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

[Achickenwrangler#1]

OK, I don't know whether to laugh or throw up. Besides, mean old roos have a great purpose in life....when mil comes to visit.....
How about mean and nasty broody hens...OK, I 've had enough of wearing snake gators in this heat just to walk into the broody pen. (Not really but) I guess just batting them off to the side isn't working anymore for me, but i don't want to hug (behead) a productive broody. I guess I've already decided that next attack gets you captured instead,although it prob won't change the aggression hormone it might make them decide to to head in the opposite direction. Any thoughts on that one? I'd love to let them loose but something has been culling my older and not alert enough chickens and i don't want to add tasty little chicks to next in line....nor do I want anymore orphans right now, especially since now the carnage seems to have stopped.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
I've had both....the difference seemed to be age and flock status. As my roos aged they developed their style from frantic, second on the totem pole roo, must grab a hen and mate her before the big dog sees me~ to master of the flock, supreme being of all I survey and Mr. "I don't have to chase them anymore because I've learned it takes too much energy".

Usually, the more calm, matter of fact roo was the one that could take his time in mating because he owned the yard. The only roo I've ever had that was like said Romeo was the younger, looking over my shoulder for the big guy type roo that had to do the deed in a hurry before he got his butt kicked off the hen. If Romeo didn't eventually usurp the Southern Gentleman roo at the top, I wouldn't have kept him. I don't keep roos that don't aspire to be top roo~no cajones, no strength.

Now, the older roos that have been defeated by a younger challenger still get a place as long as they are still fertile and active...but they usually don't last long because they simply are not needed. With a top roo, I found that my roo to hen ratio was around 1:25-30 and I could still expect fertility in all the eggs.

A Southern Gentleman is simply a former Romeo that has faced down all the competition and can take his time with lovin'. If he stays a Romeo, I wouldn't keep him either.

 

[therapydoglady]

Do you actually know anyone that's ever happened to?

Wasn't that the "stock answer" your mother gave you for EVERYTHING????? "No, you can't have a B.B.gun, you'll shoot your eye out!" "No, you can't have a ________! You'll poke your eye out!" "No you can't...you'll go blind?"

Well, It's still our stock answer around here, even if it has nothing to do with your eyes. Sorry. Guess it's just our tongue-in-cheek joke, but YOU can be privy, too, if you want...

 

[therapydoglady]

Actually, I DO have a scar under my left eye about a half in long that is from a tom turkey when I was about 10 years old...he got dead too!

 

[al6517]

Actually, I DO have a scar under my left eye about a half in long that is from a tom turkey when I was about 10 years old...he got dead too!

Yikes !!!! so close to the eye stories gives me flashbacks, as I am a one eyed guy ( war injury ) so I get a little unerved when I read a post about a chicken that sit's on your shoulder. Not a wise thing to do............... cute behavior in this case = a 911 call. I am glad to see you came away with that encounter with just a small blemish.

 

[Beekissed]

Though rare, especially due to the lesser degree of children involved with agriculture in this nation, they do exist. Not gouging the eye OUT per se, but definitely eye related injuries have been reported and treated.


http://journals.lww.com/pec-online/Citation/1992/08000/Rooster_attacks_in_childhood.11.aspx



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17189155


Quote:


As a mother, I must confess I've never used the whole "you'll poke out your eye" defense on my children. More like "stop that or I will MAKE you stop it~ your choice." I'm a firm believer that most children just do not learn about many dangers unless they actually hurt themselves while experimenting with it, so sometimes I gave them enough rope to hang themselves with...of course, not to the degree that they received any serious injury.

 

[therapydoglady]

Me, too, Bee. I'd tell 'em once...second time, I'd take them by the arm and look them in the eye, and tell them again...third time, I lowered the boom. Today, I'm sure CPS would take my children away! I believe God gave them a place to spank, and He padded it well! I never used anything but my hand, and never whacked them anywhere but their butts, but by the time the started school, when an adult told them something, they listened and answered "Yes ma'am," or "No, sir," and there was very seldom any need for the "third time." It got to where the "put your eye out thing was a joke and relieved a LOT of tension when they were in trouble. "NO! You can't jump out of that swing when you're going that high!...you'll put your eye out!" They would KNOW "we can't do that" but they would also know that Mom was concerned for their safety, not necessarily mad.

