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

[In His Service]

Great post! Very insightful and well spoken.

I know many of the OTs have left the thread and even have left the forum since the change. I like the thread to stay true, if I can get it, but I know it cannot because of lack of OT participation and lack of common sense of others. All one has to do is read the first post and it explains the tenor of this thread....if you have practical, common sense advice to give, give it~but please indicate how long you have been raising chickens so that someone can get a feel for how long you have put that into practice and gauge the method and results based on consistency of methodology.

If a method works for you but you've only had flocks for 1-2 years, then it may have validity but it may also not stand the test of time. For someone who only wants to raise chickens for a few years, it may indeed work and that's okay too...they can then use the advice knowing it may work for the duration of their husbandry efforts. It may last for longer and it may not...and that is their own risk as mileage may vary.

Speaking of myself, I've tried all kinds of different things the last few years that my ancestors didn't know or try...nothing major that changes the standard practices we've used for many years, but still valuable additions or methods that I plan to incorporate into my husbandry. Just the little things that I've tried and found useful. Did those things all come from the advice of OTs? Some of them but not all.

Everything we learn is somewhat useful...even if we don't use it.



Sideline: I am doing a new meaty batch this spring but I won't have one of my trusty broodies to help me so it ought to be interesting. I'm getting 40-50 chicks. I'm going to construct a cattle panel, portable coop structure to accommodate the chicks, grow out the birds(they will free range) and then it will be converted into a coop suitable for laying hens. The only wood I will use in this structure will be the wood framing at the base and the roosts. Should be interesting and I'll take some pics of the progress if anyone is interested. I'll start a new thread for all that.

I am interested...

 

[Gypsi]

Rooster taming question: I bought Americauna chicks October 22nd. 3 are hens, but I'm pretty sure the 4th one is a rooster. Very skittish, not wanting to be handled. None are crazy about it, but this one is bigger, has pretty dark green & purple feathers in wings and tail - and he fell in the water bowl avoiding letting me pet him a couple of days ago. I caught him sunday, handed him off to my granddaughter, and hand fed him 5 mealy worms. I wouldn't mind having a roo, even though city ordinance forbids them, I'm remote enough. But I'm not going to be attacked by one when I go in the coop. Am I on the right track for taming him, forcing my company on him nicely?

I trained my older hens to go to the coop by offering a treat at penning time. (the alternative being my dogs might not be all that chicken safe - and they do need the yard too.)

Gypsi

 

[Beekissed]

Rooster taming question: I bought Americauna chicks October 22nd. 3 are hens, but I'm pretty sure the 4th one is a rooster. Very skittish, not wanting to be handled. None are crazy about it, but this one is bigger, has pretty dark green & purple feathers in wings and tail - and he fell in the water bowl avoiding letting me pet him a couple of days ago. I caught him sunday, handed him off to my granddaughter, and hand fed him 5 mealy worms. I wouldn't mind having a roo, even though city ordinance forbids them, I'm remote enough. But I'm not going to be attacked by one when I go in the coop. Am I on the right track for taming him, forcing my company on him nicely?

I trained my older hens to go to the coop by offering a treat at penning time. (the alternative being my dogs might not be all that chicken safe - and they do need the yard too.)

Gypsi

Depends on what you want out of a roo. I've never had to hand tame one or force my attentions on one to get it to behave normally towards me. I don't want him getting that familiar in my company or that relaxed around me at all. Petting and holding works for some folks....I've never tried it. I just do what works for me. I do know that the majority of the threads on here about roosters attacking someone start out by stating how sweet he was when he was young and how he used to eat out of their hand, sit on their lap, etc.

I respect my roo and he respects me. When I do need to put a hand on him, I take him off the roost and he doesn't try to fight or get excited, he just lets me do what I need to do....and all my roos are big ol' boys. I don't recall picking any of them up as youngsters or trying to pet or coddle them.

If he is trying to avoid your advances, it sounds like he is a smart roo with the right frame of mind.

 

[scottcaddy]

Rooster taming question: I bought Americauna chicks October 22nd. 3 are hens, but I'm pretty sure the 4th one is a rooster. Very skittish, not wanting to be handled. None are crazy about it, but this one is bigger, has pretty dark green & purple feathers in wings and tail - and he fell in the water bowl avoiding letting me pet him a couple of days ago. I caught him sunday, handed him off to my granddaughter, and hand fed him 5 mealy worms. I wouldn't mind having a roo, even though city ordinance forbids them, I'm remote enough. But I'm not going to be attacked by one when I go in the coop. Am I on the right track for taming him, forcing my company on him nicely?

