Beginner Questions

[Egghead_Jr]

Cockerels become cocks and pullets become hens at one year of age.

Cockerel behavior is greatly affected by hens. Without older birds to train/teach them they are basically teenagers without supervision. Cockerels hit sexual maturity before pullets, are larger so behave poorly as they don't know better. Older hens will put a cockerel in it's place making it a better cock.

 

[Pghelp]

It looks like I have forced mating by my alpha male. I will now consider rehoming that bird which will leave me with one beta male, MUCH calmer, and six pullets, so one male to six females.

As someone suggested, I need to state in my Profile that I am in the Dominican Republic but I could not figure out how to do that. And pertinent to that, I have limitations here. There are two feeds, a high protein mixed grain, finely ground (and I don't even know if it is high protein because there are no ingredients listed on the sack and the manufacturer's website lists no ingredients), and whole corn. That's it for feed. There is no other option. Given that chickens are opportunistic omnivores, it seems that I'm going to have to experiment with fruits, vegetables, high protein foods such as dog food, and other items. It's either that or whole corn.

A quick google search tells me that a gurgling sound in the throat is very common and also indicative of a possible respiratory infection. So I'll start a separate thread on that in the illness sub-forum -- but search first as the answer might already be there.

Chickens have been here in the Dominican Republic for 500 years. It's hot. Beaks open seem to be how they deal with heat. Of course, I always have shade, of which they are well aware. I'll have to notice when it's cool in the evening to see if there are changes in their respiratory behavior.

Most here agree that adulthood begins at one year at that start of lay is breed specific. I'll ask people here who have the same breed!

Thanks much for your thoughtful responses.

Regarding the heat, we're in Northern California Bay Area and we have some really hot days here. When my flock looks distressed from the heat, I hang old sheets on the sides of the run to give them some shade. If you have a garden hose nozzle with a "mist" setting on it you can aim that at a section of their run on a very low level. I keep mine just above a drip and my hens love flapping around in the misting water. Not all chickens like being in the water but about half my flock think they're water babies and they love it. Regarding feed, we supplement with cut up veggie scraps. My girls love carrot and beet tops, bok choi, cabbage leaves, etc. One of our local restaurant saves their vegetable cuttings and outside leaves for me to pick up.

About egg laying, I have an assorted flock of 8 chickens each a different breed and egg laying can vary widely based on breed. My Leghorn and Sex-linked were the earliest to lay at 5 months. My Orpington and the Easter Eggers were the latest to lay almost one year.

Good luck with your flock! Don't be shy about asking additional questions on Backyard Chickens. I've learned so much from experienced chicken people here and someone is always willing to help answer questions or solve a problem.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Good idea, yes, I would like to put my location in my Profile but I could not figure out how to do it. Is it the tag?

Click on your account image/name on the upper right of your screen, then "Account details" and fill in "Location" about halfway down the page.

 

[3KillerBs]

As I mentioned to another member, there are no balanced commercial feeds here. It's either whole corn or ground corn (and unknown grains). Given that chickens are opportunistic omnivores it seems that I'd be better off feeding a variety of fruits and vegetables and maybe some dry dog food for protein.

Can chickens eat seeds with hulls, as in sunflower seeds? I would think not.

That sounds like a good plan for what you have available. It's easier for chickens to find good forage in a tropical environment than here in the temperate zone.

Yes, chickens can eat seeds with hulls. They either peck it open to extract the seed or swallow it whole and let the grit in their gizzards grind it up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

(1) After hundreds of dollars and much sweat, not one egg! I have six pullets and two cockerels. They are all about five months of age, raised since a few weeks old. Roughly, when can I expect egg laying? Will there be any behavioral or other indications in advance that will suggest that laying is imminent? For example, I heard that the combs of the pullets will deepen in color. They are now very short and light pink . . .

Check out my post in this thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-my-chicken-ready-to-lay.1492293/#post-24890832

(2) Aging. When does a pullet become a hen and when does a cockerel become a rooster?

The technical definition is when they hit one year old. To me that's like saying a human is a legal adult at 16, 18, or 21 years of age, whichever age applies. It doesn't have anything to do with behaviors. From my observations a pullet starts acting like a hen around the time she starts to lay. In a mixed age flock that's when they stop running from the adults and are accepted into the pecking order.

Cockerels are harder. This can look different for each male. When they hit puberty the hormones often take over. The hormones tell them to dominate. They may fight other males for dominance, they may not. They mate with the pullets. At this age the mating act is more about dominance that fertilizing eggs that aren't being laid. The one on the bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force (at least in that moment in time). At that stage it is almost always by force, the immature pullets don't want to be dominated by that hormone driven immature brat. As someone on here I really miss once said, watching pullets and cockerels go through puberty is not for the faint of heart. It can get pretty violent.

