment each other less. Hanging treats up high can also help, since it gives them challenges. And multiple feeders and waterers are important, since the underdogs may be scared to visit a single station and fail to grow well, which will keep them underdogs forever. I also have 11 cockerels (6 Red Dorkings and 5 Barnevelders), 11 weeks old, but they have lots to do and lots of places to hide if they're bullied, so there's been no blood. I think of having a flock of chickens like junior high school -- if everyone is kept busy and exhausted, then the fighting is kept to a minimum. If everyone is bored, then the bullies rule, and they're too young to have any judgement or empathy. It's brutal!!!
(
The other thing to take into consideration is that you have maturing buff orpingtons, in addition to these 15 dorkings and one australorp. Different breeds have different temperaments. In my experience (which may be different from other people), the buff orpingtons are easily bullied, and the australorps tend to bully (this is my first flock of red dorkings, so I don't know how aggressive/passive they'll be as adults, but their reputation is good). Hopefully this won't be a problem for you because your orpingtons are older than the other breeds. But definitely watch for issues when the dorkings and australorp mature.

Good luck. It can be very frustrating.
--April

Thanks April!! I made some hide aways and found an old large planter pot with the bottom broken out of it !!! I also took some hay and through it out in the yard.... so much for the pristine look .... i put the Austrolorp back into general population, I figured I might as well get that done while I was in the pen working so if anything extra bad happened I would be there..... we ran the fence into the woods as much as possible, there is a drainage ditch just on the other side of the ditch .. it does not hold water just guides it to another place. I will look up some more things to help with chicken bordem........ thanks again!!