BYC Café

[igorsMistress]

@Shadrach I had a hatchery Rhode Island Red go broody so I don't believe that nonsense either.

I know for a fact the moms of the 7 older pullets I have here also went broody so I'm hoping a few have the trait. I would rather NOT incubate if I don't have to.

 

[Shadrach]

It's interesting to hear the differences between different countries and how they do things.

I think the region I live in is different from other areas of Spain, so it's probably an unfair comparison country to country.
More accurate I think, is it's the official BYC backyard chicken keeping view that is different from the local Catalan view I hear about.

 

[Shadrach]

Local history as passed on by mouth with some documentation, albeit a bit sparse, is chickens were properly introduced to the region I live in by the Romans. Sections of this area were given to less prominent retiring Roman army officers.
In Southern Spain the chicken breeds are believed to have been introduced by the Moroccans. I don't know how long ago this may have been.
Again, it is considered likely that the first chickens brought to the Americas were brought by the Spanish when they 'discovered' South America.

 

[Shadrach]

What do you recommend for the hen/rooster ratio? Or do you base it on behavior only?

What I got told was 3 hens to one rooster should be the maximum if one intends to free range.
My experiences here seem to agree.
The purists here say one hen to one rooster because that is how the chickens ancestors live. Generally only the game fowl keepers use 1:1.
I try to keep to the 3:1 ratio and when I've exceeded it there have been problems.
However, if you are going to let the chickens breed then having a couple of extra hens when the inevitable cockerel turns up often means less family conflict. The senior rooster will let the junior look after, and mate with those spares that are not his favorites.

 

[drumstick diva]

interesting Shad.

 

[sourland]

Good afternoon, Café, fresh pot is brewed.

Rats, mice, snakes, spiders, bees, wasps - no fear. An angry woman -

3 days in the field down - 2 more to go. Have I complained about the judging here ? I think not, but today it sucked. I won't even get into the first series evaluations, but second series performance - The high brace had an extremely poor performance in an easy area leading to a vocal argument on the part of the judges. Second brace had a tough area to run in and did an exceptional job. Lily was back fourth and ended up being defeated in this run. They held the high brace in and the best pair in the class ended up getting third and fourth. Tomorrow different judges at a different club.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

These are the two cockerels that live with Cheap Shot... Both are his spawns, but neither have started showing aggression. Aside from the look of the black and gold you wouldn't know he was male, no mating attempts or crowing yet (they are 5.5 months). Mini CSC in the back is a bit more rambunctious I'm not sure if he will stay in the same coop or end up elsewhere. He sleeps with the hens and geese in the barn quite a bit.

I knew your hen/rooster split was not the norm of byc, which I've often wondered about. Mine will fight now and again, mostly in the spring, but as a general rule coexist well. But there are a lot of hens in comparison.

Anyway, always curious as to what other people do and why.

 

[DobieLover]

@penny1960 , sorry about your little cochin chick.

@Shadrach , the mousie sure had fun, did it?
On a side note about the senior roosters allowing the cockerels to have a few of the roosters non-favorite hens/pullets, would you care to sit down with Fabio and explain this to him? He goes after Captain each and every time he sees Captain go after a pullet.

@Meg-in-MT , you've got some beautiful boys there.

I have noticed a shift in the flock. Rhoda, the former HBIC, is no longer roosting next to Fabio. Seneca is. She has turned into quite the little pistol. She was the first pullet to start laying. At weigh in two nights ago, I also found she is now the largest bird in the flock and that includes being larger than Fabio.
Now, Captain regularly goes after Seneca. She is one of his favorites. But he is rather clever about it. He knows when she goes into the coop to lay and he gets her then when Fabio is out in the pen after the morning feeding and is oblivious.

Oh. And BOTH of my Cuckoo Marans are broody.

 

[igorsMistress]

These are the two cockerels that live with Cheap Shot... Both are his spawns, but neither have started showing aggression. Aside from the look of the black and gold you wouldn't know he was male, no mating attempts or crowing yet (they are 5.5 months). Mini CSC in the back is a bit more rambunctious I'm not sure if he will stay in the same coop or end up elsewhere. He sleeps with the hens and geese in the barn quite a bit.

I knew your hen/rooster split was not the norm of byc, which I've often wondered about. Mine will fight now and again, mostly in the spring, but as a general rule coexist well. But there are a lot of hens in comparison.

Anyway, always curious as to what other people do and why.
View attachment 1938230

Wow Meg, beautiful!

 

[DobieLover]

Something fun happened at work today. The drill engineer has been making these neat cutouts out of copper (Cu) clad laminates, at least 100 mils thick. He made a John Deer tractor for one of the drill operators. The hood actually would flip up on the tractor.
As soon as I saw this I said to him, "Can you make me a rooster?" So he is! Now MY rooster will start out Cu, but he will end up gold. I'm going to plate him after I get him. these are the two line drawings I gave the drill engineer to use to set up the mill machine with.