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

[Gypsi]

It is a great idea, on the free chain link. I had in mind a rolling "run" - which I probably couldn't do with chain link, but free is free. I will find something, In the meantime, the run and coop are quiet, apparently the pecking order is established, and the new girls are properly respecting the old girls. Just so I get the new run and coop done before temps hit 100, and I think I have a way to go on that.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

for what its worth. ive seen a few mature roosters that were flat out mean. rough on hens and murderous on biddies. this is the exception from my experience. but it does happen. another thing you have to look out for. when a hen starts to wean her biddies, she will bet mean to them. if they are penned together with little space, she can kill them. when i was raising lots of biddies, i would keep the hen penned up in a 4X4 cage, that was built to allow biddies to free range. this allowed them to grow but allowed them to come and go. enter when they were in danger, and also exit when they were in danger from the hen. generally when they got full feathered, this was when the hen started to wean them. after the hen "kicked them out" they were capable of roosting in low branches in trees.

if you have a hen with biddies and she starts to lay again, beware of how she treats the biddies. i would force wean them after this. i didnt want to run the risk of her killing them.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Good post Rabbit. I agree completely.......Pop

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
My observations of free-ranging American games are very different. All of my games of a single strain but observations started in 1970's with some hens observed for multiple broods over multiple seasons.

I have had game hens kill very young chicks that were not their own but never observed life threatening aggression against their own offspring.

Following is progression of apparently natural broody cycle in my American games and it is fairly similar to that exhibited by red jungle fowl although with latter hens tend to be more aggressive to their own offspring post-weaning. Hens broody through at week 5 post-hatch and sometimes as long as week 7. Chick heads usually with some amount of down present at this time. At that point hen ceases to cluck (ceasation of broodiness) although she continues to associate with brood. After a few days of this and if forage quality is high and moult not initiated, the hen will on daily basis break of from brood producing "egg song", proceede to nest site, lay egg, come off nest, some distance from nest will produce odd squawk that brings cock in to cover her, then hen resumes foraging with her brood. She still roost with previous brood at this time. Generally from start of lay for second clutch no more than 20 days required for brooding of second clutch to be initiated. At time hen initiates brooding of second clutch interactions with previous brood ceases and it is then she will be aggressive towards offspring of all previous broods although this is not life threatening in a free range setting.

The overt aggression some see in games hens is in my opinion an artifact of confinement (the pens) typical of cockyard.

 

[NYREDS]

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Is this a fact ? what reference book/source ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clutch_(eggs)
I've read it other places also, it's the nature of the bird (some breeds more than others), would'nt be many chickens if they went broody for one egg.

A. Wikipedia is not a fact-checked, research based site. Anyone can post info there.

2. The Wiki article you cite doesn't support your statement at all.

 

[halo]

What is there in that wiki article that has anything to do with broody chickens?

I firmly do NOT believe that hens wont go broody unless theres a dozen eggs to sit on. I collect my girls eggs several times every single day. They never have a chance to sit on more than a couple of eggs for an hour or two. I have broody hens ALL THE TIME. Sometimes they drive me nuts. It certainly isnt dependent on if they have a bunch of eggs to sit on. I would think it is hormone based, but Im not even sure about that, as I have 2 broody hens right now, at the shortest days of the year.

 

[speckledhen]

Many hatchery types won't ever go broody. You can leave eggs in the coop to pile up and rot and they still won't set on those eggs. Broodiness has simply been bred out of many hatchery type hens, even breeds would normally be known for that trait, in favor of better egg production.

Hens inclined to brood don't even need a clutch of eggs. When the hormones (or whatever trigger it is) kick in, they'll sit on air if there are no eggs.

 

[galanie]

We are looking for OT advice here based on experience. I think we could all go to wikipedia if that's the sort of thing we wanted. But as stated, it's not a reliable source. Colleges will not accept a wikipedia article as genuine research because it is unreliable.

Please people, experience, not something like a website, especially one that isn't reliable as "proof." If all your broody hens only went broody after you let them sit on a dozen eggs then say so and leave it at that. Like has been stated, disagreement is not disapproval or hatred. Anyone can disagree with anyone else and it isn't the end of the world.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

I will right an article for wikipedia that states as a fact that the sun rotates in such a way that it now will rise in the west and set in the east. Once published, it will become a FACT!

I have read several articles on wikipedia that have inaccuarte information.

 

[fowlman01]

Quote:
My observations of free-ranging American games are very different. All of my games of a single strain but observations started in 1970's with some hens observed for multiple broods over multiple seasons.

I have had game hens kill very young chicks that were not their own but never observed life threatening aggression against their own offspring.

Following is progression of apparently natural broody cycle in my American games and it is fairly similar to that exhibited by red jungle fowl although with latter hens tend to be more aggressive to their own offspring post-weaning. Hens broody through at week 5 post-hatch and sometimes as long as week 7. Chick heads usually with some amount of down present at this time. At that point hen ceases to cluck (ceasation of broodiness) although she continues to associate with brood. After a few days of this and if forage quality is high and moult not initiated, the hen will on daily basis break of from brood producing "egg song", proceede to nest site, lay egg, come off nest, some distance from nest will produce odd squawk that brings cock in to cover her, then hen resumes foraging with her brood. She still roost with previous brood at this time. Generally from start of lay for second clutch no more than 20 days required for brooding of second clutch to be initiated. At time hen initiates brooding of second clutch interactions with previous brood ceases and it is then she will be aggressive towards offspring of all previous broods although this is not life threatening in a free range setting.

The overt aggression some see in games hens is in my opinion an artifact of confinement (the pens) typical of cockyard.

My birds are penned in 4X8X8' pens. 2 birds( a male and female). They free range in large pens during the day. I don't use ties or leashes. If I take out one of those Asil or Shamo hens and put it in a community pen they will kill everything in that pen. That is my experience here with the birds I have. I have seen pens with 5-6 male Shamo's posted hereon BYC and they obviously didn't fight, but they also came from a hatchery, so although they look like game birds they are not at all game.

It is kind of an apple and orange situation As an example Modern Games are really not game at all. All chickens will fight, so just be sure that the living arrangements are OK before you go away for a weekend and find only one bird alive. This pen fighting is not a problem with most chickens, but real games will kill each other.

The aggression that is seen in game birds is bred into them and has been for centuries...it's what they were bred to do. It has nothing to do with their living arrangements.
Games are every bit as purpose oriented as a commercial egg layer.....just in a different way. When cock fighting was legal, the real games were called dead game for a reason.

Walt