Kraienkoeppe Thread!

[DTchickens]

Hi
I am not one for weighing my birds, but they are a little over the British Standard weights which are:
L/f Male 2.5kg-2.95kg
L/F female 1.8kg-2.5kg
Bantam Male 850gms ( mine are around 100gms+ )
Bantam female 740gms ( Mine are around 800-850gms+)
As for broodiness as mentioned in last post the L/F are renowned for not going broody, we have only had 1 hen half attempt sitting in last couple of seasons (bantams do go broody)





L/f Hen & Bantam Hen (top of socket is 13" high)

Some of my hens could probably be bred down to bantam size very easily, I have some that are only a little bit larger than the Old English I had. If I recall correctly, I read somewhere some Old English bantam helped in shrinking at least some of the LF Kraienkoeppe down to bantam size (though a lot were bred down over generations I believe). Do you think this maybe why the bantams are broody but the large fowl are not?

Nice birds by the way!

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[Fentress]

Every source I have heard regarding the American Kraienkoeppe is that they do go broody regularly, much like a game hen if you have experience with them. In Europe I have heard that most do not go broody, this is backed up by our new English friend (Welcome to the thread!). But I have resources that I believe mention at one point that some even in Europe do go broody, it's just not the norm. I also have sources to back up a comment some people have made that originally there were more colors than the silver and BBred, which I had figured anyway since they originally came from gamefowl which are always diverse in color varieties (but I still like to have sources to link to).

For a long time I questioned if I would breed for broody hens or not, as I like to preserve breeds according to the "homeland" and that standard calls for non-broodiness at least the Netherlands one does I'd have to check again for German. But, hovabators are a waste of money and I don't have the extra cash for the Sportsmans/I like broody hens so I figure I wouldn't worry about it. Originally the breed would have been broody anyway given its heritage. Sandhill's line is supposed to be pretty good but I'm not sure how much better they are than say, Ideals.

They are very smart birds, very attentive and curious. I've got two-three hens laying now so I've been setting them up in pairs now, maybe by next month or so I'll have some chicks on the ground. If you can get some that are more on the gentle side and not really flighty as some are (and will probably be the majority) I think you will love 'em. They've replaced every other breed I owned for me.

God bless,
Daniel.

Thanks Daniel,

That is good news.

Can you generalize about the broody hens you have had? Did they protect their chicks, did you keep them with the main flock or keep them separate? Were the broody hens tolerant of each other - if you had more than one hen go broody at the same time? I know these are general management questions, but the approach you take can be determined by the breeds behavior. I have never had game breeds and was reluctant to do so given my lack of experience (this is my 2nd season). How are the roosters? Less aggressive to each other than game breeds? That is what I have read. Thanks for your help.

Mark

 

[DTchickens]

Thanks Daniel,

That is good news.

Can you generalize about the broody hens you have had? Did they protect their chicks, did you keep them with the main flock or keep them separate? Were the broody hens tolerant of each other - if you had more than one hen go broody at the same time? I know these are general management questions, but the approach you take can be determined by the breeds behavior. I have never had game breeds and was reluctant to do so given my lack of experience (this is my 2nd season). How are the roosters? Less aggressive to each other than game breeds? That is what I have read. Thanks for your help.

Mark

Mark, not had any broodies yet since I just started with them last season when I ordered chicks. I don't keep any broody hens with the flock ever, I pen them separately to themselves or allow them to free range. I have just found that usually even if the broody hens are not too bad, other hens or even cocks can sometimes pick at (or kill) the chicks of numerous breeds so I don't even plan on trying with the Kraienkoeppe.

I imagine the broody hens will probably be protective of their chicks at least towards other chickens/animals, towards people I am not sure but I'll let you know once the hens set/hatch. I base this on the fact that already my hens will face random/new hens for a short time before a pecking order is set and I have even seen them try to fight off new cocks for a few seconds until he puts them in their place. I've seen them face my little pit puppy when he is just sniffing around and just so happens to get close/face them and I imagine the protective nature of the mother will only increase this, but they aren't bullies and towards people are completely non-aggressive. Not all of the hens are as aggressive as this but the majority are, some are bottom of the pecking order out of games/Leghorns/Rhode Island Reds/ etc.

The cockerels are a little more gamey, when they are young they will usually be bottom of the pecking order but I found when they got a little older and started crowing they took place over the Leghorns they grew up with. Some of the cockerels will run around with no signs of fighting at all, others you will walk out and see two spar for maybe a minute or so and go their separate ways. It really depends on the individual, they are capable of being kept in flocks though- I've never seen them really bully another breed just stand their ground. They are not anything like the American game I have which cannot be kept in flocks including many of my hens without them killing each other. Like I said though, I'm getting rid of all of my other breeds and only plan to keep the Kraienkoeppe now.

If you order Old English Gamefowl from a hatchery like Cackle, you probably wouldn't have too much of an issue with gameness though the birds maybe a little aggressive; I heard Cackle's OEG can be manfighters though so it's probably better to find a breeder. LF Old English aren't so easy to find, but AG generally are. A lot of "Old English" LF are just American Games or American gamefowl grades now anyway.

