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

[delisha]

All the newbies are busy reading

 

[Beekissed]

Good!

Would hate to think I had scared anyone off.......


Nahhhh! Just kiddin'! I don't mind scaring folks off.

 

[normanack]

Not scared! Reading!
and very thankful for all your help.

 

[aussie pete]

heres a newbie question for the OT's, i run 2 flocks separately ,LS & BA's.
whenever a hen/pullet lays an egg ,does the egg song -why do the roosters ,particularly the LS start up copying as if they were the one that laid the egg?

 

[Fred's Hens]

heres a newbie question for the OT's, i run 2 flocks separately ,LS & BA's.
whenever a hen/pullet lays an egg ,does the egg song -why do the roosters ,particularly the LS start up copying as if they were the one that laid the egg?

The so-called egg song is something I never heard of before joining BYC. The chicken makes calls, alarms, alerts and other vocalizations. We simply do not understand all their meanings nor all their contexts but the chickens do. Why the hen sometimes, repeat, sometimes sounds an alarm (I believe it an alarm sound) when she lays an egg isn't clearly understood, but the literature is certainly filled with people speculating as to its meaning.

Whenever one starts sounding off an alarm, others tend to join in. Just to be clear, 90% of our birds lay with no alarm whatsoever. The call they make when something upsets them is strikingly similar, if not the same. When one sounds off, in a concerned way, again, others will often pick up the call. Have you ever heard virtually the entire flock squawking their common alarm? Wow, is that something loud. So, I doubt I helped much, but that's a quick overview.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree with Fred. Not all hens do this and some of the hens that do don't do it each time. I've never figured out the why or wherefores on it all but in my pea brain I like to think it's something like a killdeer leading intruders away from their nest by faking a broken wing and making distress calls.

Maybe it's along those lines..."I laid an egg, I don't want predators to know where it is, so I jump down from the nest and immediately sound out a distress call while walking away to bring predators away from my nesting area." Maybe the rooster and other flock members just respond to the apparent alarm/distress call of the hen because they too are fooled. Who knows? But if that's a song, I'm Miss America!

More like a fire alarm...

 

[delisha]

lol
I call it a song now that I have been coming on here. I also think of it as a celebration or a hens bragging rights. All my hens make the announcement after laying. The cockerel sometimes joins in, but not always. He is pretty young and his mind is on breeding and food.


I have hen or cockerel question about this chick

One of my Cornish x crosses. This chick is about 12 weeks old.

 

[IAFarmGirl]

Seems weird to have no newbies asking questions on this thread. Did I scare them off or did we just work our way through the whole newbie population and our job is done?

Some of us have just learned to keep our mouths shut and let the wisdom roll over us. I really think I absorb it much better that way.

 

[Ullie]

Good!

Would hate to think I had scared anyone off.......


Nahhhh! Just kiddin'! I don't mind scaring folks off.

Ha, ha,

not all of us newbies

scare that easy

Some of us are still here, .... lurking .... reading and learning

and just having a great old time with our chickens

 

[christyg]

You can cut that bird open and explore....this is a good learning opportunity.  Know what to look for and look at...I'll post a few diagrams that may help.  In the future?  Eggbound hens are cull hens.  I've never had an eggbound issue in my flocks in all the time I've had chickens and mother had never even heard of the term.  I must confess I hadn't either until I came to BYC.  If you are culling for hardiness, production and other desirable traits, it may be that this bird would have been culled before this ever happened.  Maybe that's why I never had one. 

Did let an old leghorn live past her prime once and she had double yolkers for some months before she was finally culled for nonlay....and found a huge ovarian cyst inside her body cavity.  It was so large that it filled the palm of my hand and consisted of layers upon layers of egg material.  Should have killed her long ago but she was an old fave and was otherwise very healthy in her life. 

If you find you could "never cull" a pet hen, remember this event and determine if this bird suffered any over this issue...I'm betting she did.  Culling is not only for you and your flock goals, but it can help give your birds a better death than otherwise. 

...

You can cut that bird open and explore....this is a good learning opportunity.  Know what to look for and look at...I'll post a few diagrams that may help.  In the future?  Eggbound hens are cull hens.  I've never had an eggbound issue in my flocks in all the time I've had chickens and mother had never even heard of the term.  I must confess I hadn't either until I came to BYC.  If you are culling for hardiness, production and other desirable traits, it may be that this bird would have been culled before this ever happened.  Maybe that's why I never had one. 

Did let an old leghorn live past her prime once and she had double yolkers for some months before she was finally culled for nonlay....and found a huge ovarian cyst inside her body cavity.  It was so large that it filled the palm of my hand and consisted of layers upon layers of egg material.  Should have killed her long ago but she was an old fave and was otherwise very healthy in her life. 

If you find you could "never cull" a pet hen, remember this event and determine if this bird suffered any over this issue...I'm betting she did.  Culling is not only for you and your flock goals, but it can help give your birds a better death than otherwise. 


[/quote


Bee
Sorry if I didn't paste that right above.
My partner tossed the bird by the time I got home and since we were leaving town for a week I unfortunately missed out on a great learning opportunity. Have been busy with working and my 3 yr old Nina (my Nina named after great aunt) and all of us passing a cold around and a stinker sinus infection that reoccured 3 times I kid you not. Finally applied OT wisdom to myself with a Nettie pot. But I wanted to post and thank you. Never really planned on raising our birds for meat, but was prepared to cull or kill or end suffering or whatever you prefer to call it. Can't have animals IMO if you are not ready to offer grace.
I have been following this thread along with your journey with the gnarly bunch, will never catch up but that's ok. Move at my own pace. Have learned too much to list! One thing is for sure, I will only stop learning when dead! Some things are not applicable to my backyard flock. No rooster keeps us very flatlined regarding good bloodlines and breeding. But, the sage advice regarding animal stewardship applies to ALL humans with animals dependant on them, 2 Chickens or 200. Stewardship is not "mommying and babying" our chickens or any of our animals. I value all the knowledge gained on these 2 threads and look at my tiny flock of 5 in a new light. Much better understanding on what exactly I am looking for and ways to steer things in a positive direction. I want to start FF and being it's so warm here can do so easily year round. Had been using ACV in my nipple waterer since the beginning. We have well water (live in a 1923 house in the city and still have a well) and since its not chlorinated like city water it tends to algae quick, the acv helped so much with that, and now i know helps the chickens way more. Didn't know us being 'lazy' and raking leaves into our coop floor (outside on dirt) periodically was the beginning to DL. We were trying to alleviate the flies this summer by mixing in leaves and mulch. I have poop trays under the roosts we pull out and feed the fenceline bamboo, man that bamboo is thicker and more green than ever (the never ending amazing uses for a rubbermaid storage bin). Sure some mis-steps with worming for roundworms and using DE for dusting them for lice but at least I know better now. We have a fire pit they loved to dust in this summer and we can replenish the ashes soon. Our warm, very wet and humid climate does make the wee insect beasties more of a challenge but I see great solutions here.
Backyard chicken keeping is here to stay and the last thing I want is anymore babies, my 3 year old Nina I had at 39 is plenty. But wow, seriously a bummer on having no rooster. What a lifelong interesting journey to build even a small flock with your own bloodlines chosen for all those good genetics. How deeply satisfying that must be!
Well, I really could go on and on but Nina is humming a cry for papa and he isn't due home for an hour so I better get in there and see what's what.

Also BK, I am an LMT too and I pray over my hands and most people close to when our session is ending by resting my hands close to their heart center and saying my own words silently. I bet your chickens really love your hymns and prayers, they knew they were really home!