BDutch's bantam flock & natural breeding projects #5 🪺 🪺 and #6

[BDutch]

Whisky
Yesterday around noon I heard Whisky crowing a couple of times with a clear voice. Not loud but no doubt it was beyond the first practice.

I hope Whiskey stays a modest crower and has no urge to crow at sunrise in the future. His main purpose is to protect the flock and it seems he is taking on the job. Jumping on the table and actively looking everywhere while the hens are free ranging.

Today I didn’t hear him at all, but he did surprise in another way.

He was dancing an courting Pearl. So lovely to witness
Pearl was not interested and I was glad Whisky took off without being rude. He really is twice the size/weight of the little Dutch. This worries me. Because his sisters are not in the laying mode yet. And Katrientje is not in the mood for such things either as long as she is moulting.

Strange how things go. I was worried of the crowing but maybe mating is a bigger problem much sooner.

I hope Whisky focusses on the bigger bantams to mate. If he is going to harm the Dutch I have to separate the flock in two groups (until I find him a new home). Dividing the runs is not complicated. Forcing Ini mini to sleep with her daughters shouldn’t be difficult either.

 

[BDutch]

Food
My chickens get mainly chick feed and since the chicks became juveniles the flock gets a bowl with layer pellets too. So they can choose what they like to eat.
Some hens are eating from the layer pellets but I never saw the juveniles eating it. They seem to know what kind of feed they need. Beside the commercial feed they get other stuff too eat/digest: a mix of grit and oyster shell, eggshells, nixed grains, left overs, a few dried mealworms and what they find themselves when free ranging.

There is not much choice in affordable organic feed, and I believe this is a good way to feed my flock without having to bother about nutrients.

I finished the layer pellets last Thursday any picked up a new batch (5kg) at a neighbour who had plenty to share. This morning the got a new bowl with layer and Pearl was very pleased to be able to eat the layer pellets. She in immediately came to eat.

Colour change after moult
Most hens are moulting now but Pearl isn’t. I think she had her moult a month ago and is the one who is laying now. She changed her neck color a bit with the last moult. She always had more rusty neck feathers than Black. But now she is a completely black tiny chicken.

The black with rusty feathers comes from a lavender coloured mother and a pyle coloured father.

Modest crowing
This morning I hear my 4+ month old Whisky crow for the first time today. Its 10 am. And he stopped after 3 ‘howls’*. Love him for not being a noisy nuisance.

*Im not sure if this is a good way to express a multiple crow. It was 3x cock-a-doodle-doo (kukeleku in Dutch).

 

[BDutch]

Just one day later we have a big change.
Ini mini left her ‘babies’ and went to roost with the other hens in the extension.
Whisky started to crow at 7.15 am. Not once but about 8 times.

Maybe he feels free now to do as he pleases without his mama telling him not to be loud. And not wake her up early.
Unfortunately he might have signed his death sentence doing this. I have him on ‘’marketplace’ for 8 weeks now and there is no bargain buyer yet.
It might be possible to keep him a little longer because its getting winter and the nights get longer.
One more thing I can do is to darken the playhouse and set the pop door to open on time/max light. This means less ventilation, but because its colder now I suppose the two air strips under the roof overhang will be enough. It will not be completely dark in the morning. But maybe I win an extra 30+ minutes or so. That should do as long as it’s winter. The neighbours only start to complain when he’s waking them before the alarm does .

 

[ManueB]

Just one day later we have a big change.
Ini mini left her ‘babies’ and went to roost with the other hens in the extension.
Whisky started to crow at 7.15 am. Not once but about 8 times.

Maybe he feels free now to do as he pleases without his mama telling him not to be loud. And not wake her up early.
Unfortunately he might have signed his death sentence doing this. I have him on ‘’marketplace’ for 8 weeks now and there is no bargain buyer yet.
It might be possible to keep him a little longer because its getting winter and the nights get longer.
One more thing I can do is to darken the playhouse and set the pop door to open on time/max light. This means less ventilation, but because its colder now I suppose the two air strips under the roof overhang will be enough. It will not be completely dark in the morning. But maybe I win an extra 30+ minutes or so. That should do as long as it’s winter. The neighbours only start to complain when he’s waking them before the alarm does .

Well, the "chicks" are big enough now to take care of themselves! Do you think they will still sleep in the playhouse ?

Have you updated whisky's photos on Marketplace? He has grown very good looking now.
Would you consider putting him in the garage at night for a little while ?

