Euskal Oiloa ( Basque Thread)

[ronott1]

Thanks! I hope everyone is right that I have a some more time. I became concerned because one of the olive egger roos grabbed a Basque hen by the neck and she screamed and ran helter-skelter all over the place, afraid of everyone. There are 2 olive-eggers I've seen doing this.
I have not seen any fighting, just normal chest-bumping type challenges.

I'll have to try carrying them around. Just today, I did try picking up 2 of them just for a second.. One squawked, but was indifferent when I set him down. The other bit me a few times. The smaller one that is brownish does not let me get close enough to even touch him.

What is it with the biting, anyway? One of the hens immediately starts biting my shoes when I walk in, and will bite my legs the whole time I'm in there, or hand, if I reach towards her. All the Basque are doing this, but this one hen is the most aggressive. That is why I call them "curious" or "bold", not "friendly". They are an interesting breed, anyway.

The mean ones will puff out their hackle feathers and bit hard enough to draw blood. I have two Partridge Rocks doing this now. They have tickets to freezer camp for Saturday

I have limited experience with Roosters, so keep this in mind. If the Roos are raised together they probably will not kill each other. If you separate them for a couple of days and put them back together then they may try kill each other.

Only one Basque Roo(had 5) has bitten me, and not hard. None of the pullets bite(had 6). pecking at the shoes sounds like looking for food.

Some of my other hens will peck at my freckles.

Ron

 

[Maggiesdad]

LOL - yup! You'll need long sleeves and pants and welding gloves when they move thru POL. I had one girl that would bite me and not let go - twisting and growling the whole time. I'd pick her up and put her in time out under my arm, and she'd squinch her eyes half closed and growl at me.

Mr Black, my roo, would com running over and grab her by the neck and cover her as soon as I put her down. Over the next week and a half, when she came for me - he came running after her! Too funny.

Things have settled down now and they are all just a loveable as can be. These hatched Nov 14th, 11.

 

[buckabucka]

Well I'm glad to hear things will settle down!

I went out this afternoon and picked up each of the 3 roosters that I like. I only held them for about 30 seconds this first time. 2 were fairly calm, the small brownish one that I had to sneak up on made a big fuss.

Funny, I've never picked up a rooster before. My rooster was raised by a broody and he clears a path when I approach. The rooster we had before that would attack people, but never me (I bring the food), but I always kept my distance.

None of the hens or roosters bite hard, but they are still small. I do have 7 broodies right now, and one requires the welding gloves every time I move her. Luckily, I'm a welder!

 

[SherrieT]

My Easter Hatch: So they are 11 weeks now

I had 9 hatch and have not lost a single one. They are such nice birds. I just really suck at figuring out the whole boy/girl thing. So what do you think? I think I have a lot of boys.........

Here is Blue/Green.




Blue/Yellow




Blue




Green 2



Green




Red/Yellow



Red




Yellow 2




Yellow

 

[1muttsfan]

6 boys.

 

[naturespace]

Sherrie,
Looks like red/yellow, blue/yellow and red are girls. Red has the nicer color.
The rest look like boys. With green being your closest to the standard color.
Out of your boys who is the nicest?

 

[naturespace]

Geez if only I could read my own posts and understand what I meant! 3 girls as I stated above.[

 

[buckabucka]

I thought 3 girls too. I like the looks of red/yellow, even though her color might not be standard.

It's going to be a difficult decision when I finally select my roosters. I've been picking up and carrying around the three I like best each day, and that has only made me more fond of each of them.

 

[SherrieT]

6 boys.

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Fate can NOT be that cruel.

 

[SherrieT]

Here's a close up of red/yellow. She (hope hope hope) doesn't really have any comb, just a bit of the lightest pink.

I was thinking the girls were red/yellow, red/ and blue/yellow are girls.............

All of them are sooo nice.

Red/yellow might be a girl too. I can't see their comb. Lots of different colors for you.