Consolidated Kansas

[Deerfield Acres]

medawinks, congrats! I can't wait to get my first egg ever! I'm getting close -- my oldest birds are 15 weeks. Love the look on your DS's face!

Okay experienced flock people here. What constitutes a mean roo? My best SS roo, 15 weeks old, is grabbing the girls by the neck and making them squawk. It used to be fun to sit with the chickens but now I'm a nervous wreck. He's not drawing any blood, but good grief they aren't even laying yet. Is this just a phase? I have seen him do a little dance for the girls so at least he knows or is learning how to dance and be polite. He just seems so rough. He's the biggest bird of all the SS and he really just jumps on them and yanks their heads back by the neck feathers. Is this normal? Sheesh. The other big SS roo doesn't behave so poorly but another smaller one does. The same roughster is strutting around and giving me a little sass. I was holding him today and he made a terrible growl at me. He doesn't jump with both feet at anything or anybody. Otherwise, he's a really great roo, watches out for the others and keeps the peace, unless he's the one causing a disturbance!

 

[Ivywoods]

The behavior you describe is fairly normal. I wouldn't worry about it unless you see him going for blood.....then OFF with his head!

Generally, when I think of a "mean" roo, I think of one that is aggressive toward people. They will attack you or one of the kids. If one does that......OFF with his head!

Once in a while I've had it happen that a perfectly gentle rooster will fly up at me when I have suddenly done something that he perceived as an attack on one of his girls. I forgive them for that. If it attacks you without provocation..........OFF with his head!

One of my best roosters turned mean recently. Just this past weekend he was rehomed to freezer camp. OFF WITH HIS HEAD!

 

[Ivywoods]

My very elderly aunt sent this to me, and I think it is very timely. Fresh berries are really coming into season and I just hate it when I get them and the next thing I know they are molding and no good to eat. Here is a secret to keep them fresh longer. Admittedly, I haven't tried it yet, but it sure makes sense to me.




Wash them with vinegar.
When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider probably work best) and ten parts water. Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (though the mixture is so diluted you can't taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge. The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit, and voila! Raspberries will last a week or more, and strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft. So go forth and stock up on those pricey little gems, knowing they'll stay fresh as long as it takes you to eat them.

You're so berry velcome!​

 

[chicken danz]

Karen, It is perfectly normal for the roos to grab the girls by the neck. That is why Ihave so many darned hens with bare heads and backs. The boys aren't very darned gentle. I would watch him if he shows you attitude. I have never had a rooster that is mean but I know all kinds of people that do. They get so serious about being the dominant rooster that sometimes they feel they need to dominate you! they see you as a threat to their harem. If he starts trying to attack you, it's time to cull him, or give him a good flogging.
Medawinks, I was just out with DH feeding the young birds some mealworms. We were cracking up. The little lavender D'uccles was bound and determined he was going to breed a large brahma pullet. He nearly ran he legs off. At one point he got hold of some feathers, She was running and he was riding along bouncing off her side, bound and determined he was going to breed her. I candled my eggs today and not a single porcelain was any good. Most weren't fertile and the two that were had died at some point. I have a few of the mille fleurs that look okay. I guess we'll see in a couple days if they hatch or not.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

The behavior you describe is fairly normal. I wouldn't worry about it unless you see him going for blood.....then OFF with his head!

Generally, when I think of a "mean" roo, I think of one that is aggressive toward people. They will attack you or one of the kids. If one does that......OFF with his head!

Once in a while I've had it happen that a perfectly gentle rooster will fly up at me when I have suddenly done something that he perceived as an attack on one of his girls. I forgive them for that. If it attacks you without provocation..........OFF with his head!

One of my best roosters turned mean recently. Just this past weekend he was rehomed to freezer camp. OFF WITH HIS HEAD!

Karen, It is perfectly normal for the roos to grab the girls by the neck. That is why Ihave so many darned hens with bare heads and backs. The boys aren't very darned gentle. I would watch him if he shows you attitude. I have never had a rooster that is mean but I know all kinds of people that do. They get so serious about being the dominant rooster that sometimes they feel they need to dominate you! they see you as a threat to their harem. If he starts trying to attack you, it's time to cull him, or give him a good flogging.

Thanks for the info guys!

Ivy, OMGosh, I started LOL and so my kids made me read your reply to them. I'll be hearing a lot of OFF WITH HIS HEAD this summer!

 

[medawinks]

Danz, I can just that litte bugger now! Too funny! I have a Mille Fleur he knows if you want her. I hear that breeding a lavender and a Mille fleur might give you porcelains, but I could have easily heard wrong..... At least you would get D'uccles of some kind a bit sooner . I really want a lavender pullet, but I have 2 Mille Fleurs sweet little birds and wow can they fly!!! . My oldest, bought with that little roo, flies up on my shoulder with ease.!

 

[Trish44]

KarenS, it sounds like you have a teenage rooster, they get rowdy at that age. My young BC Marans is in that stage now & I see him chasing all the hens around the yard. I really need to get my breeder coop done so I can shut up some of mine, my poor hens have some really bare backs, it's pitiful.

