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

[Beekissed]

Well, I don't claim to know it all by any stretch of the imagination....but here goes. I've never, ever, in all my time with chickens had a hen squat in my presence unless I was getting ready to pick her up and that is purely instinctual...they will do the same when a hawk is attacking from above or another hen has them cornered and is pecking at them.

I've also never attempted to pet any hen on the back for any length of time except in passing or when they are on the roosts, therefore I have never witnessed any squirting out the backside when this is done....never occurred when I happened to briefly pet a hen. It's not that I don't like petting chickens...I do...but I doubt very seriously they want me to as they squat to avoid being touched. It's clear to me at that point that they don't want to be touched.

To make a long story short, I don't know why your hen is doing that and I don't normally await anxiously or mark the time until hens are laying, so I don't look for "signs" that they will soon be laying. I just wait until there are eggs in the nest and then I know they are laying!

I know that must sound like I don't know a thing about chickens... but I just never found those sorts of things to have any importance in my methods. My flock keeping is so easy-breezy after all these years that I don't mark time by days or months...just seasons.

I don't sort out the sexes or notice them much except in passing when noting the hatch ratio or when it's time to cull. I don't look for signs that young pullets are at point of lay because I know exactly how many eggs I'm getting each day from how many hens...if I get extra eggs that means I have new layers starting.

Sorry...it turns out that I don't know everything...

 

[FirewifeJess]

Well, I don't claim to know it all by any stretch of the imagination....but here goes. I've never, ever, in all my time with chickens had a hen squat in my presence unless I was getting ready to pick her up and that is purely instinctual...they will do the same when a hawk is attacking from above or another hen has them cornered and is pecking at them.

I've also never attempted to pet any hen on the back for any length of time except in passing or when they are on the roosts, therefore I have never witnessed any squirting out the backside when this is done....never occurred when I happened to briefly pet a hen. It's not that I don't like petting chickens...I do...but I doubt very seriously they want me to as they squat to avoid being touched. It's clear to me at that point that they don't want to be touched.

To make a long story short, I don't know why your hen is doing that and I don't normally await anxiously or mark the time until hens are laying, so I don't look for "signs" that they will soon be laying. I just wait until there are eggs in the nest and then I know they are laying!

I know that must sound like I don't know a thing about chickens... but I just never found those sorts of things to have any importance in my methods. My flock keeping is so easy-breezy after all these years that I don't mark time by days or months...just seasons.

I don't sort out the sexes or notice them much except in passing when noting the hatch ratio or when it's time to cull. I don't look for signs that young pullets are at point of lay because I know exactly how many eggs I'm getting each day from how many hens...if I get extra eggs that means I have new layers starting.

Sorry...it turns out that I don't know everything...

Thanks for that. I guess what I was talking about is the squat they do when they're becoming ready to mate and lay eggs; from all I've read, pullets do this within a week or two of their first eggs. It's not a squat that says "I'm afraid" or "don't touch me," it's an "OK I'm submitting to mating" squat. I guess since this is my first year with chickens and I only have a dozen, and I'm outside several hours a day keeping tabs on them and interacting with them, we're just doing things differently. I appreciate your insight though!

 

[Beekissed]

How do you tell if it's a "don't touch me" squat as opposed to a "mate me" squat? I've always wondered about that. Been keeping chickens off and on for nigh on 36 years now and never really saw a hen squat as I walked by in an effort to let me mate her. The first I'd ever heard of such a phenomenon was on this forum and I couldn't help but wonder if folks' imaginations were running away with them.

Now, I've seen hens squat when a roo walks by...those are usually the gals that get too much roo action due to being too easy to please. But squat for me? Nope...never happened unless I was reaching down to catch them or touch their backs in passing...and each and every one squats when I do this, whether they are laying or not, about to lay or not.

I have observed and interacted with my flocks about as much as anyone as far as I can figure and I've still yet to see this "mate me" squat that supposedly happens for us humans. The only time I've witnessed a "mate me" squat was when there was a possibility of actually being mated by a rooster.

 

[fowlman01]

How do you tell if it's a "don't touch me" squat as opposed to a "mate me" squat? I've always wondered about that. Been keeping chickens off and on for nigh on 36 years now and never really saw a hen squat as I walked by in an effort to let me mate her. The first I'd ever heard of such a phenomenon was on this forum and I couldn't help but wonder if folks' imaginations were running away with them.

Now, I've seen hens squat when a roo walks by...those are usually the gals that get too much roo action due to being too easy to please. But squat for me? Nope...never happened unless I was reaching down to catch them or touch their backs in passing...and each and every one squats when I do this, whether they are laying or not, about to lay or not.

I have observed and interacted with my flocks about as much as anyone as far as I can figure and I've still yet to see this "mate me" squat that supposedly happens for us humans. The only time I've witnessed a "mate me" squat was when there was a possibility of actually being mated by a rooster.

Sounds to me like you have some hussy's in your flock. I don't worry about when they are going to lay or if they are a male or female until it is obvious. . Nothing before it's time...........

Walt

 

[Beekissed]

I DID have some hussies...they were culled their first year. Buff Orps...blondes you know. Turns out they DON'T have more fun if they live at my place.

 

[fowlman01]

I DID have some hussies...they were culled their first year. Buff Orps...blondes you know. Turns out they DON'T have more fun if they live at my place.

I think blondes invented that "blondes have more fun".or maybe the one smart one did.

w.

 

[featherz]

I have a whole coop of chickens that will squat for me if I walk within a foot of them. Had another last year - the first bunch that did this had no rooster, the second bunch has an immature rooster that hasn't quite figured out what to do with ladies yet. Once the rooster gets the idea, my bet is they won't squat for me anymore. In my three rooster coop (30+ chickens), not a single bird squats, even when I need to catch them. I guess they are 'getting enough'.

 

[al6517]

I think I have to agree with Walt & Bee here regarding the whole squating thing, Squating as a signal for a new hen to begin laying is another BYC Myth. My hens never squat when I am around, just for the Rooster. I agree that squatting is a fear reflex and instinctual, cuddlers mistake squatting for all sorts of goofy things and it's wrong. I am also in the camp where I don't worry or fret about them getting ready to laying until they actually lay an egg, I also do the same thing with gender identification when they show me what they are we are good to go and not a second before.

 

[featherz]

Ya gotta remember, a lot of newbies (like I was myself almost 5 years ago) have flocks with no rooster so the girls do act differently. My roosterless coop was easy to catch for two years because they would squat for me if I even looked at them. I don't think I've ever seen a girl squat when not at least mostly mature enough to lay an egg, so that's probably where the 'ready to lay an egg' thing came from. /shrug..

 

[thedragonlady]

If you risk the rest of the birds is probably good enough? These labs can't diagnose diseases properly when they have the bird there so, I'm not going to take a chance online. I am a California Poultry Health Inspector and I would not keep it with my flock from what I have seen and I would also seize the bird for diagnose if I ran into it anywhere......they kill the bird when they do that... No one can make that call kind of call online. We hobbiest need to make sure nothing ever starts in a backyard flock. So far it has only been the commercial guys who have started the big problems.

Walt

Walt,
I said in an earlier post that I would seperate that bird from the rest of her flock. The point is that SOMETHING has to be done about the poor bird..treat it,or kill it.
Vickie