Growing my little flock

[DonyaQuick]

Eghads...Squeak is a dragon right now. Kissy-poo with me, kissy-poo with Goober, but otherwise wanting to fight the entire world - including the dog. He is not eating like he should, too amped to do so I guess, so I will have to bring him inside for that in the evenings. When I pick him up he's cooing at me but then he'll whip his head around and start growling and hissing at wild birds and whatever other animals are about. The army of robins on the lawn and zipping by the enclosure is really not helping things. He's got seemingly zero interest in the main flock's hens. He's just huffing and puffing all the time like he thinks an attack could come from any direction any time. This is a very strange second demon phase that doesn't really line up with what I've read.

Tengu will still fight with Squeak but he just seems confused and afraid more than being all "rawr" about it. I'm keeping Tengu in one half of the enclosure and the Squeak/Goober combo in the other. Tengu and Goober want to hang out. If the rain will let up today, I'm going to try to make Tengu a protected sleeping cube to place in one nest box of the coop so he can sleep in there but not get Squeaked in the face first thing in the morning. The three of them will still sit and snuggle on my lap peacefully in a pile so there is still hope.

Goober is still trying to break it up when Squeak goes nuts. It doesn't work very well. He's probably beinga bout as good a boy as possible under the circumstances.

Vanilla Bean is done with those three young dummies. I gave him his own space once more; he's totally over the boys and sadly not missing their company at all. Also not seeking the company of the main flock's hens. As soon as Chungus is back to normal and back outside, I guess the Bean man will be spending more time on my lap during the day. He was a fireball of a chick but I guess in maturity he's just a big cube that wants peace and snacks.

Current plan is...

• Rather than redo the run extension in-situ, there will be a new enclosure further away from the main flow of traffic and activity on the property. This will be a calmer place for cockerels that currently seem to go right into over-excitement mode every time the front door opens. Really the only issue would be running a heated waterer out there in the worst parts of winter, but it might still be close enough for that to work.
• Vanilla Bean gets to stay right up by the house, right in the foot traffic zone because he loves people, and I guess I will try to get him a couple significantly calmer hens to hang out with.

I don't know what breed I should be looking for to eventually give Vanilla Bean some better companions, but clearly it isn't barred rocks based on the amount of aggravation Junior and Monster have to put up with from that gang. I don't think Vanilla Bean needs lots of hens; he did fine with just Coco until she got bigger than him for a while and started hogging the food and pushing him around. I think he just needs a couple big lazy cubes like himself to hang out with. A couple Jersey Giant girls maybe?? I would like to find Giant Cochins since that's half of what Vanilla Bean is, but I think my only option there would be a large batch of hatching eggs.

 

[2ndTink]

I thought I had the good strong older rooster thing in Vanilla Bean…but he literally gave up last night and was like “ok fine I’ll go sit by myself then” and that somehow attracted more aggression. He’s ok but I removed him. If he was smaller than the 1st spring idiots though it would’ve been a lot worse. What a mess…then of course I mucked up the auto door settings by accident so it didn’t open when it was supposed to and got more fighting among the cockerels.

For those you separated, did they go back together layer or was that the end of that for those birds?

So... the ones I've separated have all found uses outside of the flock I had two I tried to put back together and that didn't work. I'm curious if larger numbers are better than pairs. I can see it going either way.

You know, those mechanical pluckers come in real handy

 

[2ndTink]

Eghads...Squeak is a dragon right now. Kissy-poo with me, kissy-poo with Goober, but otherwise wanting to fight the entire world - including the dog. He is not eating like he should, too amped to do so I guess, so I will have to bring him inside for that in the evenings. When I pick him up he's cooing at me but then he'll whip his head around and start growling and hissing at wild birds and whatever other animals are about. The army of robins on the lawn and zipping by the enclosure is really not helping things. He's got seemingly zero interest in the main flock's hens. He's just huffing and puffing all the time like he thinks an attack could come from any direction any time. This is a very strange second demon phase that doesn't really line up with what I've read.

Tengu will still fight with Squeak but he just seems confused and afraid more than being all "rawr" about it. I'm keeping Tengu in one half of the enclosure and the Squeak/Goober combo in the other. Tengu and Goober want to hang out. If the rain will let up today, I'm going to try to make Tengu a protected sleeping cube to place in one nest box of the coop so he can sleep in there but not get Squeaked in the face first thing in the morning. The three of them will still sit and snuggle on my lap peacefully in a pile so there is still hope.

Goober is still trying to break it up when Squeak goes nuts. It doesn't work very well. He's probably beinga bout as good a boy as possible under the circumstances.

Vanilla Bean is done with those three young dummies. I gave him his own space once more; he's totally over the boys and sadly not missing their company at all. Also not seeking the company of the main flock's hens. As soon as Chungus is back to normal and back outside, I guess the Bean man will be spending more time on my lap during the day. He was a fireball of a chick but I guess in maturity he's just a big cube that wants peace and snacks.

Current plan is...

