BYC Café

[N F C]

Morning Cafe.
It's planting and mulching day. Hopefully, I can get this done before the next round of T-storms runs me inside.

What are you planting Dobie?

 

[N F C]

Just being curious and looking for opinions...what do you all think of this article?
rooster-behavior-modification.72983

 

[Shadrach]

You're all going to think I've been at the herb box again, but a while ago I saw something I never seen before.
I wrote a bit of an article about pecking a while back and in it I mentioned 'the stroke'.
I have seen a couple of roosters do this to hens, both long term relationships, and mums do it to chicks but I have never seen a hen do it to a rooster.
Cillin had just asked Fat Bird to give him a bit of a groom. It took quite a while before Fat Bird would groom Cillin. I watched Fat Bird give Cillin the once over but she apparently couldn't see anything amiss. Cillin still had his head lowered when Fat Bird gently stroked her beak down the side of his neck and promptly sat down next to Cillin.
There is no way this was a beak wipe and it wasn't a peck either. This was a stroke with no apparent other intention.
The guy I'm in contact with in Finland has cameras in his coops and he's seen the hens stroking the roosters while they are on the perch.
I know, I'm barking mad but really pleased to have seen this.

 

[DobieLover]

What are you planting Dobie?

The plan is to remove the drowned holly from the privacy hedgerow and burn it.
Remove the dead Colorado Baby Blue from the chickens pen and replace it with one of the Blue Point Junipers from the hedgerow.
Then dig newly spaced holes in the hedgerow for the Dappled Willow that I bought cheap off the neighbor.
The two planting arrangements in the chicken pen need a little more root protection so we are going to collect flat stones off the roadside and put them at the base of most of the plants then cover everything with fresh wood chips.
The neighbor also told me I can get rip rap for $17/ton at the local quarry so I'll probably get a few loads after work this week and line the arrangements in the chicken pen with them in hopes they won't be able to kick the wood chips out quite so far.

 

[Shadrach]

Just being curious and looking for opinions...what do you all think of this article?
rooster-behavior-modification.72983

Not a lot.
Some people just can't get past the I have to be the dominant one. It says a lot more about their insecurities than it does about the roosters behviour imo.
Sure you can scare a rooster into submission. It doesn't take a lot of skill or understanding.

 

[N F C]

The plan is to remove the drowned holly from the privacy hedgerow and burn it.
Remove the dead Colorado Baby Blue from the chickens pen and replace it with one of the Blue Point Junipers from the hedgerow.
Then dig newly spaced holes in the hedgerow for the Dappled Willow that I bought cheap off the neighbor.
The two planting arrangements in the chicken pen need a little more root protection so we are going to collect flat stones off the roadside and put them at the base of most of the plants then cover everything with fresh wood chips.
The neighbor also told me I can get rip rap for $17/ton at the local quarry so I'll probably get a few loads after work this week and line the arrangements in the chicken pen with them in hopes they won't be able to kick the wood chips out quite so far.

You better get busy, sounds like a lot of work! But it will look nice when all done. Share some pictures with us

 

[DobieLover]

Just being curious and looking for opinions...what do you all think of this article?
rooster-behavior-modification.72983

Looks like she re-posted her article as I've seen this before.
If you are going to beat your rooster into submission, why have one in the first place?

 

[N F C]

Not a lot.
Some people just can't get past the I have to be the dominant one. It says a lot more about their insecurities than it does about the roosters behviour imo.
Sure you can scare a rooster into submission. It doesn't take a lot of skill or understanding.

I guess the part that kind of bothered me was the "entertainment" found while doing it.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Last year I had a brahma hatch a single chick. I didn't realize she was gone, never found her nest site, she's just popped out one day with the babe. So, she starts sitting this year and I think "well, she did such a good job last year I'll give her some eggs and she'll be golden!" She hatched a single chick... Two days later I finally check the other eggs and find nothing. Two with blood rings and the rest are completely blank. Nada. I haven't a clue why. Any ideas?

Sounds like poor fertility. Maybe trim butt feathers. Sometimes I switch out the rooster. The blood rings may indicate she was off the nest too long.

 

[Shadrach]

I guess the part that kind of bothered me was the "entertainment" found while doing it.

I've got a bit strange about this article rating business. In general, unless it's something really stupid I don't like to give a poor rating. I would rather not rate at all.
This article needs other options and the problems with the attitude of the author pointing out imo.
@BantyChooks managed to write an excellent article on roosters that I didn't agree with, but it was rational, about her experiences and offered a number of alternative views. It was well written and had the welfare of the chickens as the base line.
This latest offering from Beekissed seems a bit sick by comparison.