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

[al6517]

Mine prefer the pellets. They will pick out the big chunks and leave the rest behind. After a while nothing is left but powder. When they clean up the powder, they get more pellets to start the cycle over.

Smart very smart and many of us do this very same thing.................... it's thrifty to not waste feed and trains the birds to eat what their given and not throw it all over the place LOL. My layer feed is in pellet form but some of game bird feeds and conditioners unfortunately are not and crumbles in grown LF birds can be a big waste. On the other hand those that don't wait for their chickens to clean it up before they get more think something is wrong, with the feed, the chickens, the whatever !!!! and the thought of actually forcing a chicken to not waste valuable feed is considered cruel and unusual punishment for the chicken. especialy when it's so much easier to just go into the kitchen and prepare a full course heavily treated meal for them, so they won't ever actualy eat their real feed ever again, because now their finicky when truth be known their just smarter than their human owners and can wait them out until the human freaks out and re-treats LOL, I like that re-treats.

 

[al6517]

I'm gonna toss a question out here on my Rooster. He is an OEGB and approx. 16 months old. He grew up with only 3 hens, 2 of which were standard size hens but they have since passed on. His mate an OEGB is still brooding a chick that she hatched. I intermingled my new pullets with him about 2 1/2 months ago, there are 8 of them. 6 are standard chickens of various breeds 17 weeks old and 14 weeks old and 2 are Bantam Cochins also 17 weeks old. I guess he is getting a little frustrated not having a regular hen to mate with because I have observed him picking at the girls. He walks up behind them and grabs there fluffy butt feathers and makes them squak and run off and he is left with fluffy butt feathers in his beak. Now this is upsetting me and it appears to be upsetting the girls. What is this behavior? Or why is he behaving this way? Is it as I suspect, that he is a frustrated male with pent up testosterone, or is he just a "bad rooster"? I really need to know if I should "cull" him, or if this is behavior that will change once the girls start letting him have his way with them.

I have heard on this forum that you can seperate a bird from the flock for a period of time "chicken jail" and that sometimes straightens them out. Should I try something of this nature before I decide to get rid of him for good. He's small, so he wouldn't make much of a dinner.

Please help! I appreciate all and any comments or suggestions.

I think with some more time they will all work it out just fine...................... it's their way and not ours to interfer if nobody's getting seriousy hurt or injured. the whole everybody is being upset part you mention is irrelevent in flock dynamics, and the chicken jail thing is just another human emotion thrust upon them to make certain people feel better. put 100 people together in an office, you think everybody is going to get along all the time, no I think not but things somehow manage to work themselfs out.

 

[thedragonlady]

I'm gonna toss a question out here on my Rooster. He is an OEGB and approx. 16 months old. He grew up with only 3 hens, 2 of which were standard size hens but they have since passed on. His mate an OEGB is still brooding a chick that she hatched. I intermingled my new pullets with him about 2 1/2 months ago, there are 8 of them. 6 are standard chickens of various breeds 17 weeks old and 14 weeks old and 2 are Bantam Cochins also 17 weeks old. I guess he is getting a little frustrated not having a regular hen to mate with because I have observed him picking at the girls. He walks up behind them and grabs there fluffy butt feathers and makes them squak and run off and he is left with fluffy butt feathers in his beak. Now this is upsetting me and it appears to be upsetting the girls. What is this behavior? Or why is he behaving this way? Is it as I suspect, that he is a frustrated male with pent up testosterone, or is he just a "bad rooster"? I really need to know if I should "cull" him, or if this is behavior that will change once the girls start letting him have his way with them.

I have heard on this forum that you can seperate a bird from the flock for a period of time "chicken jail" and that sometimes straightens them out. Should I try something of this nature before I decide to get rid of him for good. He's small, so he wouldn't make much of a dinner.

Please help! I appreciate all and any comments or suggestions.

This is a perfectively normal behaviour coming from a mature cock, especially one with a Napoleonic complex.Perhaps you would be better off to seperate him from the big girls, and give the big ladies a rooster of their same size.Your pullets are just now ready to lay too, so not everyone knows the drill!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Question:

Are squirels a preditor issue for chickens? I read opposing opinions...

 

[stonykill]

Question:

Are squirels a preditor issue for chickens? I read opposing opinions...

at my place they haven't been.

