Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[gjensen]

I know there is nothing wrong with it, but I really want Buckeyes and unfortunately, they are not at my local feed stores =(

I was not trying to discourage you. I was trying to encourage you. I mentioned hatcheries, and others shared some information. You were looking forward to spring chicks, and have had trouble locating a source.

The most important part, at this point, is that you enjoy what you do decide. However you decide to do it.

 

[fowlman01]

IMO. That depends on breed. I keep a rooster with each flock which is anywhere from 4-7.

I've been in a coop when hawks approach. I hear the cocks warning, step out to watch the hens run for cover and the cocks all stand like statues facing the hawk. I've seen the hawk swoop and a rooster go up to meet it and take it down. Then the rooster casually strides back to the hens. The hawk finally recovers, staggers to its feet and flies off.

I had a pair of huskies attack a free range flock. The rooster held them off till the hens got to a high roost and then he flew to the roof. There were feathers around but all the birds survived.

I've lost a couple cocks over the years during the day but very rare.

X2.

I might add that when one has fresh eggs in their own backyard, they'll eat a lot more than they currently do.
The second autumn when they take their molt break. 4 won't be enough.


Wow, when did they start selling 3?
They're down the road from me (about 4 hours or so)

If any of these predators want to eat something, a predator is going to kill the rooster in a hot second. I have had racoons demolish an O Shamo male and they are tough customers. Mine are 30-32" tall and weigh 17-20 pounds. They are made to defend and have centuries of breeding to make them aggressive. If a bird like that can't defend itself ,how is some wimpy large rooster going to defend anything? That is just foolishness. If you haven't lost a rooster yet you will and the hens too.

It is very bad advice to let people think a rooster can defend the hens. He may slow down the killing, as he will be the first to go, but that is about it.

Walt

 

[hellbender]

$50 bucks for three chicks is bit high and still might get a cock or two?? 15 costs about the same and you will surely have enough birds to get 6 that you might like, Just playing the odds in the buyers favor. I calculated the price to be $79 bucks, 15 including shipping...sounds like a far better deal to me.

 

[Beekissed]

Ayep. A happening like that is the exception but the rule will bear out in most cases...the predator usually wins unless the birds can escape in some manner. A rooster is no protection for a free range flock, though he can stand guard and sound the alarm to take cover.

 

[Strevale]

Ok guys, I know I could order more chicks and sell the extras/roosters on Craigslist. But I feel like there are a lot of shady people on Craigslist that will do shady things to my babies.

If that's what I have to do I will do it, but I just don't like it.
I am the kind of person that doesn't break the rules, so keeping illegal chickens a secret also kind of bugs me.

Thanks for all the help and leads though. You guys are awesome!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Once you sell the extras, they're not your babies any more. And what they will do with the roosters is make a nice home for them, right next to the green beans and mashed potatoes.

 

[gjensen]

Ok guys, I know I could order more chicks and sell the extras/roosters on Craigslist. But I feel like there are a lot of shady people on Craigslist that will do shady things to my babies.

If that's what I have to do I will do it, but I just don't like it.
I am the kind of person that doesn't break the rules, so keeping illegal chickens a secret also kind of bugs me.

Thanks for all the help and leads though. You guys are awesome!

If you were close, and I had buckeyes, I would gladly give you some.

 

[Strevale]

If you were close, and I had buckeyes, I would gladly give you some.

Thanks

 

[bnjrob]

Ok guys, I know I could order more chicks and sell the extras/roosters on Craigslist. But I feel like there are a lot of shady people on Craigslist that will do shady things to my babies.

If that's what I have to do I will do it, but I just don't like it.
I am the kind of person that doesn't break the rules, so keeping illegal chickens a secret also kind of bugs me.

Thanks for all the help and leads though. You guys are awesome!

I know that many people are not at the point in their lives where they can process their own chickens - to them it sounds cruel and they would just rather not think about things and buy chicken that comes packaged in plastic at the store. But if you are going to get chickens, you really need to evaluate if you can actually handle the loss and unhappy moments that comes with keeping chickens.

