Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[BlindLemonChicken]

I tried something else tonight and physically moved two of the game hens into the tree. I didn’t put the Flarry Eye Gray up there because she is the smallest and cost the most money lol. But I figure since one of the Hatch games has already gone straight feral the other two Hatches have a good chance of surviving up a tree. They immediately evacuated the tree and opted for the lean-to but maybe after a few nights of this they will start following the rooster.

 

[LaurenRitz]

When I put my birds in the rafters it generally took 3 days to a week of putting them up there for them to start doing it themselves.

After two or three days they know this is their new "house" and start heading for it automatically.

Mine may have taken longer because they had to learn to navigate a ladder. That took a few days. Ladders simply are not natural for birds.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

When I put my birds in the rafters it generally took 3 days to a week of putting them up there for them to start doing it themselves.

After two or three days they know this is their new "house" and start heading for it automatically.

Mine may have taken longer because they had to learn to navigate a ladder. That took a few days. Ladders simply are not natural for birds.

I will keep trying. The night I locked them out the games flew right up into the tree so I can only assume that the rooster already being up there makes them disinclined to fly up. Only one of the two really hangs with him during the day—the other usually does her own thing with a couple of the older hens. That is the hen who has been the boss hen during the time with no rooster. So maybe she isn’t keen to leave the other hens but she really is the best candidate for tree sleeping. She was up so high last time I was surprised.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

I went into this in more detail in the raising baby chicks thread, but I feel it's probably especially relevant to those here who incubate. It seems like many of us may be inadvertently stunting our brooder raised chicks. I quoted my post below if you want to read more. Taking this research paper into account might help one's chicks grow up to be better free rangers

One thing to keep in mind for those who incubate/brooder raise chicks: around the 11th day of life, broody raised chicks will begin voluntarily going out of sight of their mother. As it turns out, they're going through a very important milestone in their cognitive development. Research shows that this is the time where they're beginning to develop their ability to orient themselves in their environment. These "occlusion experiences" where they must navigate to something they cannot see (their mother) really improves their spatial awareness later in life, and chicks that miss this window tend to make wrong turns and become lost more easily as adults. If you're raising chicks in a brooder, you can make sure your chicks have these experiences by placing objects that block their view in the brooder--curtains, hiding places, tunnels, whatever--before the 11 day mark. If the chicks have the opportunity, they will explore these areas, which develops their navigational "software" and really helps them as adults. You do need to have a big enough brooder for this to work, but there is real, scientifically measurable benefit to doing this.

Work cited:
Freire, Rafael, et al. “Development of Spatial Memory in Occlusion-Experienced Domestic Chicks.” Animal Behaviour, vol. 67, no. 1, Jan. 2004, pp. 141–150, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.03.015.

Edit: typo

 

[LaurenRitz]

Only one of the two really hangs with him during the day—the other usually does her own thing with a couple of the older hens. That is the hen who has been the boss hen during the time with no rooster. So maybe she isn’t keen to leave the other hens but she really is the best candidate for tree sleeping. She was up so high last time I was surprised.

She's head hen, and she's not going to give up that position to a teenage punk. Wait till he mounts one of the girls and she knocks him off.

Either entertaining or lethal.

I can only assume that the rooster already being up there makes them disinclined to fly up.

Once a bird decides a particular spot is "theirs," they will return to it. Waking in a new spot in the morning is disorienting, but eventually they realize that the place they wake up in is their new place. If they continue to wake up in the same place, they won't change that habit easily.

I think this is why my roosters have always joined the hens rather than the other way around. Only one bird needs to change his habits, and his instinct is to be close to his girls.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

She's head hen, and she's not going to give up that position to a teenage punk. Wait till he mounts one of the girls and she knocks him off.

So funny story…I went out this morning a little later than usual and not only did everyone survive the night—they multiplied! The feral hen had come down for breakfast. I probably see her once a week maybe less so I figured she would be at the bottom of the pecking order whenever she pops in. Apparently not. She kicked everyone off the feed bowl except the rooster—who had to do a little wing dance to be allowed to eat. The rest of the hens scattered completely, including the head game hen. So I have no idea who’s in charge anymore The rooster I guess. I’m going to keep moving those two games out at night even if I can’t physically put them on his branch. If they get the idea they can easily perch even higher than he is.