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[Fentress]

Daniel,

I looked around for OEG, but realized that I would probably have to go to a breeder and then when I learned about the Koeppes, I decide to go with them. Harvey Ussery, author of The Small Scale Poultry Flock, has OEG that he uses for brooding and returns the brood back to the larger flock within a few days of hatch. Getting everyone properly fed becomes an issue, but there are ways to do that. Please keep us posted on how your hens do this spring! Some of the Heritage large fowl tend to wait until their second season to go broody, at least that is what I have been told, I am anxious to see what yours will do.

I respect the fact that broodiness is not suppose to be part of this breed, however...... I guess I will complete that thought, Even though these are domestic animals, the fact that a breed of animal has forgotten how to reproduce itself can't be a good thing, at least not entirely.

 

[mcrooke45]

I have one Silver Kraienkoppe hen left and she is sitting right now. I lost the Cockerel I had. He roosted high in a tree and broke his leg while flying down from it. The Chicks are crossed with one of my bantam Sumatras. They will be some interesting chicks. She has hid her nest well. I have not found it yet. At least it does state that the ones here will go broody. I had 11 Kraienkoppe X Silver Phoenix chickens that I hatched late last year but I am down to 3 cockerels and one pullet thanks to a bunch of hawks that have hit me this winter. I got one of them last week so it won't catch any more of my chickens.
Mark

 

[DTchickens]

I have one Silver Kraienkoppe hen left and she is sitting right now. I lost the Cockerel I had. He roosted high in a tree and broke his leg while flying down from it. The Chicks are crossed with one of my bantam Sumatras. They will be some interesting chicks. She has hid her nest well. I have not found it yet. At least it does state that the ones here will go broody. I had 11 Kraienkoppe X Silver Phoenix chickens that I hatched late last year but I am down to 3 cockerels and one pullet thanks to a bunch of hawks that have hit me this winter. I got one of them last week so it won't catch any more of my chickens.
Mark

I believe I have one pullet setting now as well, but she is on the yard, not a breeder bird and like you I cannot find her nest. She could be laying off of buff leghorns, a splash EE, games, other Kraienköppe (which could be either of the 6 free ranging cockerels), or a Rhode Island Red; don't know. My breeders are laying currently but one hen has a nest full of eggs so she may set soon, she's been laying almost everyday since the end of Feb (though she did miss a few days). The others haven't been quite so prolific but have been laying a fair amount. I've stuck some eggs under game hens on the yard, and plan to let them set their own as well whenever they see fit.

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[chickletteSarge]

Still tryin to talk DW into lettin me have some but she wants her breed1st! Can't wait to see what pops DT!

 

[mcrooke45]

Well something broke my sitting hen up. There are to many predators around here. Opossums,coons, coyotes, or neighbors cats. Most of my free rage chickens get broken up or killed by something when they are sitting. I am going to try and catch her and put her up. I don't have another Kraienkoppe rooster to breed her to. I have some asil eggs in the incubator that are to hatch in 12 days. I may cross her to one of those and see what I get.
Mark

 

[chickletteSarge]

Well something broke my sitting hen up. There are to many predators around here. Opossums,coons, coyotes, or neighbors cats. Most of my free rage chickens get broken up or killed by something when they are sitting. I am going to try and catch her and put her up. I don't have another Kraienkoppe rooster to breed her to. I have some asil eggs in the incubator that are to hatch in 12 days. I may cross her to one of those and see what I get.
Mark

ok now i would like to have one of them thurr crosses!

 

[DTchickens]

Update on the Kraienköppe broodies: I have three hens that set and have hatched chicks so far, the first would be the free ranger hen that was off of only God knows; she would show aggression to dogs (cousin's red heeler made a great test subject) once they got within about 5 feet of her though she would display a warning and once really close she usually went full force and attacked the dog until he ran away. Towards me, she wasn't friendly enough to hang around but I followed her and picked up one of her chicks with no issues.

The first brood hen to set she never has even growled at me reaching in the nest with her while she was setting, unlike the game hens I have which will usually draw a little blood (or at least try) if you pester them enough. She seems to follow suit in not caring too much about me bothering her chicks and they aren't really aggressive enough to the point that they will fight with hens that I've seen but they will try to bluff hens that come too close to their chicks. She had a poor hatch rate for some reason, I guess the strange weather threw her off; she hatched only 30%.

The third hen hatched today and like the one above showed no aggression while broody; I was capable of reaching into the nest and pulling her out with no signs of aggression even with 7 little chicks in her nest, I moved her to another pen away from the others so that it wouldn't cause issues when the chicks start coming out of the nest and went ahead and marked those 7 chicks; even when I had four of them in my hand putting them back in the nest with her she didn't seem to mind at all with me. She had a 87.5% hatch rate, it may be 100% tomorrow as she had 1 egg left and it felt like there maybe a chick in there moving and just hadn't pipped yet. It really wasn't time for them to hatch until tomorrow anyway, but given that 87.5% had already hatched I went ahead and moved them.

So far two other hens should be setting but haven't yet, I guess I need to find some game hens' nests and let them set on them. At least though for those who may possibly wish to breed according to the Netherlands, there are individuals to select from who do not set at least in their first year; perhaps as they age they will as I know some hens are like that.

Also, all of the chicks I've gotten have been BBred and walnut combed with possibly the exception of 1 chick that I cannot tell, it looks to a degree walnut but may develop into a very small pea. Guess I'll find out in a few weeks or so.

God bless,
Daniel.