Help me improve my flock?

[centrarchid]

Weight is only part of what you feel for. I like birds with a broad breast that snap wings back when they are pulled. Then you have how the legs feel. The muscling matures generally slower than the feathering.

 

[ShannonR]

The two larger males are at stage I like to look at for first time. Better pen them shortly or you may not have two anymore. Pullets best to look at when in full feather which none appear to be in yet. Most appear to carry dark brown allele, even some with spangles do.

I've had that thought too, eventually they are going to start to fight each other and I'll have a huge mess of violent wild chickens in my hands! I do have one pen open and intact, I could put a stag and a few hens in there... the other pens need repair badly. Some still need to have burned trees cut off them, others need the burned gates replaced. The fire wiped a lot of stuff out, but I am set up for game birds... or was. Just not this many of them!

 

[Frog Bog]

As far as housing, the males don't need much. A barrel, dog house, or even a dog crate will work for them. Just use a Tie Cord for them and they'll be fine. That should give you time to get things fixed up the way you want.

http://www.hilltopfeed.net/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1061569886

 

[centrarchid]

As far as housing, the males don't need much. A barrel, dog house, or even a dog crate will work for them. Just use a Tie Cord for them and they'll be fine. That should give you time to get things fixed up the way you want.

http://www.hilltopfeed.net/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1061569886

A better description needed. Show pictures of how you confine your birds with items like roost and cover from elements.

Mine, when confined singly, are housed in 4' x 5' pens that are ate least 4 feet tall. Roost is a little over 3 feet above ground.
Pens are at least 4 feet apart unless some sort of partition is between them. I am one that like to move pens frequently so as to keep birds on grass and manage worm burden without as much use of de-wormers.

Tie-cords best reserved for situations where you have exceptional exclusion of predators or put them out only during day while predator exclusion is monitored.

 

[ShannonR]

Tie-cords best reserved for situations where you have exceptional exclusion of predators or put them out only during day while predator exclusion is monitored.

I have 3 dogs that do a great job of keeping any predators out of the immediate yard area. But, I also have goats. They like to get out and roam, I am a little worried they would ruin the tie cords as well as the birds on them.

The goats are actually one of the reasons the pens haven't been fixed. They destroy everything, I had one pen fixed up and the goats pushed through the fencing to eat the chicken feed. I just did some serious work to one goat pen and built another brand new one, and am trying to contain and reduce goat population as well.

 

[centrarchid]

I have 3 dogs that do a great job of keeping any predators out of the immediate yard area. But, I also have goats. They like to get out and roam, I am a little worried they would ruin the tie cords as well as the birds on them.

The goats are actually one of the reasons the pens haven't been fixed. They destroy everything, I had one pen fixed up and the goats pushed through the fencing to eat the chicken feed. I just did some serious work to one goat pen and built another brand new one, and am trying to contain and reduce goat population as well.

If goats climbing on pens, then consider making pens out of no-step horse panels. They would be stiff enough to support a large goat without collapsing. Then feed birds by broadcasting feed on ground. I am not familiar with goats around confined chickens, but sheep can be a problem with roosters on tie-cords where sheep will eat tails off the roosters.

 

[ShannonR]

If goats climbing on pens, then consider making pens out of no-step horse panels. They would be stiff enough to support a large goat without collapsing. Then feed birds by broadcasting feed on ground. I am not familiar with goats around confined chickens, but sheep can be a problem with roosters on tie-cords where sheep will eat tails off the roosters.

The goat pens are made of feedlot panels, it seems to be the only thing they have a hard time destroying. The chicken pens were 2x4" welded wire, and a determined goat will push right through it to get to the feed. Right now I do feed by broadcasting their crumble, the goats come and eat with the chickens when they are out. I'm getting my act together with these creatures, it's just a slow process.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Lol about the goats. Been there done that. Rehomed them all.
My first thought when you posted pics was.... How in the world is your boy standing there with that bucket by his feet without having those goats knocking him over, shoving their heads in the bucket, get the handle stuck around their necks then running amuck around the pen and all those birds then flying in every directions.

 

[centrarchid]

The goat pens are made of feedlot panels, it seems to be the only thing they have a hard time destroying. The chicken pens were 2x4" welded wire, and a determined goat will push right through it to get to the feed. Right now I do feed by broadcasting their crumble, the goats come and eat with the chickens when they are out. I'm getting my act together with these creatures, it's just a slow process.

2" x 4" welded wire not tough enough. The 2" x 4" livestock panels are tough enough to stop even determined goats, but much more work to cut and form into a pen. You could section off part of lot for pens were goats do not have access. We used to have hogs and horses near gamefowl area where two fences were employed; first kept livestock in their area, and second kept escaping livestock out of cock pen area.

 

[ShannonR]

Lol about the goats. Been there done that. Rehomed them all.
My first thought when you posted pics was.... How in the world is your boy standing there with that bucket by his feet without having those goats knocking him over, shoving their heads in the bucket, get the handle stuck around their necks then running amuck around the pen and all those birds then flying in every directions.

There is a short answer to that question, lol.... those particular goats are wild as deer! The tame ones generally stay in their pens.