Hen or Rooster?

[Ariel188]

We do put all our grass clipping in the area that is now flooded, do you think that will help or just make things worse? Thank you again for answering my questions in this post and the one before it!

 

[aoxa]

Thank you SO much!!!!  Oh and how can you tell that Fraya (the red ameracuna) is getting ready to lay?  I didnt know you could tell that! 

As far as the flooding, yes it is in their coop and its really muddy with standing water.  The coop is only 8ft by 4ft (tiny imo for 8 birds) so I just leave the little gate open for them.  I was worried about predators so I used to lock them in each night, but I dont get up until mid morning sometimes and I feel bad to keep them stuck in the little coop until I get up. I dont think any predators will climb our fence, do you??  I did find a dead mouse on the rocks the other day, so I dont know how it died or if it was getting the chickens food overnight.  Thank you for all your help, you are so intelligent and knowledgeable.

 

Look above.

She has a larger comb/wattles which happens very close to point of lay.

Your Silver Laced Wyandotte is also getting close.

 

[aoxa]

We do put all our grass clipping in the area that is now flooded, do you think that will help or just make things worse?  Thank you again for answering my questions in this post and the one before it!

 

I think leaves/grass would help.

 

[aoxa]

I have the twin of your EE pullet

 

[Ariel188]

Oh wow, thank you for labeling them all!! The black one was sold to us as a "Olive Egger". I guess the eggs will be similar to what we had thought. The one you labeled as "production red pullet" is she an Ameraucana? (that is what they sold her as) My Cuckoo is the oldest born 5-22-12, weird her combs are still very small. The SLW was born 6-25-12 as she is the youngest, I got her when I took back the aggressive one.

 

[Ariel188]

I have the twin of your EE pullet

OMG that looks JUST like our Isis. Is yours friendly? We held them all everyday and played with em all the time and 4 of them are still "CHICKENS!" The Black Ameraucana (Ony) is not that friendly. Same with the "production red" (Freya) as well as our SLW (Seti)

Our Friendly birds are KARA ("she" will even jump on my lap when I have food) as well as Buffy (buff orp) Our light Sussex (Pecker) will come to us. Our Cuckoo Venus was really friendly when little but now is a little more stand-offish although I can catch her and pick her up without her freaking out, unlike our EE, SLW, black ameraucana, production red, they all will freak out when I pick em up. The rest are ok with it although I can tell it is not their favorite activity, lol. I think our Cuckoo Venus is the bottom of the pecking order. She stands back when I feed em and is more reserved with everything although lets me hold her and is calm.

 

[Ariel188]

Here is a photo of Kara at 2 weeks old, would you have known she is really a he? :-(

 

[Pele]

Oh wow, thank you for labeling them all!! The black one was sold to us as a "Olive Egger". I guess the eggs will be similar to what we had thought. The one you labeled as "production red pullet" is she an Ameraucana? (that is what they sold her as) My Cuckoo is the oldest born 5-22-12, weird her combs are still very small. The SLW was born 6-25-12 as she is the youngest, I got her when I took back the aggressive one.

Production Red is a hatchery hybrid, and usually does not share any genetics at all with Ameraucanas. Your bird lacks a beard, has bright yellow legs, solid body coloration, single comb... all of which you do not normally find on Ameraucana blooded birds. So unfortunately they sold her to you under false information.

The good news is that she will leave all the other hens in the dust with laying. When they're moulting or skipping days for winter, she'll produce an egg a day like it's the only thing keeping the world turning. My production birds are my favorites, and the only reason I even have eggs right now while everyone else is moulting and slowing down for winter.

I did also want to recommend that you keep your birds penned at night once you get the flooding under control in the coop. Add sand and rocks to the floor until it stops flooding. Your fences will NOT keep out raccoons. Not even slow them down. As soon as the raccoons figure out that you're keeping unprotected poultry in your back yard at night, they'll scale your fence in two seconds, then pull apart your birds (they are gruesome about killing, I hate them).

 

[Ariel188]

Thank you again for this information, so she is not a rhode island red either? Someone that visited me thought she was. I just realized my avatar is the red production hen at 2 weeks old.

Thank you for letting me know about the Raccoons. I will go to Home Depot today and get sand. Is it ok to put it down on top of the water that is already there? Or do I need to wait for it to dry first? Thank you.

 

[Pele]

Thank you again for this information, so she is not a rhode island red either? Someone that visited me thought she was. I just realized my avatar is the red production hen at 2 weeks old.

Thank you for letting me know about the Raccoons. I will go to Home Depot today and get sand. Is it ok to put it down on top of the water that is already there? Or do I need to wait for it to dry first? Thank you.

It's possible she's a hatchery quality RIR (which in my opinion are just Production Reds anyway). Here is a picture of a heritage RIR, they are a completely different color than your girl:



Heritage RIRs are dark rich mahogany brown. Very pretty birds, but I personally am not a fan of how loud they are. I actually prefer Production Reds .

You could probably get away with not letting your run dry, but it'll be messy work, and require LOTS of sand.