INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[birdman55]

Heritage/Exhibition barred rocks. These guys are taking forever to feather out!

what line are they from

 

[bradselig]

what line are they from

the guy never said and I didn't ask. Just saw pictures of his stock and liked them lol. I don't get hung up on which line is which. I've seen way too many marans that look and lay horribly but still called bev Davis lines and blrw that have horrible coloring and type still called Foley lines. I simply buy what I like regardless of the lines.

That being said I do believe sallyinindiana mentioned to me that lines of Rhode islands do matter as crossing lines gives you not very good chicks (of course I'm paraphrasing what she said). It could be the same with other breeds as well though

@Mother2Hens These are new ones I'm growing out. I needed up selling the last 2 I had and really regretted doing it. So I bought more eggs to hatch. My ultimate goal is lavender cuckoo silkies and since I'm dealing with basic dominate and recessive genes, I should start getting chicks next year.

 

[flyladyrocks]

the guy never said and I didn't ask. Just saw pictures of his stock and liked them lol. I don't get hung up on which line is which. I've seen way too many marans that look and lay horribly but still called bev Davis lines and blrw that have horrible coloring and type still called Foley lines. I simply buy what I like regardless of the lines.

That being said I do believe sallyinindiana mentioned to me that lines of Rhode islands do matter as crossing lines gives you not very good chicks (of course I'm paraphrasing what she said). It could be the same with other breeds as well though

@Mother2Hens These are new ones I'm growing out. I needed up selling the last 2 I had and really regretted doing it. So I bought more eggs to hatch. My ultimate goal is lavender cuckoo silkies and since I'm dealing with basic dominate and recessive genes, I should start getting chicks next year.

 

[kittydoc]

A question for y'all.

One thing that has always bothered me about the chickens is the behavior at night when getting on the roost.  It doesn't matter how large the space is compared to number of birds as I've had larger and smaller spaces and the behavior is still the same.

Some of the birds just attack others when they try to get on.  It's an every-day ritual and I hate seeing it.  One will come up and another will attack it until it has to get off.  Happens over and over until for some reason they quit and everyone's up.  Not only is the main roost area quite large enough, but I also have a couple of extra small roosts nearby that could be used.  But they still do this.

There are some of the birds that attack more than others, but any of them may do  the attacking.  I understand about pecking order, but it just seems like getting on the roost for the night shouldn't be such an issue...and since night is a vulnerable time for predation, it seems like their instinct would be to get up there and present a position of strength as a flock rather than try spend their energy attacking each other.

Do you all have that same issue? 
Does this always happen no matter what the breeds and/or quality of bird (hatchery vs. heritage)?

 

We don't see this at all with our mixed layer flock, which is largest with about 30 birds (just 1 roo). I don't know if it applies to your situation, but I recently learned that 80 is the maximum number of individuals a chicken can remember, so if a person has more than that, the excess will always be strangers to the first 80, making the squabbling over pecking order perpetual. If that is not the case, how many roos do you have, and how many hens? The roo in our mixed flock tolerates no funny business from the girls at all.

 

[tmctlt]

Hello fellow Hoosier BYC members, we are totally new to the chicken farming hobby in fact we are awaiting our chicks from M. McMurray on the 11th of May. Being totally new to this I /we will no doubt be reading and consuming all the great ideas and information from those of you who are more seasoned but Very much like that jcbny took the time to start this page!!!! (also born and raised in MI. ) been here since '81' We will have a small mixed flock to start consisting of 2 ea. of three breeds. Buff Orps / Laced Wyandottes and Barred Rocks and we just can't wait to get started.

 

[tmctlt]

Hello fellow Hoosier BYC members, we are totally new to the chicken farming hobby in fact we are awaiting our chicks from M. McMurray on the 11th of May. Being totally new to this I /we will no doubt be reading and consuming all the great ideas and information from those of you who are more seasoned but Very much like that jcbny took the time to start this page!!!! (also born and raised in MI. ) been here since '81' We will have a small mixed flock to start consisting of 2 ea. of three breeds. Buff Orps / Laced Wyandottes and Barred Rocks and we just can't wait to get started.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Right now I literally have only 9 hens. When I had the rooster they behaved that way as well, but it was all the hatchery girls (the original of the flock) that started the behavior.

I had 2 hatchery BRs that would stand just inside the pop door last winter - one on each side of it - acting like little sentries. If one of the younger (not hatchery) girls would want to come in, they would harass them. Then those same 2 would cause problems for the others getting on the roost at night. It seemed to expand from there and a couple of the other older birds started doing the night-time roost harassment as well and it has been that way ever since.



I still have 4 of those original hatchery birds (1 BR, 2 EE, 1 Red). It really does seem to me that they are the biggest offenders - 2 of them worse than the others. So I've wondered if it may just be time for them to leave the flock and repopulate with the non-hatchery breeds that I've wanted to concentrate on.

