BYC Café

[ronott1]

88.9F here (3:17 pm) much too hot and we're just heading into June. July is usually the hottest month- I'll probably just live in the basement. I'm down here most of the day anyhow.

It is 96F at 3pm. I will usually warm up a bit until about 5pm or so

 

[pennyJo1960]

Okay then @Shadrach explain then why my pair kept mounting each other
they have not had a real fight Red is a year the EE and Smudge blue marans is quite larger now I have not let them back together should I

 

[DobieLover]

I agree with you. It looks like he got jumped from behind. He'll know now.
I use betadine gel on comb, ear and wattle wounds. Surprisingly these areas don't seem to get infected easily. On the down side they bleed a lot and it looks much worse then it is. I've had a couple with eye damage and that's very worrying.
Poor old Fabio.
Meat treats are in order and if you have some a couple of days of a vitamin supplement.
If Fabio had lost to the point that he would run then you would have major problems. The hens I doubt have much interest in Captain given he doesn't even have a proper pair of spurs yet. Hens get to trust their roosters I've found and a sudden change in senior rooster really upsets them, especially if it's some underage upstart!

I've got canned tuna and already started the A-hole on a wet mash with Poutry Nutri-drench in it. I'll douse some bread with PND for Fab and give him some tuna. Getting it into him is always a challenge as he wants to give it all away to the hens.
These boys have a lot of room to work with. It's not like they are confined to the run. They are out and about in their 1/3 acre pen and I have seen Fabio run Cap off too many times to count. Cap has plenty of room to get the hell out of the way.
For whatever reason, Cap's got a burr up his ass about challenging Fabio. I found hackle feathers very near the spot Fab likes to nap in at the perimeter of the chicken bush. More of his feathers were behind the run so this fight went on quite a bit. That's some dirty pool playing by Cap.
They will remain separated for at least three days as I want both to have time to heal. They can still see and hear each other. Cap is even trying to tidbit inside the ward run.
If they get into anything life threatening, I'll sell Cap. I could easily sell him for $20 here. Fabio isn't going anywhere. This is his flock.

 

[CapricornFarm]

It is 96F at 3pm. I will usually warm up a bit until about 5pm or so

Omg!

 

[drumstick diva]

Much too hot ron.

 

[Perris]

Hens get to trust their roosters I've found and a sudden change in senior rooster really upsets them, especially if it's some underage upstart!

I'll keep an especially close eye today then, as my exit strategy to get the boys out of hospital started yesterday pm, with culling Barry, who was the unpopular dominant and infertile or incapable roo, and caging Chirk, who was the 2nd (and almost certainly the daddy of the new brood), while Sven & Obelix are out to build up their strength again. Sven immediately resumed his old (pre-March) role, but the hens weren't interested (I guess an old loser is no more enticing than a young upstart ). Obelix meanwhile just rested in long grass in the sun and went to bed early. He is not yet capable of running far or fast (he needed to come out the crate to use those muscles), but I don't think Chirk will attack him, and I'm really hoping he doesn't when they meet again today. I expect Chirk and Sven to fight, but hopefully briefly, before S realizes he's not up to it, and without S's tender neck getting hit. If he would just acknowledge quickly that his days as dom are over, I think they can all live together peacefully again. Chirk is just as good as his dad, I think, and should have his turn as dom - before Obelix starts challenging for it!

 

[Shadrach]

Okay then @Shadrach explain then why my pair kept mounting each other
they have not had a real fight Red is a year the EE and Smudge blue marans is quite larger now I have not let them back together should I

I don't know Penny.
The keeping arrangements have a huge impact on behavior.
DL and Perris and Meg in MT keep relatively stable flocks of chickens. While not identical to my arrangements, they are similar enough to make an educated guess at what and why things happen.
I don't really know much about your keeping arrangements. The impression I get is you don't really keep a flock as such, more like a transit camp with all the swaps and incubator hatchings.
I tend to keep in mind the behavior of the chickens ancestors when dealing with the chickens here. Some people will say it's all been bred out of them but that isn't what the people I know who study their chickens have to say about the matter.
It's a bit like with humans. If you were to take away our modern infrastructure and all our possesions we would return to small tribal living pretty quickly and to a large extent be remarkably similar in behavior to the other creatures on the planet.

 

[Shadrach]

I've got canned tuna and already started the A-hole on a wet mash with Poutry Nutri-drench in it. I'll douse some bread with PND for Fab and give him some tuna. Getting it into him is always a challenge as he wants to give it all away to the hens.
These boys have a lot of room to work with. It's not like they are confined to the run. They are out and about in their 1/3 acre pen and I have seen Fabio run Cap off too many times to count. Cap has plenty of room to get the hell out of the way.
For whatever reason, Cap's got a burr up his ass about challenging Fabio. I found hackle feathers very near the spot Fab likes to nap in at the perimeter of the chicken bush. More of his feathers were behind the run so this fight went on quite a bit. That's some dirty pool playing by Cap.
They will remain separated for at least three days as I want both to have time to heal. They can still see and hear each other. Cap is even trying to tidbit inside the ward run.
If they get into anything life threatening, I'll sell Cap. I could easily sell him for $20 here. Fabio isn't going anywhere. This is his flock.

This is something I face most years. I had a very worrying period when Treacle and his Dad Cillin were fighting. I'm extremely fond of them both and one solution would be to build another coop and let Treacle establish his own flock; the other doesn't bear thinking about.
Currently they have accepted the status quo. This could all change.
Punch and Mag from Tribe 2 had a few halfhearted scraps in the past and now manage to coexist very well. It is quite obvious who is senior though. Punch is in general of a lazy and laid back disposition and is more interested in fighting with Notch than he is with his brother.
There is a rooster fight here every day. Mostly they are just tests to see if the other will still defend their territory. While there is plenty of food, plenty of space and hens for those who can attract some there shouldn't and hasn't been much of a problem. This is much the same for all creatures including humans.

 

[Shadrach]

Good morning Cafe.
Coffee is made. Only green tea I'm sorry to write.
Cobalt Blue skies here this morning and warming up like a fan assisted oven.
The good news is I have some money coming from the UK later today so I'll be able to go and pick up supplies tomorrow.

 

[DobieLover]

Good morning Cafe and thanks for the coffee.
It's going to be a hot one today. Ugh. I HATE hot weather.
The boys are out there crowing their heads off so that is good. Cappy is just going to have to deal with being in the ward for the next few days and I'll cross my fingers when I first let him out.