Chickens of all ages can die for seemingly no reason at all. Chickens get killed by other chickens, they get killed by predators, they get killed accidently in all kinds of ways (I know someone who's child fell on top of a chick and squished it), even when you think you have protected them from every situation. Chickens are a dime a dozen. They are so easy to reproduce and there are aren't rules about "chicken mills" regulating chicken reproduction. Relatively few males are needed to actually fertilize females that are used in the commercial chicken industry. Most male chicks are killed, probably in ways you have not even been able to imagine or read about to inform yourself of what really goes on before those chicken McNuggets make it to your mouth. With the backyard chicken industry booming, there are an increasing number of unwanted chickens.

Everybody wants their little rooster to go to a home and be a pet and once their hatchery-stock egg laying machine no longer lays, they want that hen to live out its life as a pampered pet. It doesn't work that way. Shelters are already overburdened with dogs, cats, and other animals and are killing these unwanted animals by the thousands daily. They don't have the resources to take in all the unwanted chickens too. And with Easter coming up, cute bunnies and chicks given in baskets will be killed by the hundreds if not thousands come May and June when those chicks and bunnies turn out to be more work than people thought and the kid isn't interested in taking care of it. Whether you like it or not, chickens are livestock and can be eaten without a stigma. Having Little Red Rooster be processed humanely for food is by far better than having him live a brief but frightening life trying to survive "in the wild" when someone decides to dump him down a country road.

I don't mean to sound harsh but the reality is that there are more chickens in this world than can ever find a home where they can live forever being pampered pets. Have you actually thought about what will happen to chickens that you get if you have to move and can't take them with you? Or what might happen to the chickens after they no longer lay and you want more laying hens but you are still stuck with the 6 chicken limit? Those egg laying machines are gonna run out of eggs in just a couple two/three years and then what happens to them? What happens when you wind up finding one of your chickens has the entire top of their head pecked off and skull showing because there was a little tiff over a nestbox that bloodied her comb, and the blood was so enticing, that the rest of the flock pecked the chicken until it was nearly dead - just out of curiosity of "what's all that stuff on your head"? Chickens can have some pretty ugly fights sometimes and they can kill one of their own that shows weakness or just because they didn't realize they were killing their coop-mate with their curious pecking. Are you going to be able to kill that chicken that is suffering with severe injuries to prevent it from dying a long painful death? And if you do have a bully that is hurting everyone, are you going to keep it and allow it to continue to bully and injure other chickens? What if that hen decides that it enjoys fighting with people and is constantly pecking you or small children and drawing blood? What then? If you have an injured or ill chicken that either needs veterinary medical care or to be euthanized - do you have the money for a vet or can you euthanize the bird yourself?

I encourage you to really evaluate where your comfort level is with the answer to these types of questions BEFORE you get any chickens. Chances are, you're gonna have a chick die on you, particularly if you have not had them before and still need to learn the ropes of chicken husbandry. That's hard enough if you aren't accustomed to it. And if you are not comfortable letting go of chickens and giving/selling them, you need to have a plan in place with what you are going to do when an unhappy situation arises. And there will be one at some point if you keep chickens long enough. I see many posts on BYC of people frantically trying to deal with these situations and are just heartbroken because they didn't think everything through and prepare themselves for the realities of keeping chickens and some hard decisions they needed to make. And if you don't think that you can let go of chickens enough to be able to sell them on Craigslist because the buyer may eat that bird (or use it as prey for training fighting dogs, or worse), how are you going to deal with all the other issues that go along with keeping chickens?

Please take a bit longer to really think through what chicken keeping really is. Everyone wants a chicken but not everyone is at the point in their comfort level where they can deal with all the things that come with being a chicken keeper. If you take a closer look at where you are in the comfort of dealing with these things NOW, it will be better for you and chickens if you decide that you still want to get them.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree 100%. In the life of any creature there is death and sometimes we have to give it...it takes fortitude, intention and purpose and when dealing with chickens, you cannot be sure your vet will deal with them.