When "A Christmas Story" came out and the stock answer for his much coveted B.B. gun was "No! You'll shoot your eye out!" My kids went berserk! And even though they are grown men now with kids of their own, they watch that stupid movie every year now. UGH!

Back to the rooster thing. Life's just too short, for me anyway, to put up with such a vile animal. I don't there's anything else in this world that can tick me off so fast!

 

[Beekissed]

OK, I don't know whether to laugh or throw up. Besides, mean old roos have a great purpose in life....when mil comes to visit..... How about mean and nasty broody hens...OK, I 've had enough of wearing snake gators in this heat just to walk into the broody pen. (Not really but) I guess just batting them off to the side isn't working anymore for me, but i don't want to hug (behead) a productive broody. I guess I've already decided that next attack gets you captured instead,although it prob won't change the aggression hormone it might make them decide to to head in the opposite direction. Any thoughts on that one? I'd love to let them loose but something has been culling my older and not alert enough chickens and i don't want to add tasty little chicks to next in line....nor do I want anymore orphans right now, especially since now the carnage seems to have stopped.

Confused...is this broody actively sitting on a clutch? If not, why are you letting her continue being broody~with all the hormones that come along with it? If she is sitting, just leave her be and she will leave you be too.

A broody hen that isn't sitting is just a nuisance that needs an attitude adjustment. Change her mind. A simple, run of the mill broody can be changed by grasping her by the feet, holding upside down and dunking her in the water bucket a couple of times, followed by a toss out the coop door. A determined broody can be changed by isolation from the flock for a day or two, no nest, no roost, no mates. Just food and water.

No, the dunking doesn't choke her or hurt her in any way...just makes her mad as an ol' wet hen and takes her mind off the maternal mode. The toss out the coop adds to that whole feeling of being violated and the following confusion. This has worked for me on every broody except one over all the years I've had broodies....and that exception finally got culled for various other reasons besides her excessive broodiness.

 

[Beekissed]

Me, too, Bee. I'd tell 'em once...second time, I'd take them by the arm and look them in the eye, and tell them again...third time, I lowered the boom. Today, I'm sure CPS would take my children away! I believe God gave them a place to spank, and He padded it well! I never used anything but my hand, and never whacked them anywhere but their butts, but by the time the started school, when an adult told them something, they listened and answered "Yes ma'am," or "No, sir," and there was very seldom any need for the "third time." It got to where the "put your eye out thing was a joke and relieved a LOT of tension when they were in trouble. "NO! You can't jump out of that swing when you're going that high!...you'll put your eye out!" They would KNOW "we can't do that" but they would also know that Mom was concerned for their safety, not necessarily mad.

When "A Christmas Story" came out and the stock answer for his much coveted B.B. gun was "No! You'll shoot your eye out!" My kids went berserk! And even though they are grown men now with kids of their own, they watch that stupid movie every year now. UGH!

Back to the rooster thing. Life's just too short, for me anyway, to put up with such a vile animal. I don't there's anything else in this world that can tick me off so fast!

I used more than my hand. I'm glad someone else taught No, ma'am and yes, sir...it's a dying thing, that common courtesy and politeness. My boys were taught that from when they started speaking.

We had jokes like that as well....life is ever more so much fun when humor is injected into it! As for the BB gun? One of my boys almost put the dog's eye out with one...came in sobbing and crying, remorseful and ashamed. Do you think that stopped them from shooting everything else under the sun, including their own brothers? Nope.

Kids! Gotta love 'em...and that means loving them enough to discipline them. Just like roosters....a rooster isn't good for much if he is a nuisance to you and to others. Fortunately you can stew and eat a roo and you cannot get by with that when it comes to children.

 

[deedee1]

OK. . .I am new to the chickens, raised on a farm. I am not sure about the litter in the coop. . . I have read to clean the coop every week wipe down the roosts with bleach then start all over for the next week .. . I have also read to only clean the coop a couple times a week. Now I have read amonia build up can cause issues I am just so very confused with all this info. . . . I am on page 29 of this thread and loving every minute of it!!! I remember as a child my grandma and her hen house I just loved it. She had an old dirt floor in hers.
I also want to know what is the best to use on the floor of your coop? I have ground corn cobbs in mine and pine shavings in the next box not sure if I can use the same in both?