Cubalaya Thread For Sharing Pics and Discussing Our Birds

[Oldhound]

My adult Cubalayas clear a 6 foot high fence without a problem from 4 or 5 feet away from it. All of my pens are covered for several reasons , ariel predators for one and to keep track of breedings( who sires which chicks). Also to prevent fighting between cock birds, I have one that will not quit. I free range my young Cubalayas starting at 6 weeks. Keeping them too closely confined can result in feather picking and cannibalism, some familys are more prone to this than others . I learned the lesson the hard way. Hope this helps you, some of the others here will most likely have more valuable advise.

 

[cubalaya]

mine are also covered for the same reasons. we do free range ours when home. they fly very well.

 

[gallorojo]

Cubalayas are phenomenal flyers, mine routinely clear an 8 foot wall with no running start, and, I 've often seen them fly up into the barn rafters to roost, from a standstill. I manage them by wingclipping the ones that insist on wandering. That is a big no-no for showing, but, it works for me. My main pasture fence is 4 feet high, actually they can clear that even with both wings clipped, but, honestly seldom try. Even the ones with full wings seldom try to fly out, we have an acre of fenced pasture. If they do fly out, it's usually because of conflicts they are having with another bird(s). I do keep them penned in the breeding season, but, I do not like to maintain breeding pen type set ups year around. After I'm done hatching, ( the adult breeders) they all go back to the pasture with the geese and sheep. They will feather pick badly sometimes ,especially young ones. My original wheatens never did, but all the other lines do. They don't mix well with feather legs or crested breeds, will pick them badly. Lots of green plants and lots of space help. When they feather out well,(chicks) maybe 5-8 weeks, they get turned loose each morning, and penned back up at night. I guess that would be "day range". When they are 12-20 weeks, they get their wings clipped and put into the main pasture. Most of them stay in after the wing clipping, as they like to stick together. Usually when their wings grow back in they still stay in the pasture. Even heavy breeds can clear a 4 foot fence if they really want to, but, personally, I am not making covered runs, I manage things more like a small backyard farm rather than a show breeder. Between our geese, crows, dogs, ram, and goats, and cocks, only the stupidest birds get taken by hawks, and I don't need dumb ones anyway. It comes down to what your focus is I guess -show breeders don't clip wings generally, but small farmers with electronet rely on it.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm not showing so I have no problem clipping, though that might hinder their ability to aviod predators. Sounds like I might still need to raise the fence though. I'm hoping a high enough netting wall will work as I assume that would be a lot cheaper (and less visually intrusive) than an 8' or 10' post supported fence.

If they hop the fence, they'll just be in another pasture unless they choose the short section that goes between the barns to the house. The pastures are all an acre or more, 2 are bounded by road and the third leads to the woods. But these are horse pastures with rail fences, easy walk right under for even the heaviest chicken. How far are they likely to wander? Are they more likely to fly to a pasture that is mowed or grown high? If there is tall grass between them and the fence, are they less likely to think there is "another side" they want to visit?

I guess I can wait until I see if they do decide to pop over once they get older. My guess is they would be left to fend for themselves and hope they make it home at night rather than spending a fortune to keep in 2 birds that cost < $7 total. I started out looking for winter hardy chickens that were at least decent egg layers. I chose the Cubalays for the flock (2 each of 6 breeds) because they look very nice and having something other than the standard RIR and other common breeds was appealing. Maybe if people see the less common birds, they'll also help keep the breed going by adding some to their flocks.

Seems like the Cubalayas might pick on the Faveroelles with their feathered legs.
So now I'm worried about what they will do in the winter when they don't want to go out in the snow and are bored hanging around the coop. No TV, no internet, not game consoles. What's a bird to do all day? Their favorite game might become "peck the other birds". Always another worry!

 

[gallorojo]

Well, first, we can talk about wandering chickens. The distance they will go is variable of course, but, there is a limit. You actually can use that limit constructively if you have enough space. Let's say you have 4 acres of pasture, you could put a chicken pen in the middle, and the birds won't go all that far. You can move the pen now and then to rotate the birds without even having any fence, if your area is large enough. Generally, the more cover you have, the farther they will go. The more active the breed, the farther they will go. The "nicer" the weather, the farther they will go. I find that none of my birds will go much more than say 100 to 300 feet from where they roost at night. Adult birds of heavier breeds with little or no cover will typically not go more than 25 feet from home base, they will range more if they are lighter breeds or have cover, cover helps. I find my birds will go much farther if the grass is long enough to provide good cover.
Now, for winter. It's helpful to have lots of space, especially roost space. Give them lots of loose bedding, and throw some whole grain into the bedding morning and evening, they will scratch a long time looking for it. Give them a dust box to dust bathe. I like to give them sunflower seed heads whole, pumpkins, beets, etc, apples, all that will keep them quite busy in the winter. When we had Marans and Ameruacanas once, they were not picked bloody or anything, but the Marans never had much leg feathers, and the Ameraucanas never had much beards with the Cubalayas.

 

[cubalaya]

i didn't even think about giving them the whole head of sunflowers. i de-seeded mine into 1 gallon buckets and just gave it to them occasionally. that would keep them busy though on the days that they had to stay in. great idea and less work on me.

 

[bruceha2000]

Thanks, good information.
I was thinking they WOULDN'T want to go into tall grass for fear of what might be hiding there. Sounds like it is exactly the opposite. If I keep it tall several feet from the fence inside the barnyard, might they hit the "end of the world" while scrounding in the grass and not fly out? Of course, not knowing chickens, I don't know if they can/will fly straight up through 3' tall grass. Obviously it they want out, the Cubalayas can always fly over from the shorter grass area. At this point, dissuading them environmentally seems the only likely solution.

I'll get those sunflower seeds planted ASAP Already have the pie pumpkins going.
Can they get too much of that kind of thing or will they eat their regular feed and 'supplement' with the seeds and veg?

I wonder why Cubalayas like "clean shaven" friends, facial and leg ''hair' just not acceptable.

 

[wood&feathers]

Hens sharing a clutch is not usually good broody practice, but I had a shortage of lockable nest boxes, so it happened. The two cubalaya hens shared a clutch and are now raising 4 chicks.


I think there are two reasons for this - one hen is the clear leader, totally boss. The other reason is the need for them to present a united front in the face of the two larger Marans broodies.
I thought I had set nothing but cubalaya eggs this time but still got a few little black chicks?!

 

[wood&feathers]

Here they are trying to settle down for the night. The dominant hen is the white one. The wheaten usually winds up spreading over the top of everyone.



FYI the rest of the flock is locked out of this coop, so no one is getting pooped on from above.

 

[cubalaya]

glad that your chicks made it. that wheaton hen got a full tail huh? looking good.