• Rather than redo the run extension in-situ, there will be a new enclosure further away from the main flow of traffic and activity on the property. This will be a calmer place for cockerels that currently seem to go right into over-excitement mode every time the front door opens. Really the only issue would be running a heated waterer out there in the worst parts of winter, but it might still be close enough for that to work.
• Vanilla Bean gets to stay right up by the house, right in the foot traffic zone because he loves people, and I guess I will try to get him a couple significantly calmer hens to hang out with.

I don't know what breed I should be looking for to eventually give Vanilla Bean some better companions, but clearly it isn't barred rocks based on the amount of aggravation Junior and Monster have to put up with from that gang. I don't think Vanilla Bean needs lots of hens; he did fine with just Coco until she got bigger than him for a while and started hogging the food and pushing him around. I think he just needs a couple big lazy cubes like himself to hang out with. A couple Jersey Giant girls maybe?? I would like to find Giant Cochins since that's half of what Vanilla Bean is, but I think my only option there would be a large batch of hatching eggs.

Oh my, you have some boy drama going on! My Barred Rock girls have all been pretty bossy things, the EEs have been a little flighty but not aggressive, I have the full spectrum from spicy mean to super sweet and calm with the Black Astraulorps.

Hatching eggs yeah

 

[DonyaQuick]

So... the ones I've separated have all found uses outside of the flock I had two I tried to put back together and that didn't work. I'm curious if larger numbers are better than pairs. I can see it going either way.

Dang...yeah I've wondered if it's a small numbers issue for mine too. Not that I want to try hatching out a bunch only to find that more of them just makes an even bigger mess...I can separate 3 little dorks, but an angry mosh pit of a bunch of roos would be kind of scary.

For the moment I have the ability to keep them separated and also just set up an OSB + 1/4in HWC nest box "cage" of sorts for Tengu to try to have him sleep in the coop with the other two, just not on the roost where he can get bopped straight away. Then they have to wake up together and see more of each other, I will just have to manually move Tengu to the other half of the enclosure first thing in the morning. The 1/4in HWC should make it impossible for them to grab each other and the edges of the HWC are protected so nobody should be able to snag. If that little box fails in helping to re-integrate these boys it will at least be useful in the future if I need to integrate pullets somewhere. This is going to be a slog...worst case I guess I will have to try to rehome one or both. Neither are human-aggressive, so I feel like they deserve a shot at alternative existences if I can't make the bachelor flock thing work out. I would be less sympathetic if they were beating on me too, but so far both of them are totally people-safe even in this new demon mode.

super sweet and calm with the Black Astraulorps.

Oo Austraulorps! I somehow forgot about them. Those are something I would be able to get just a few of pretty easily. I wonder if the hatchery ones would be big enough.

 

[fuzzi]

Dang...yeah I've wondered if it's a small numbers issue for mine too. Not that I want to try hatching out a bunch only to find that more of them just makes an even bigger mess...I can separate 3 little dorks, but an angry mosh pit of a bunch of roos would be kind of scary.

For the moment I have the ability to keep them separated and also just set up an OSB + 1/4in HWC nest box "cage" of sorts for Tengu to try to have him sleep in the coop with the other two, just not on the roost where he can get bopped straight away. Then they have to wake up together and see more of each other, I will just have to manually move Tengu to the other half of the enclosure first thing in the morning. The 1/4in HWC should make it impossible for them to grab each other and the edges of the HWC are protected so nobody should be able to snag. If that little box fails in helping to re-integrate these boys it will at least be useful in the future if I need to integrate pullets somewhere. This is going to be a slog...worst case I guess I will have to try to rehome one or both. Neither are human-aggressive, so I feel like they deserve a shot at alternative existences if I can't make the bachelor flock thing work out. I would be less sympathetic if they were beating on me too, but so far both of them are totally people-safe even in this new demon mode.


Oo Austraulorps! I somehow forgot about them. Those are something I would be able to get just a few of pretty easily. I wonder if the hatchery ones would be big enough.

My Dominiques are about as laid back as any chicken I've seen.

 

[DonyaQuick]

On a lighter note...Miss Chungus continues to improve and loooooooves those really expensive and really stinky cans of moist bugs. Nice red comb, happy sounds, doing really well on her first day off of meds.

(Side note: there are no shavings in there because I have had to keep an eagle eye on her poo through this process and it gets cleaned up fast; the crud that is in there is from her destroying a treat block)

My Dominiques are about as laid back as any chicken I've seen.

I think I'm too nervous to try stripeys again...with my luck I'd manage to get another batch of oops-all-barred-rocks!

 

[DonyaQuick]

OMG, never ask me to build anything...ever. I was a straight A student in math classes. I can do crazy origami with much more complex geometries - I should be able to build a box. But apparently there is some law of the universe that says I'm not allowed to build a simple butt joint cube out of wood and have it come out the right size on the first try! It's a good box...but I somehow did it about HALF TOO SMALL. It's like putting a rooster in a shoebox. I have a measuring tape. I used the measuring tape. I have the rooster - I know how big the rooster is! I don't know what went wrong LOL. I'd like to say sleep deprivation is what went wrong but this is not the first time this has happened. Not so long ago I thought I was duplicating the dimensions of a nest box making another and it ended up big enough for like 5 hens to fit in it - it's absurd. Anyway, Tengu now has a little dog bungalow from the overpriced petstore in town since I bodged that so bad. Of couse that dog crate won't fit in the coop. So Tengu will be sleeping in the house for the moment. Oh, to be awoken at 4AM...

Also, Mr Squeak is, uh...suddenly not so squeaky! His voice dropped and now he actually sounds a lot more like daddy Junior. It's like a different chicken talking. And he's suddenly trying to commit indescent acts on my feet. So I think part of this mystery just got solved: he is a REALLY late bloomer! Tengu and Goober both went through that shift months ago, both in the voice and the inappropriate relations with my shoes. If I'm right, then I know there's light at the end of the tunnel. There's just a lot of stupid to wade through to get there.

 

[2ndTink]

Dang...yeah I've wondered if it's a small numbers issue for mine too. Not that I want to try hatching out a bunch only to find that more of them just makes an even bigger mess...I can separate 3 little dorks, but an angry mosh pit of a bunch of roos would be kind of scary.

For the moment I have the ability to keep them separated and also just set up an OSB + 1/4in HWC nest box "cage" of sorts for Tengu to try to have him sleep in the coop with the other two, just not on the roost where he can get bopped straight away. Then they have to wake up together and see more of each other, I will just have to manually move Tengu to the other half of the enclosure first thing in the morning. The 1/4in HWC should make it impossible for them to grab each other and the edges of the HWC are protected so nobody should be able to snag. If that little box fails in helping to re-integrate these boys it will at least be useful in the future if I need to integrate pullets somewhere. This is going to be a slog...worst case I guess I will have to try to rehome one or both. Neither are human-aggressive, so I feel like they deserve a shot at alternative existences if I can't make the bachelor flock thing work out. I would be less sympathetic if they were beating on me too, but so far both of them are totally people-safe even in this new demon mode.


Oo Austraulorps! I somehow forgot about them. Those are something I would be able to get just a few of pretty easily. I wonder if the hatchery ones would be big enough.

The little cage sounds like a good idea!

I've had 6 Black Astraulorps, 3 from one hatchery and 3 from another. From Mt Healthy I got 2 massive ones and one normal sized, and from the other hatchery (bought at a local farm store) I have 1 big but not nearly as big as the My Healthy ones, and 2 normal sized. I should weigh the big girls but I don't think 10 pounds is much of a stretch. I still have 5, one of the huge girls recently passed it seemed to be organ failure just under 4 years old.

 

[2ndTink]

OMG, never ask me to build anything...ever. I was a straight A student in math classes. I can do crazy origami with much more complex geometries - I should be able to build a box. But apparently there is some law of the universe that says I'm not allowed to build a simple butt joint cube out of wood and have it come out the right size on the first try! It's a good box...but I somehow did it about HALF TOO SMALL. It's like putting a rooster in a shoebox. I have a measuring tape. I used the measuring tape. I have the rooster - I know how big the rooster is! I don't know what went wrong LOL. I'd like to say sleep deprivation is what went wrong but this is not the first time this has happened. Not so long ago I thought I was duplicating the dimensions of a nest box making another and it ended up big enough for like 5 hens to fit in it - it's absurd. Anyway, Tengu now has a little dog bungalow from the overpriced petstore in town since I bodged that so bad. Of couse that dog crate won't fit in the coop. So Tengu will be sleeping in the house for the moment. Oh, to be awoken at 4AM...

Also, Mr Squeak is, uh...suddenly not so squeaky! His voice dropped and now he actually sounds a lot more like daddy Junior. It's like a different chicken talking. And he's suddenly trying to commit indescent acts on my feet. So I think part of this mystery just got solved: he is a REALLY late bloomer! Tengu and Goober both went through that shift months ago, both in the voice and the inappropriate relations with my shoes. If I'm right, then I know there's light at the end of the tunnel. There's just a lot of stupid to wade through to get there.

Oh goodness! Mayne he'll wait for 4:30 before crowing

Lol, inappropriate relations

 

[DonyaQuick]

The little cage sounds like a good idea!

I've had 6 Black Astraulorps, 3 from one hatchery and 3 from another. From Mt Healthy I got 2 massive ones and one normal sized, and from the other hatchery (bought at a local farm store) I have 1 big but not nearly as big as the My Healthy ones, and 2 normal sized. I should weigh the big girls but I don't think 10 pounds is much of a stretch. I still have 5, one of the huge girls recently passed it seemed to be organ failure just under 4 years old.

I need to find out whether Mt Healthy "pads" orders for <6 with cockerels when it's going to a state with annoying rules like NY...if they don't, that would be a good option to have on the table. I don't think I want to get another batch from TSC or another feed store looking for big hens since Hoovers at least seems to be on the small size for standards. I'd also have to get 6 if I did it from a local store...

Miss Scruffy is getting more broody by the day though...if she decides to stick to it, I might just have to see if anyone in midstate NY has giant cochin hatching eggs. Scruffy's comb hasn't flopped yet and she still comes out for morning hug time, but today it was turkey mode at morning hug time and some random broody screams. Oh, and this situation until the roosters kicked her out mid afternoon LOL (Scruffy is the white one):