When the pullets mature into hens and the cockerels get control of their hormones the flock generally settles down into a pretty peaceful flock with the boys and girls acting like mature adults and each doing their part in the flock. It's getting through puberty that is hard. Occasionally you get a hen or rooster that refuses to grow up into a responsible adult but that is fairly rare. Still, it happens. You'll see several posters telling you to get rid of a cockerel acting like a hormonal driven cockerel where if you can get through puberty they will make a good flock master. Sometimes isolating that cockerel until he matures is one way to get through puberty. It's usually harder for you to watch than it is on the pullets.

(3) Is this what copulation looks like?

I'll copy something I wrote about consenting adults mating. Immature pullets and cockerels are not consenting adults. Often even with mature adults it doesn't look this way. A rooster may not dance. A hen may run away instead of squatting. The rooster may let her go or he may chase her. As long as it ends with the hen squatting and no injury it is all good.

The rooster dances for a specific hen. He lowers one wing and sort of circles her. This signals his intent.

The hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her entire body and not just her legs. That way she can support a much heavier rooster without hurting her joints.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. The head grab helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, but its major purpose is to tell the hen to raise her tail out of the way to expose the target. A mating will not be successful if she does not raise her tail and expose the target. The head grab is necessary.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. This may be over in the blink of an eye or it may take a few seconds. But when this is over the rooster’s part is done.

The hen then stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm into a special container inside the hen near where the egg starts its internal journey through her internal egg making factory.

is this cockerel now a rooster?

He may be capable of fertilizing eggs but it's probably he is still a hormone-driven cockerel.

(4) The word "scratch" as a noun: What is it? Any food that you throw that chickens as in "scratch" (verb), which is what chickens do when they forage? Or is it whole corn

Scratch can be whole corn, cracked corn, or some mixture of foods. In the US it's usually a mixture of grains or seeds that are not ground. It's a little hard to talk about the nutritional value of scratch because it can be so many different things and mixes.

I don't know how you manage your chickens. Do they forage for much of their food or do they only eat what you provide? If they forage you've lost all ability to micromanage what they eat, they should get a good mixture. I suspect if you look around you will see plenty of flocks that the owners don't feed them anything, the chickens totally feed themselves as they have since there were chickens in your country.

My general advice if you are feeding all or most of what they eat is to try to feed different things. They do best on a balanced diet, if you only provide one thing may be missing certain nutrients. Try to feed things in moderation. Corn (maize to the British) doesn't scare me. Whole civilizations have thrived with corn as a basic food, but don't feed them exclusively corn. As best you can I'd give them various grains, fruits, vegetables, greens, grass, and creepy crawlies. Meat, fish, or shellfish has a lot of good things for them.

(5) Here in the Dominican Republic I started my baby chicks on a feed of various finely ground grains. I couldn't figure out when they would transition to whole corn. But, then, they started to lose interest in their feed, which they used to eat voraciously. Now they are interested in the whole corn. Is this how it works?

One problem with unground foods is that they will selectively choose what they prefer. So limit how much of that you offer. They are not going to starve to death, they will eventually eat what you provide if they get hungry. Some people manage their chickens, some people let their chickens manage them.

(6) My chickens always have their beaks open. Is this part of their respiration?

Yes. They don't sweat like we do but lose some heat by opening their mouth and sort of yawning. Heat is dangerous but as you say chickens have been in Santa Domingo for hundreds of years. They are not extinct there yet. Lots of water and shade is important. I water a shaded part of my run when it gets really hot, they like lying in that cooled ground. When it is that hot it doesn't stay wet long enough to cause health problems.

(7) I have one hen that while she is respiring, I can hear a pretty loud gurgling sound. It must be a combination of air and liquid making this sound. What is going on here?

Not sure so I'll leave this to others.

 

[linuxusr]

Good idea, yes, I would like to put my location in my Profile but I could not figure out how to do it. Is it the tag?

As I mentioned to another member, there are no balanced commercial feeds here. It's either whole corn or ground corn (and unknown grains). Given that chickens are opportunistic omnivores it seems that I'd be better off feeding a variety of fruits and vegetables and maybe some dry dog food for protein.

Can chickens eat seeds with hulls, as in sunflower seeds? I would think not.

As others have indicated here, it seems that the rule of thumb is that cockerels become roosters at one year and pullets become hens when they start laying . . .

