Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[BlindLemonChicken]

The hens will weigh 3-5lb depending on the strain, they can handle any rooster just fine.

They are Hatch and Leper (I think I’m spelling that right). I plan on keeping them separate for a couple weeks in a predator-proof outdoor run then letting them out with the other chickens and letting them decide where they want to sleep after that. Hopefully they will breed and hatch some eggs for me next spring and I will have a good start on a better foraging flock.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Well…I got my Leiper Hatch hens. They are living in the run of the chicken tractor for a few weeks and so far are just lovely.
Now I am having cockerel issues. When I got this flock I was not planning on having legit free rangers so I got a boy of my favorite breed. As one would. I raised him with two full grown hens and older pullets. He has been mating the older hens and at six months is The Boss. Not a great boss but I haven’t lost a single bird (yet) so maybe he’s keeping an eye on the sky. Mostly he seems to keep an eye on me (he is not satisfied with his crumble rations). The real problem is he has flared his neck feathers at me and my tiny human. He actually challenged me. Part of me thinks maybe the game hens (who are older than him) will knock a little manners into him but 99% of me says it’s irrelevant and he needs to go. I can get an “apocalypse” rooster from my friends so I feel like it’s a no-brainer but I need to hear that from other people.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Oh and here are the hens just for fun

 

[NatJ]

Part of me thinks maybe the game hens (who are older than him) will knock a little manners into him but 99% of me says it’s irrelevant and he needs to go.

I pretty much agree with the 99%, but you could toss him in the pen with the hens for a while and see what happens. Having him penned would at least protect you and the tiny human while you think about the situation.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I pretty much agree with the 99%, but you could toss him in the pen with the hens for a while and see what happens. Having him penned would at least protect you and the tiny human while you think about the situation.

Oh interesting idea…

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I think your instinct is correct. The hens won’t change him.

He should never treat you like a rival rooster. If he does, I don’t believe that’s curable. I strongly believe that’s often a result of a rooster imprinting on humans and not being able to distinguish human from chicken.

The kind of aggression that’s curable is food aggression. As a family trait, most of the oriental gamefowl cockerels and some pullets I’ve raised from multiple bloodlines will bite me in order to make me drop food. That usually goes away when they’re past adolescence and they also seem to positively respond to my aggressive body language when they do bite.

I did recently cull 2 otherwise good terrofowl cockerels for snatching a steak off the grill as I was cooking on my porch. I figured because they learned they could do that, they’d do it again.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

The kind of aggression that’s curable is food aggression

This is the exact reason I am hesitant. I think it might be a food thing since I stopped giving them as much food in the morning. They have plenty to forage. But it has only happened at feeding time and since my older child hesitated feeding them and he jumped up on the feeder to get it dropped. So he gets titchy around the feed room in the barn (that’s where both challenges happened). Even if this is fixable it’s not really a desirable trait in a free-range flock master but it might be worth re-homing him instead of culling.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

This is the exact reason I am hesitant. I think it might be a food thing since I stopped giving them as much food in the morning. They have plenty to forage. But it has only happened at feeding time and since my older child hesitated feeding them and he jumped up on the feeder to get it dropped. So he gets titchy around the feed room in the barn (that’s where both challenges happened). Even if this is fixable it’s not really a desirable trait in a free-range flock master but it might be worth re-homing him instead of culling.

Its the neck-hackle posturing that would have me concerned. My orientals don’t do that when they’re being jerks. They come up behind me and jump up and bite my upper leg. Usually its not hard. Just enough to get my attention. Sometimes they latch on to my shorts and pull them down. Its a very puppy-like behavior. It doesn’t mimic how they fight amongst themselves.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Its the neck-hackle posturing that would have me concerned.

That makes sense. It does remind me of a food-aggressive dog I had who was also aggressive and unpredictable in other areas. I kept him because he was a dog and I didn’t have kids then. This settles it for me. Thanks for your help!