I just wondered if it was specific breeding, or if some breeds may be more prone, less prone to behaving that way. But perhaps it's just a particular bird's personality. Especially as I'm getting new stock I'd like to avoid that problem in the future.

I've heard a lot of people have those issues and from what I hear, it tends to be breed-specific. But I would like to hear from more people to see what their experience has been with various breeds vs. just individuals. I know that the BAs I've had were terrible little things. Always caused problems here at least. And it seems that Janet had the same issue with the ones she had.

I'm sure that if I removed a couple of these birds it would totally change the atmosphere for them all. Those older hatchery girls are 3 yo this year and it's probably getting to be time. But they are all laying as well as they did the first year.

And.....I have to overcome the sense that I'm betraying a friend to get rid of them

..... But I can do it if I need to.

 

[Mother2Hens]

@tmctlt

@bradselig I like the black ones!

Better contrast, graphically speaking.

Originally Posted by Leahs Mom

A question for y'all.

One thing that has always bothered me about the chickens is the behavior at night when getting on the roost. It doesn't matter how large the space is compared to number of birds as I've had larger and smaller spaces and the behavior is still the same.

Some of the birds just attack others when they try to get on. It's an every-day ritual and I hate seeing it. One will come up and another will attack it until it has to get off. Happens over and over until for some reason they quit and everyone's up. Not only is the main roost area quite large enough, but I also have a couple of extra small roosts nearby that could be used. But they still do this.

There are some of the birds that attack more than others, but any of them may do the attacking. I understand about pecking order, but it just seems like getting on the roost for the night shouldn't be such an issue...and since night is a vulnerable time for predation, it seems like their instinct would be to get up there and present a position of strength as a flock rather than try spend their energy attacking each other.

Do you all have that same issue?
Does this always happen no matter what the breeds and/or quality of bird (hatchery vs. heritage)?

Leahs Mom: From what I've heard and read, bedtime squabbling is a normal ritual. I know what you mean about it being disturbing, particularly when feathers are yanked out! And as I mentioned in my post last night, it seems like just as everyone finally is satisfied with their spot and things are running more smoothly, then something changes! One goes broody and messes up the seating chart.

I know I am a weirdo, but that's why I started softly singing, "the mockingbird song" (Hush Little Baby) during the squabbling period. I also slowly blink and close my eyes. They quickly learned that it was their cue to settle down and sleep. I want to video their behavior, but not my terrible voice! lol On most nights, I step into the large coop and act like the police/alpha dog/rooster to make sure no one is injured. I recently mentioned that my EE wants so badly to roost with my co-flock leaders BR and SLW, but they peck her away, so my EE knocks my Orps off the perch to show her power. I made a partition out of foam core board, notched it to attach to the perch to deter my EE from pecking the Orps. (I've also added a perch, but no one used it, so I removed it).

If I am out of town and my DH is in charge of the chickens, my EE will revert to her worst ways knowing she can get away with it! Just like some kids do with a substitute teacher.

Looking them in the yes, pointing, and saying "No!" are effective reprimands, especially when done immediately following bad behavior. They know that I don't want them pecking each other. When my EE seems excessively mean to the Orps, I put her in my vacant brooder coop/Time Out for 10 mins., which definitely helps. It's the same principle as dealing with an aggressive roo. You might try Time Out. I've also blocked off part of the run below the coop to make an overnight Time Out area. It has a perch.

 

[flyladyrocks]

DD is doing a happy dance around the living g room b/c our shirts are here!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Originally Posted by Leahs Mom



Leahs Mom: From what I've heard and read, bedtime squabbling is a normal ritual.

If I am out of town and my DH is in charge of the chickens, my EE will revert to her worst ways knowing she can get away with it! Just like some kids do with a substitute teacher.

One of the culprits over here is an EE too. And she's become increasingly mean the older she gets.

I wish I could train these birds! There is actually a divider on the roost (right now in the barn and in their regular hen shed which I haven't moved them back to yet). It does help some because if one of the meaner ones doesn't get on that side that nips it in the bud. But no mater the amount of roost its still there. And I can't be there at night when they're going up so they have to work it out on their own.

This is what their roost area looks like when using the barn. Those are 2 roosts, parallel, at the same height, 6 ft. long each, with a good amount of space between them. They don't seem to have an issue on which roost they use (front or back). Just getting a place that the harassers don't bother them! Now this is for just 9 birds currently! In addition to another 4 ft. or so of roost at approximately the same height nearby that they don't use at all except to escape temporarily. But then never stay on those for the night.

I purposely did the 2 parallel roosts so they'd be the same height and leave more space so that the "Higher ups" in order could choose whatever they want and let the "lowers" take the remaining. However, the "higers" seem to think they own the whole thing!