And that start of lay is breed dependent. Yes, I did discover that two of my pullets have dark red combs and are developing wattles. They have not yet investigated the nesting boxes. So maybe I'm getting closer . . .

I have placed my location. Thank you.

 

[linuxusr]

Check out my post in this thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-my-chicken-ready-to-lay.1492293/#post-24890832


The technical definition is when they hit one year old. To me that's like saying a human is a legal adult at 16, 18, or 21 years of age, whichever age applies. It doesn't have anything to do with behaviors. From my observations a pullet starts acting like a hen around the time she starts to lay. In a mixed age flock that's when they stop running from the adults and are accepted into the pecking order.

Cockerels are harder. This can look different for each male. When they hit puberty the hormones often take over. The hormones tell them to dominate. They may fight other males for dominance, they may not. They mate with the pullets. At this age the mating act is more about dominance that fertilizing eggs that aren't being laid. The one on the bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force (at least in that moment in time). At that stage it is almost always by force, the immature pullets don't want to be dominated by that hormone driven immature brat. As someone on here I really miss once said, watching pullets and cockerels go through puberty is not for the faint of heart. It can get pretty violent.

When the pullets mature into hens and the cockerels get control of their hormones the flock generally settles down into a pretty peaceful flock with the boys and girls acting like mature adults and each doing their part in the flock. It's getting through puberty that is hard. Occasionally you get a hen or rooster that refuses to grow up into a responsible adult but that is fairly rare. Still, it happens. You'll see several posters telling you to get rid of a cockerel acting like a hormonal driven cockerel where if you can get through puberty they will make a good flock master. Sometimes isolating that cockerel until he matures is one way to get through puberty. It's usually harder for you to watch than it is on the pullets.


I'll copy something I wrote about consenting adults mating. Immature pullets and cockerels are not consenting adults. Often even with mature adults it doesn't look this way. A rooster may not dance. A hen may run away instead of squatting. The rooster may let her go or he may chase her. As long as it ends with the hen squatting and no injury it is all good.

The rooster dances for a specific hen. He lowers one wing and sort of circles her. This signals his intent.

The hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her entire body and not just her legs. That way she can support a much heavier rooster without hurting her joints.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. The head grab helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, but its major purpose is to tell the hen to raise her tail out of the way to expose the target. A mating will not be successful if she does not raise her tail and expose the target. The head grab is necessary.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. This may be over in the blink of an eye or it may take a few seconds. But when this is over the rooster’s part is done.

The hen then stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm into a special container inside the hen near where the egg starts its internal journey through her internal egg making factory.


He may be capable of fertilizing eggs but it's probably he is still a hormone-driven cockerel.


Scratch can be whole corn, cracked corn, or some mixture of foods. In the US it's usually a mixture of grains or seeds that are not ground. It's a little hard to talk about the nutritional value of scratch because it can be so many different things and mixes.

I don't know how you manage your chickens. Do they forage for much of their food or do they only eat what you provide? If they forage you've lost all ability to micromanage what they eat, they should get a good mixture. I suspect if you look around you will see plenty of flocks that the owners don't feed them anything, the chickens totally feed themselves as they have since there were chickens in your country.

My general advice if you are feeding all or most of what they eat is to try to feed different things. They do best on a balanced diet, if you only provide one thing may be missing certain nutrients. Try to feed things in moderation. Corn (maize to the British) doesn't scare me. Whole civilizations have thrived with corn as a basic food, but don't feed them exclusively corn. As best you can I'd give them various grains, fruits, vegetables, greens, grass, and creepy crawlies. Meat, fish, or shellfish has a lot of good things for them.


One problem with unground foods is that they will selectively choose what they prefer. So limit how much of that you offer. They are not going to starve to death, they will eventually eat what you provide if they get hungry. Some people manage their chickens, some people let their chickens manage them.


Yes. They don't sweat like we do but lose some heat by opening their mouth and sort of yawning. Heat is dangerous but as you say chickens have been in Santa Domingo for hundreds of years. They are not extinct there yet. Lots of water and shade is important. I water a shaded part of my run when it gets really hot, they like lying in that cooled ground. When it is that hot it doesn't stay wet long enough to cause health problems.


Not sure so I'll leave this to others.

Many thanks for your thoughtful and extensive answers. One important insight you gave me is that I have a cockerel in puberty who is aggressive, with one pullet in particular, and testosterone driven. This does NOT mean that I should re-home him as someone suggested, and I was considering doing, but that this is a normal developmental phase that I should accept regardless of how brutal it appears (perhaps there is a limit somewhere). Actually, this situation might be analogous to the "horror" human adults often express at the behavior of adolescents . . .