 

[ldutch123]

Over treating LOL...................... the curse of the BYCer, chickens are finicky eaters because their owners choose for them to be that way. My birds eat what they are given to eat and love it, and like Walt they don't get more until it's all cleaned up. Our birds without treats also tend to be much more healthy internaly and externaly than finicky table scrap treated chickens. It's like when you have young children and it's dinner time, they should be fed well balanced meals rich in vitamins and protiens etc etc, but like most kids they often don't like that sort of food and get finicky. Now some parents (OT's) tell them to eat it or no desert, and they will grow up big and strong ever hear that. Then you have parents who because their children won't eat the good for them healthy foods they feed them junk food way to often and let them snack/treats also too often. the result of that is apparent in our society now.................. very large Obese children who are unhealthy and unable to excersie and then leave themselfs open to other health problems down the road.

Same thing applys to most animals, it's the owners and care givers who risk their overall long term health by treating to often and over exccessively.

Moral of the story................ feed chickens chicken feed or other outdoor goodies that are natural to them, if your concerned for your chickens as much as you would like others to believe this should be sound advice, but more often looked upon with distain because it's cruel to not spoil you chickens with human food that's realy not good for them.

The only treats my chickens get is veggies and scratch grain sometimes. I do spoil them with watermelon rinds but they still eat a ton of their layer feed. I think they a just pigs lol.

I also picked up a bunch of different seeds for 10 cents so I tilled up an area and chicken fenced it off and threw the seeds down. It's was late in the season but hey for 10 cents who cares and I'm not weeding it either lol. So when whatever produce grows and is ready I will let the chickens at it. It's a poultry garden lol. Yep sounds crazy but it's natural and has to be a good supplement for the chickens. Hopefully the pumpkins will take off for the fall and I will steal some of those away lol

 

[Minchi]

Mine might like the sprouts more when winter comes and there is no more grass. Past there feed I give them fruit and vegetables mostly, and supperworms so the diet I give them is fairly natural. I don't give them bread or anything processed, I have never fed them table scraps. I give them the superworms because I don' have many bugs for them to eat. Tomorrow Crickets!

Edit...
Except the yogurt but that is a rare treat.

 

[ldutch123]

No those I wouldn't consider treats at all, they are from the garden, natural growing and good for them..................... And yes raw or cooked meat is also Ok to supplement fat & protein levels. I think they could be classified as supplemental feed not as treats, sure they enjoy them and that's great and also put's to use something that would otherwise be put into the trash or compost heap.

I think many of you know the treats I mean here..................  you won't find Yogurt at the feed store or out free ranging, Some think it's good for the gut action and many agree if they read enough chicken forum hersey, but the main reason is humans like to feed it to them plain and simple, If a chicken needed yogurt naturaly in their diet it would have grown on the ground for them to peck. There is a lady on here who cooks......... literaly cooks meals for her birds everyday...........and would get physicaly ill if they didn't have something from the kitchen menu, that can't be healthy. in the home kitchen prepared treats and other non essential prepared treats or things a chicken can and does eat but can't get often but is fed to much of it on a regular bases is then abused treat.



Point being there are so things in moderation that is acceptable, but extremes to often is what will hurt their health in the long term, just because they eat the fire out of it doesn't mean it's good for them. Part of responsiblity of being an OT is to educate and also to dispell the myths in these goofy fads & trends in animal husbandry and raising healthy animals, and some quite frankly are nonsense, but let it get out on the internet and way to many newby's take to mean it's the gospel. You will always have irresponsility in peoples minds on what is the right and wrong way to properly care for animals, but it is always important to have both sides of the story so one can also educate themselfs.

It takes me a lot of time to just fill the waterers and feeders for my chickens. I couldn't imagine cooking for them!!!! I baly cook dinner for my husband let alone my birds and I would say my birds are pretty darn spoiled because they have tons of land to range, are secure at night in a well ventilated coop, have food and water, get garden scraps and access to the garden when I'm done with it for all the good bugs. I do also talk to them a lot and of course they LOVE THAT lmao! I'm a walking treat to them!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I gave a little cockerell a treat today. He was after a yellow jacket, but it flew over too close to me, I could tell he was really wanting to invade my space to get it, but just couldn't...so I smacked it and tossed it over to him, he grabbed it and ran, yelling thanks over his shoulder...how can I compete with all those treats in the pasture? I tell the grandkids, if they want to give a treat, they can catch a bug for them, so they bring me bugs and ask is this a good one? Yup...sure is...go see if they'll eat it...and they do.

 

[ldutch123]

That's too funny! When I first got the chickens I would catch crickets to feed them because they went nuts it wAs entertaining!! Now I am hard pressed to find a darn bug where they roam. They have 3 acres fenced but sometimes I open their main gate and they all pile out to eat the smorgasboard of bigs that apparently live just outside the chickens area lol!!!

Could the chickens possibly eat all the bugs in a 3 acre area with a pond and tons of bushes and stuff???