We just got home tonight about 7:45 & I went immediately & started checking animals & birds, I didn't even help my DH unload the car & he knew better than to say anything about it. Some of my rabbits had no water, especially the baby Chinchillas & my baby turkeys had somehow knocked their water over & it was all gone too. The last few chicks I have in the brooder had filled their waterer with shavings so they had none either. I wasn't very happy about any of it & I swear I'm not leaving for 3 days again. I can do overnight OK without too many problems, but 2 nights is just too long. I was really worried about everything & this also is the first time we have left the GP pups here & gone out of town with them being out of the run. I didn't know if they would stay here or go looking for us since I didn't know what to expect from them, but when we drove up in the driveway & got out they came running. They were really hungry though because I'm sure they ate all their food either the first day or the 2nd & then didn't have any. There wasn't a morsel in that auto feeder. I was also really worried about my expensive Swedish Flower eggs in the hatcher because I knew I would come back & the humidity wouldn't be high enough & it wasn't. I went ahead & candled tonight since they're due to hatch tomorrow & still saw movement in 8 of 9, so that was better than I expected after such low humidity. I had forgotten that I had to put them in before I left when I planned for the hatch date & it wasn't good timing, but then you can't hold eggs forever either before putting them in the incubator, especially when they're shipped & you don't know for sure how long it's been since they were laid. At any rate I did hear some peeping & I'm crossing my fingers that they will hatch tonight or tomorrow. I have two Ameraucana eggs in with them too that are due to hatch tomorrow. Anyway, I was so relieved to not come home & find any dead rabbits or chicks or turkeys. The little RP turkeys I got shipped are growing so much already, wow, they're going to have to have another pen as soon as I can build something for them. I have been feeding them game bird starter from Orschelyn's, which is a little lower in protein than the stuff they have at TSC, but slightly higher than chick starter, I think it's 22% if I remember right. Some people feed them even higher protein, but I have read both ways that you should & you shouldn't, so I guess you can do whichever you want & see how it goes. I got what the breeder I got them from told me to get, so I feel like it's probably alright. I did find one of my young chicks outside the pen in the run when I got home & caught it & got it back in. I finally figured out that it had dug under the the corner of the pen in the sand & squeezed through, so I put some rocks there so they can't dig there any more. I was surprised that only one managed to do that, it was one of my Ancona chicks. It seemed pretty happy to get back in & get a drink of water & some food. I don't think it could reach the big chicken's water. I guess none of the big guys or gals picked on it since I couldn't see any injuries or anything, which is kind of a miracle since they haven't been out there that long. I want them to grow bigger before I let them out with the rest of the flock.

My DH's mother has Alzheimer's & is 90 years old & she is getting more & more childlike all the time. I think she has done really well for as long as she has been living with it so far, but then they started her on medication right away after being diagnosed. She still remembers most people that she sees all the time, but they have to remind her of who some of the family are that she doesn't see often. She will ask you something & two minutes later ask you the same question again or make the same statement. This afternoon at lunch she was reciting nursery rhymes over & over & then she got on the subject of an old neighbor they had all been discussing & asked about him about 5 times until they finally got her onto another subject. It's like she gets something stuck in her head & can't get off of it, like a broken record. She is starting to get confused about time of day & time of year. She had a sweater on today when my DH & I went to the nursing home to pick her up to go with us for lunch & it was 91 outside. We stopped by his brother's house where we knew there were cooler clothes & picked up a short sleeved blouse for her to change into when we got to his sister's house. She didn't want to change at first, but shortly got overheated & they had to make her change. I know it's a challenge for my DH's brother & sister-in-law that are there with her all the time to deal with all of it. We only get there every 2-3 months. I know it's hard for them all to see her like that & some are more in denial than others. All in all though at least she is not combative like some of them, she is mostly pretty happy all the time in her little world, so that's a plus I guess if you have to have that disease to at least be in a happy state.

IVY, thanks for that recipe for keeping berries longer, that is wonderful, I have to write that somewhere & keep it handy. We always have a problem with strawberries trying to keep them fresh enough until we can eat them all.

 

[Ivywoods]

I sold my blue slate turkeys this past weekend so other than a few poults all I have left is my royal palms. 3 hens and 2 toms. I opened the gate to their pen yesterday to let them free range. None of them would leave the pen! This morning, however, one hen came out of the pen. I was out walking the dogs and she started clucking at me and followed me for a ways. She didn't get too far from the pen, and the others were audibly upset by her being out. I just loved having her calmly following me. I think I'm going to like this. I can't wait until they are all milling around the yard. I'll probably like it until they start hanging around on the steps into the house or something like that!

 

[chicken danz]

That is exactly what I am hoping for with my little midgets. I am told the breed tends to like to stay underfoot a lot. Of course they all have to live and thrive first. The remaining turkeys seem to be doing okay and eating and drinking. (Knock on wood.) I had 5 of the 6 wild eggs hatch. The last one still had a live poult in it last night but it hasn't pipped yet. I was hoping it would so I can call my friends and tell them to come get their babies. I don't need any extra mouths to feed.
I have another big bunch of barnyard eggs hatching today. Just about the time I get my brooder crowd semi under control there's another hatch. I am thinking this is about the last bunch I put in the incubator though. I don't like hatching much in the hot months because I've learned you produce mostly males in the heat. I don't make enough off of them to make it worthwhile to feed them out. I still hatch though if I miss a nest. I just prefer not to.
I put some more duck eggs in the hatcher today as well.
I am kind of needing a break from all the hatching I think. I said that a year ago and it didn't ever really slow down all that much.

 

[Ivywoods]

I am slowing down on my incubating for the summer, too. It is so hard to NOT stick more fertile eggs in there, though. I've got some now that I could incubate, but I'm going to restrain myself and scramble them up. I'll feed them back to the chickens and turkeys if I have to, but I'm only going to incubate the ones that I really need more of. I need to hatch some of my bantam black cochins, and she hadn't been laying. I could use a few more of the black rosecombs to grow out, and maybe some old english, but I really probably have enough of those, too.

Anyone need any fertile eggs????????????