It seems that the main limitation of corn--the only feed used here--is that it lacks sufficient protein. It is mostly a carbohydrate and does include some vitamins and minerals. I'm going to consider dry dog food for protein as it's cheaper than cat food. I'll read the label first. I may have to moisten it a little so that it's peckable. Large, hard pieces might not work. Also, I'm going to buy various vegetables and fruits, one of each, to test their preferences. I'll try ending up with a combination of fruits, vegetables, principally corn, and something for protein.

Thanks for recognizing that I'm not in the U.S. Indeed, chickens have not become extinct here after 500 years, in spite of the heat, and most eat nothing but corn their entire lives . . . Still, I will augment and find the best situation that I can give them.

I am mindful that they drink copious amounts of water and I always give them plenty of clean water. I notice that when a little soil get kicked into the waterer, in spite of its being suspended, that they don't like to drink it. On the other hand, this being a poor country, most people can't even afford a waterer. They will take a plastic bottle and with a knife cut out the bottom and use that. The water is almost always dirty and never changed except when empty.

 

[linuxusr]

Thank you all for your detailed answers to my questions!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

It seems that the main limitation of corn--the only feed used here--is that it lacks sufficient protein. It is mostly a carbohydrate and does include some vitamins and minerals. I'm going to consider dry dog food for protein as it's cheaper than cat food. I'll read the label first. I may have to moisten it a little so that it's peckable. Large, hard pieces might not work. Also, I'm going to buy various vegetables and fruits, one of each, to test their preferences. I'll try ending up with a combination of fruits, vegetables, principally corn, and something for protein.

Thanks for recognizing that I'm not in the U.S. Indeed, chickens have not become extinct here after 500 years, in spite of the heat, and most eat nothing but corn their entire lives . . . Still, I will augment and find the best situation that I can give them.

Corn is low protein, and lacking in some essential amino acids the birds can't produce on their own. Yes, local birds have been free ranging to address that dietary imbalance for a long time. As you look around for other feed stuffs, and mindful of the budget, you may be able to find bulk oats (or oatmeal) which is higher protein, and more importantly, has a differing mix of amino acids, which can compensate in part for areas where corn is weak. Sorghum is also a good choice.

You also want to look for spent (used) Brewer's grains. There is almost no place man has been for any period of time where alcohol isn't brewed. The grains left over from the process are still quite useful as livestock feed, and being a byproduct, you may be able to obtain them in bulk and cheaply - they are quite high in protein and low in carbs, typically - its the carbs that have been cooked out and broken down into sugars which will eventually become alcohol in the brew process, leaving most of the proteins and fiber behind. The malting process of sprouting and drying the grains helps free up some vitamins as well that aren't completely extracted during the wort making process. Be aware that if you get wet brewer's grains, they are prone to molding quickly, so should be dried or rapidly used to address that.

 

[linuxusr]

Corn is low protein, and lacking in some essential amino acids the birds can't produce on their own. Yes, local birds have been free ranging to address that dietary imbalance for a long time. As you look around for other feed stuffs, and mindful of the budget, you may be able to find bulk oats (or oatmeal) which is higher protein, and more importantly, has a differing mix of amino acids, which can compensate in part for areas where corn is weak. Sorghum is also a good choice.

You also want to look for spent (used) Brewer's grains. There is almost no place man has been for any period of time where alcohol isn't brewed. The grains left over from the process are still quite useful as livestock feed, and being a byproduct, you may be able to obtain them in bulk and cheaply - they are quite high in protein and low in carbs, typically - its the carbs that have been cooked out and broken down into sugars which will eventually become alcohol in the brew process, leaving most of the proteins and fiber behind. The malting process of sprouting and drying the grains helps free up some vitamins as well that aren't completely extracted during the wort making process. Be aware that if you get wet brewer's grains, they are prone to molding quickly, so should be dried or rapidly used to address that.

Yes, I am trying to address the issue that I must augment with protein. Commercial pet food, a good protein source, is expensive here, maybe more than in the U.S. as it is imported. For example, a small can of cat food costs $1.50. I just bought the cheapest dog food I could find at $1.00 per pound. It has 22% crude protein. I will try softening it with water to make it easier for them to consume and see how that works. Whole oats are also expensive and have much less protein than the pet foods but more than corn. Brewers' grains will be tough. The factories may be located in other parts of the country. I'll have to investigate that. As far as beer is concerned, there's only one brand here and I believe that it's imported.

I'll follow up and let you know how the dog food works . . .