My roosters begin to crow at 2am. I don't think light has much to do with it unfortunately. Now that we have good new windows in our bedroom we only hear them very faintly, so it doesn't wake us up. But if I happen to be awake I do hear them regularly from 2 to 5.

 

[BDutch]

Well, the "chicks" are big enough now to take care of themselves! Do you think they will still sleep in the playhouse ?

The juveniles all slept in the playhouse yesterday. I suppose Katrientje and Kraai are still bullying the Amrocks at roost time if they want to sleep in the extension. I know they still bully the Amrocks when I throw scratch in the runs. Kraai and Katrientje often block the entrance to keep the youngsters out. But because I have two entrances and the Amrocks learned how to deal with it, this is no real problem anymore. Also important the 2 K’s miss snacks if they are too persistent.

Have you updated whisky's photos on Marketplace? He has grown very good looking now.

Yes, and I offered him in 2 different ads with very different descriptions. I want to offer him on a German site as well. We don’t live very far from the border.

Would you consider putting him in the garage at night for a little while ?

We dont have garage. Only a bicycle shed with a window. And I dont want him walking around in there.

My roosters begin to crow at 2am. I don't think light has much to do with it unfortunately. Now that we have good new windows in our bedroom we only hear them very faintly, so it doesn't wake us up. But if I happen to be awake I do hear them regularly from 2 to 5.

I certainly cant have such a crower here. If Whisky starts to crow in the night I have to give him to anyone who wants him. Or ask someone, who has skills to kill quickly, to take him. I’m too faint hearted to euthanise him myself.

It would be a pity though because he seems to develop himself into a young gentleman.

 

[BDutch]

Stupid.
Forgot the time (still need to get accustomed to wintertime)
Was too late to lock the chickens in on time and all juveniles and Black roosted on too of the run door.

I could catch the ladies, and lock them up in the playhouse. But Whisky choose a spot on top the ivy hedge (fence with ivy) where he was out of reach.
So he’s outside alone this night. 11C no rain.

Cut a empty yoghurt carton. It made a nice treat.

 

[ManueB]

Stupid.
Forgot the time (still need to get accustomed to wintertime)
Was too late to lock the chickens in on time and all juveniles and Black roosted on too of the run door.

I could catch the ladies, and lock them up in the playhouse. But Whisky choose a spot on top the ivy hedge (fence with ivy) where he was out of reach.
So he’s outside alone this night. 11C no rain.

Cut a empty yoghurt carton. It made a nice treat.
View attachment 3978482

Is he ok this morning?

 

[BDutch]

Yes. He was crowing right under our bedroom window around 7 this morning . So I new he was fine.

My husband got up half an hour later and let him in the run. Now they are all out and about in the garden.

His sisters are getting real nice red combs now. So maybe… they start laying before december. Would be nice to have some eggs when all other hens dtop laying. And for Whiskey it would be good to become a rooster with 3 hens having the right size for him soon.

Katrientje is stil recovering from the moult.

I only get a few eggs a week now. Im not sure who is laying now. Maybe Pearl bc Whisky dances manly for petit Pearl. But the egg I collected yesterday was rather large for a Dutch egg. Only Katrientjes eggs are easy to distinguish. Larger and light brown. Janices is definitely ready with her moult. She has nice new feathers and a big red comb again. So normally I would think it was Janice who started to lay again. But her eggs are usually a bit pointy and this egg wasn’t.

 

[BDutch]

Today there was a something strange going on. When I opened the doors to let the chickens free range, they all hesitated to go outside. I looked around and only saw the innocent neighbour cat.

Katrientje was the first one to come out.

Cleaning the poop boards a bit today under supervision from Pearl.

45 minutes later I didn’t see the chickens anywhere outside and went out to have a look. They where all inside again except for Whisky and Gin. Thought it would be better to close them all in early today. I suspected the chickens were not at ease. Maybe the saw a predator earlier today? Or heard strange noises? No idea. But I thought it was wise not to ignore their strange behaviour.

Janice is laying again after her moult for sure. Caught her sitting in a nestbox. I received 2 small bantam eggs today. Its seems the shape of Janices eggs are no longer pointy as they were before her moult.

 

[Molpet]

I have a fox showing up several times on the game camera between midnight and 5 am. Every night for the last week. I go out around 5 because that's when the GH owls were getting the turkeys.
I got a light that randomly flashes at night. Foxlight it's called from Australia. Seems to work on owls so far, but not on raccoons, opossum or the Fox