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

[Tracydr]

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this is the type of blanket statement that is misleading.. I have four game roosters mixed in my flock of Delawares, hens and rooster, Barred rocks, hens and rooster, and a Bluelaced red wayandotte rooster and a dozen mixed breed hens , all together. abou 45 chickens.. there is no fighting..

Years ago, I had a light Brahma rooster kill a large Wyandotte rooster.. does that mean that you should never put two of that kind of rooster together ? NO ! it all boils down to the individual rooster..

So true. And, also makes the OEGB seem like an ogre when they are certainly not in the same class with other game roosters, simply because they have "game" in their name. Sure, some of them are still gamey but many are simply little banty pets.

 

[sben451]

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Very good advice. I especially love #4--it can be very relaxing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

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I don't intend to bash anybody. We all have different goals. Somebody trying to win a grand championship will keep one specific rooster to one or two specific hens and may really work to get the right number of points on a comb. They sink a lot of time, study, and money into that. That's their business. I'm more worried about getting a chicken to the crock pot than how many points it has on its comb. And I don't worry about which rooster is breeding which hen.

It sound like you are raising chickens that forage well. Foraging well includes not getting eaten by predators for the most part. I have no idea how well they lay or anything else about them. I always figure that a hen that lays the most eggs is more likely to produce more offspring since there are more of her eggs to hatch. So hens that don't lay well are less likely to produce offspring that also don't lay well. Besides, for you, how much does it matter? If most of their their feed is from foraging instead of you buying the feed, your cost per egg or pound of meat is probably a lot lower than someone who buys all or most of their feed. Who cares if the rate of lay per hen is not real high?

 

[Mary_Ann]

Old Timers, Newbies, Everyone! I thank all of you for valuable knowledge you have shared with all of us. I'm just over a 2 yr. newbie and am hungry for everyone's ideas and tips. Old Timers, you have more knowledge in you little pinky finger then most of us have all pooled together - please share.

Happy New Year EVERYONE!
Mary Ann

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
this is the type of blanket statement that is misleading.. I have four game roosters mixed in my flock of Delawares, hens and rooster, Barred rocks, hens and rooster, and a Bluelaced red wayandotte rooster and a dozen mixed breed hens , all together. abou 45 chickens.. there is no fighting..

Years ago, I had a light Brahma rooster kill a large Wyandotte rooster.. does that mean that you should never put two of that kind of rooster together ? NO ! it all boils down to the individual rooster..

It is an individual rooster thing, but all roosters and hens can and will fight under certain conditions. Most chickens just need to find their place in the pecking order. Games and orientals are a bit different. Your game roosters may not bother any of the other birds, but my Shamo's or Asils will kill them all. My females will kill roosters and each other if I don't take precautions. I haven't trained them to do that, they just have that in them. The babies will kill each other at 3-4 weeks if I am not careful.

Each situation is different and each strain of chickens is different in how they will react in groups. Some of my other breeds I can run males together without problems and some I can't.

Walt

You guys are all right. The key here is turning a strange rooster in with other roosters of an established flock. Any strange rooster will have to defend themselves. Gamefowl, and especially Shamo and Asil will finish off all other males unles they are very fast. Most barnyard types will only fight for dominance.......Pop

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
It is an individual rooster thing, but all roosters and hens can and will fight under certain conditions. Most chickens just need to find their place in the pecking order. Games and orientals are a bit different. Your game roosters may not bother any of the other birds, but my Shamo's or Asils will kill them all. My females will kill roosters and each other if I don't take precautions. I haven't trained them to do that, they just have that in them. The babies will kill each other at 3-4 weeks if I am not careful.

Each situation is different and each strain of chickens is different in how they will react in groups. Some of my other breeds I can run males together without problems and some I can't.

Walt

You guys are all right. The key here is turning a strange rooster in with other roosters of an established flock. Any strange rooster will have to defend themselves. Gamefowl, and especially Shamo and Asil will finish off all other males unles they are very fast. Most barnyard types will only fight for dominance.......Pop

Oh yeah, oriental hens will usually fight, even their broodmates, just as Walt said.

 

[loanwizard]

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I don't intend to bash anybody. We all have different goals. Somebody trying to win a grand championship will keep one specific rooster to one or two specific hens and may really work to get the right number of points on a comb. They sink a lot of time, study, and money into that. That's their business. I'm more worried about getting a chicken to the crock pot than how many points it has on its comb. And I don't worry about which rooster is breeding which hen.

It sound like you are raising chickens that forage well. Foraging well includes not getting eaten by predators for the most part. I have no idea how well they lay or anything else about them. I always figure that a hen that lays the most eggs is more likely to produce more offspring since there are more of her eggs to hatch. So hens that don't lay well are less likely to produce offspring that also don't lay well. Besides, for you, how much does it matter? If most of their their feed is from foraging instead of you buying the feed, your cost per egg or pound of meat is probably a lot lower than someone who buys all or most of their feed. Who cares if the rate of lay per hen is not real high?

My apologies RidgeRunner, I must have said that wrong. My point was, I hear all the time this hen lays this many, this one lays this many. I just wondered how people know besides putting each hen on lockdown individually.

 

[AAJ]

Raising chickens is a learning experience. I have learned not to put their feed pans on the ground because they will scratch it out and will not eat it all off of the ground.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

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That is poetic.

How do you like the Fayoumi. I want some for our hot summers, our winters would be a problem.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
I don't intend to bash anybody. We all have different goals. Somebody trying to win a grand championship will keep one specific rooster to one or two specific hens and may really work to get the right number of points on a comb. They sink a lot of time, study, and money into that. That's their business. I'm more worried about getting a chicken to the crock pot than how many points it has on its comb. And I don't worry about which rooster is breeding which hen.

It sound like you are raising chickens that forage well. Foraging well includes not getting eaten by predators for the most part. I have no idea how well they lay or anything else about them. I always figure that a hen that lays the most eggs is more likely to produce more offspring since there are more of her eggs to hatch. So hens that don't lay well are less likely to produce offspring that also don't lay well. Besides, for you, how much does it matter? If most of their their feed is from foraging instead of you buying the feed, your cost per egg or pound of meat is probably a lot lower than someone who buys all or most of their feed. Who cares if the rate of lay per hen is not real high?

My apologies RidgeRunner, I must have said that wrong. My point was, I hear all the time this hen lays this many, this one lays this many. I just wondered how people know besides putting each hen on lockdown individually.

No apology necessary. I misunderstood. There are two ways I know of. Have so few hens and have those that lay different colored or sized eggs so you can tell them apart. I once ahd one and only one green egg layer. I knew she was laying around daybreak practically every day. I don't think that will work in your case.

The other was already mentioned. Trap nest. Basically a live trap so when she goes in to lay so she can't get away until you release her. Again, in your circumstances, probably not practical. Other than that, I don't know.