I trained my older hens to go to the coop by offering a treat at penning time. (the alternative being my dogs might not be all that chicken safe - and they do need the yard too.)

Gypsi

IMHO, yes you are right, I'll not have a man/Lady fighter on my place outside of a stew-pot! Feeding treats for taming should work for you, even if the first few times are not of his choosing. Don't do it every time or you might end up teaching him to mug you for treats when you come into his area.

Good luck Scott

 

[Gypsi]

Thank you. I don't want him to be a pet, but the ability to get him off the roost to check for mites, or to get him in the pen so I can let my dogs out, I need.
A bit skittish is fine. Very aggressive is not. I am not sure that I actually got any pullets out of this lot though, I saw some unusual sparring behavior between him and one of the brown "pullets". If I have 4 roos - well I don't need 4 roos. The other 3 don't have any fancy feathers, and are neither as large or as skittish, He keeps them all together, they all roost together. so maybe I'm 3 and 1... Thanks again,

Gypsi

(working so much I don't get to read lately.)

 

[bobbi-j]

I agree with Beekissed. I wouldn't give treats or cuddle or coddle him. Mainly because of the posts I've seen on here about aggressive roosters. I'm just fine with my rooster wandering away from me when I'm around the chickens. But mine aren't pets, either.

 

[fowlman01]

I find it interesting that no one has anything informative to say now at all, just comments on how the comments are not informative.

I have a question though: Are all cockerels dangerous to baby chicks or are some good with them? I have heard many times that a "young rooster" is dangerous to them but I wondered if that's always true.

Any chick can be in danger with any other chicken that is not it's mother. Dynamics can change at any time with chickens and a lot of that is in a the breed of chickens. With the Oriental breeds you can't trust males, females or siblings after a couple of weeks. When it comes to chicks in with other chickens just remember there is a risk....even if you have never seen it happen before. If the broody mom is around chances are the chicks will be fine and not bothered by any in the flock.

Walt

 

[Gypsi]

I agree with Beekissed. I wouldn't give treats or cuddle or coddle him. Mainly because of the posts I've seen on here about aggressive roosters. I'm just fine with my rooster wandering away from me when I'm around the chickens. But mine aren't pets, either.

So cuddling, coddling or treating MAKES them aggressive? Oops.

Sunday was a new thing - just to get ahold of him while I had an extra person here so I could catch the little monster. My usual version of a treat these days is a couple of cups of scratch, and a cup of BOSS tossed on the floor of the run. Feed is served in the dish. Worms are served when I've been digging in the garden and dug up a bunch of those faux mealy worms that eat plant roots. I call and the birds that show up get a worm.

But I've seen a local person's roo attack her when she went in the pen to collect eggs unless she carried a stick to fend him off, and I KNOW she doesn't baby her birds. This is a situation I would prefer to avoid. I'd like some chicks from a relatively "sane" rooster.

 

[Lollipop]

It all depends on the individual. I believe barnyard breeds are much more prone to man aggression than gamefowl. When Walt said that oriental breeds are less trustworthy than other breeds, I'm sure he was reffering to their aggression toward each other and not toward humans. Oriental games are probably the most easy to handle and man friendly breeds anywhere. If your experience is different, please say so. In my years, I have only had 2 manfighters out of thousands of gamefowl, most of them orientals and more than half of them roosters. I also believe that the aggression toward humans that most people experience, is hereditary and probably the result of being bred too closely.
On the subject of chicks being in danger from older chickens, my experience is that, other than their mother, chicks are in grave danger from any chicken, except a mature cock. Most any mature cock will nurture chicks almost like a mother hen. My practice of penning all my weened chicks in a large pen with a mature cock to police them, is the basis for most of this opinion. I've never had a mature cock that was aggressive to chicks. Obviously there are breeds that are so docile that nobody is aggressive to any younger individual, but I wouldn't trust most of them. It's just a chickens nature to resent strangers and younger birds in their space.
I don't believe anyone should try to make a pet out of a rooster. Keep him aloof and respectfull of the caregiver. If he flogs you, eat him. Gamefowl breeders have practiced this forever. No manfighters are tolerated...........Pop

 

[galanie]

Thanks all for your answers about cockerels, roosters, and chicks. What I have is a coop with a broody about to hatch in it. There's 10 birds in there, and one is a 4 1/2 month old cockerel. He is number 9 of 10 in pecking order and I have no reason to think the broody can't protect them against the others. The only ones above her in order don't bother chicks. It seems I need to either separate her or just be on my toes, which I suspected anyway. I'll separate her once they hatch then like I did with the others. The broody I usually use moves herself and her babies into the smaller coop once they all hatch but this one is new at it. In fact she was a bit confused about the proper way to sit the other morning: