Hector's World: Adventures and Mayhem at Mountain View Poultry (or Sequel to The Evolution of Atlas

[speckledhen]

Hector and Jill are parents! Bonnie has hatched 9 of the 10, the remaining egg has a live chick, moving, but not pipped, a Brahma. It looks odd, laying on its side, so not holding out hope for that one, but today is Day 21 so will give it time.



The hatched include 4 Brahmas and 5 Barred Rocks. So, Jill has 3 chicks, 1 for Druscilla and 1 for Wynette. Bonnie will be moved into the former bantam coop with her chicks as she was the last time.

I'm about to throw Zara and Athena in with Hector and let the chips fall where they may. They are taking up one entire pen and I need that pen. Someone may get hurt, but I can't help it right now. They free range together every day and have since Apollo left. He has a 5x8 and there ought to be plenty of room. Maybe I can move the PVC feeder from Xander's pen into Hector's and get rid of that hanging one, giving them more space. I love the PVC in there with Atlas. No more food waste at all in there! I was losing so much feed with the hanging feeder in his pen, them digging it out into the floor pan and then pooping on it.




I hate that I have no clue which is Dru and Wyn's and which three are Jill's but no way with Bonnie on the nest! She is a cobra!

 

[1muttsfan]

Maybe she could be rehomed with a cockerel or two. Sometimes birds like that do better in large flocks with more elbow room.

 

[speckledhen]

Maybe she could be rehomed with a cockerel or two. Sometimes birds like that do better in large flocks with more elbow room.

Well, Hector was ostracizing Athena today; could be that he was not happy with her being on the right side of him and wanted to be next to the wall because he basically pushed her off the roost, kept harassing her until she fell off. In spite of that, there was not too much chaos in the pen today. I did move Zara and Athena in with Hector semi-permanently so Cora and little Pooh can be in their pen, not in a dark dog crate, for a bit, until Cora is big enough to go in with Bash. She's 11 weeks and Pooh has made it to 10 weeks old now.

Time will tell. I need to see what I have in the way of pullets in the five BR chicks and then, could be one or two of the hens with Hector will have to leave that pen at some point. I've decided that if something happens to Atlas, I will not replace him. Hector will move into that pen and take over any BR hens who are of enough quality to reproduce.

 

[speckledhen]

The newest additions. I know two of the BRs are Atlas's and three belong to Hector and Jill but maybe later I'll be able to tell who belongs to who by the look of them. I do believe I have at least two pullets of the five, maybe three, but they'll have to grow a bit more.







I think both of these are pullets, both have dark leg fronts and girly head spots.

 

[speckledhen]

I moved Hector and his five hens into the Old Hens' pen. It's slightly wider, with a different type roost, one we had moved from Isaac's old coop into this pen. I did have to raise the divider wall in a couple spots to he and Atlas could not fight at the top of that wall, but no biggie. I moved the old ladies into Hector's pen after adding a lower roost bar for the ones who still roost to use. And moved the shorty roost bar with Tiny's little cup feeder in front of the window. I also switched the nests in those two pens. Hector's girls have their file cabinet and the old ladies have the two-tiered plastic one at floor level.

Zara is still being a big bully to everybody-she moved in like a bull in a china shop, and she is the largest of them all. Everyone, including Hector, is being mean to Athena. Athena clucks like a broody when Hector gets near her, but she's faking! I think Hector is losing patience with her because she refuses to squat for him still.




Below, you see Athena making use of Tiny's old roost to escape the bullies.



And the old ladies have plenty of room in Hector's old pen.

 

[speckledhen]

I thought it would make Rowena and Thea less territorial to be in a pen that was completely unfamiliar to them all, but no. Zara has bullied Jill and Thea all day and Rowena and Thea have bullied Athena until I pulled her out for her own safety. Finally, I gave up and put Zara and Athena back in their original pen for awhile, so poor little Pooh-bear and Cora are back in the dog cage. Gee, why can't anyone get along? If it was just minor stuff, I'd not have pulled Athena, but she was being pounded so bad, she as head-down in the corner and about to just give up. Poor thing.



ETA: by the way, Hector stops an occasional fight, but when Ro had Athena up on the nest with her head in the corner and was relentlessly pounding her, he was just standing there, no interference. Poor Athena used to seem like she was above Zara but in there, she seems so meek.



ETA, again:

My friend, Ladyhawk (Cetawin here), had a massive heart attack on Sunday and surgery. She's in ICU and stable, but was supposed to come down this weekend. Good thoughts and prayers for recovery would be much appreciated.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, that didn't work. Trying Zara and Athena in with the #2 Old Hens' group that includes Georgie, June, Maretta, Dusty, etc. But, that necessitated moving the group into where Hector had been moved and moving poor Hector into the other 5x8 pen. I hope this one works out.

I noticed that Zara has a bit of a crow head. I never really paid much attention, but her head is way too narrow, though her body type, barring and all else is gorgeous. So, she and Athena, since one or both carry the dwarf gene, are better off living in a layer pen anyway, IMO. Hey @1muttsfan what do you think?

Among the week old chicks, there are at least two pullets, maybe three, but definitely two cockerels. That 5th one could go either way so waiting until they're older to see.

 

[1muttsfan]

Zara didn't quite look right in some way but I wasn't sure how. It's certainly true that selecting your breeding stock for the next generation is a huge challenge, but I have always believed in avoiding any known issues. You have enough nice birds for a small breeding flock, and you will have more coming along that you can select from.

 

[1muttsfan]

I am so sorry to hear about Ladyhawke I know what a good friend she is to you. Hope she does well and recovers soon.

 

[speckledhen]

Zara didn't quite look right in some way but I wasn't sure how. It's certainly true that selecting your breeding stock for the next generation is a huge challenge, but I have always believed in avoiding any known issues. You have enough nice birds for a small breeding flock, and you will have more coming along that you can select from.

Yeah, I kept looking at her and at first, I was thinking she just looked so feminine or refined or something about her head and she got her comb bitten badly, had a big scab on the back part which healed with scar tissue and it goes a bit sideways now, but I kept looking at her and Athena head on and realized that Zara was just crow-headed, not something I've really caught onto before. I was so dazzled by her body type and barring that it was not apparent to me for a long time. She and Athena have been relegated to layers now and they are doing fairly well in with Dusty, Georgie, June and the other older hens. Maretta just constantly stalks them, LOL.

Hector will have at least one pullet coming along. I have two, maybe three, but definitely two, in the young chick group.

I am so sorry to hear about Ladyhawke I know what a good friend she is to you. Hope she does well and recovers soon.

Thank you, Mary. She is doing pretty well. It was caused by a large blood clot blocking her aorta, but they don't know where it came from or why it formed. I think stress is what the real cause is-lots of personal chaos in her life over the past two years.