Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Beekissed]

It can be, yes. I've seen the comb flush quickly depending on what is happening~ during a hot day, during mating, running, etc. It really has nothing to do with moods or security, though...those are human traits and characteristics, not an animal's.

 

[NanaKat]

Just posting a nice bumm photo of what I think is a nice tent on a pol 8 month old Blue Wyandotte
bred from a hatchery Blue hen and my Columbian Wyandotte breeder roo. Need to work on the yellow leg.

It was windy today


a 7 month old sister out of a CW breeder hen and same sire


And the sire coming out of molt this fall.


Working toward standard and also working on developing a Birchen Wyandotte

 

[aussie pete]

If I couldn't have a rooster because it crowed ,so be it, I buy hatching eggs , luckily I can have them ,so great to hear both mine ,lets me know all is or isn't rite with my flocks when I'm inside

 

[galanie]

I have read many times that the risk to the bird is very high during decrow operations. That something like 50% die of it? This is my big concern about it.

 

[Fred's Hens]

A de-crowed rooster would not be at his best as a rooster. Much of what makes a rooster a rooster is his voice. Sure, he'd still have his testes and be able to mate, but the same thing could indeed be accomplished by having a good arrangement with a breeder and buying fertile eggs. Probably cost less as well. The rooster uses his voice as one of his primary tools in fulfilling his role in the flock.
I wouldn't personally mess with keeping a rooster at all under a de-crowed condition.

 

[galanie]

Probably falls under the category of, "If you have to move Heaven and Earth to do it, maybe it's not worth doing."

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: Thanks Ridgerunner for the ideas......I will work on that on my days off. Def have a scrap piece to make a bigger lip & if I lock them in the nesting box then I can watch her hatch the eggs like I want (just once I want to watch it happen in real life

) As for taking a half hour for them to lay......heck Bossy hen was in her floor nest for what seemed like forever before she laid that egg......I watched for almost 45 minutes......maybe I gave her stage fright? But I am guessing since she has no mentor hen she is just trying to figure out whats trying to come out of her

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had a Speckled Sussex hen that would often spend three hours on the nest laying. She was a nest hog too, would not let any others in with her. They are all different. That's why I try to say things like usually when talking about them.

Yeah, Bee. That nest hog behavior did not meet my approval. She did not make my final cut to keep for breeding stock. Her eggs were a little small too so that made the decision even easier.

 

[IvyMaeWilliams]

Okay, here are the pictures of my roosters. Please don't laugh--I've only been at this for less than a year and the prevailing philosophy about raising chickens in my rural area is that if you're doing anything more than ignoring them completely, you're being ridiculous!
Here is the first of my two most mature BR roosters:





And what I think is probably the least scraggly of my red cockerels:






And finally the second most mature BR:







I do have 7 other roosters, so if none of these look decent I can put up pictures of those as well, but they are much less mature-looking despite the fact that they're the same age (19 weeks). So fire away! Thanks for weighing in, y'all.

P.S. In my order of BRs, one of the roosters is pitch black with green sheen and black eyes and black legs (and a crooked toe!). What happened there? A Black Aust. snuck in or is this a thing that can happen with BRs?

 

[Fred's Hens]

IvyMae, in spite of the fact that some of the other cockerels are a bit smaller and a bit under developed yet, sometimes, there can be a late bloomer who really is the stud you're looking for. When do you foresee using the rooster? In other words, when do you foresee penning up some birds, collecting eggs, and taking them to the incubator?