Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[Perris]

I heard something interesting today—maybe someone else can speak to this but I have no experience with it personally except the two night time experiments I’ve done. A flock of wild turkeys hangs out near my mom’s place and she says the males roost lower in the trees than the hens—presumably to guard the hens. Is it the same with chickens?

I have 4 cockerels roosting in trees atm. Three roost at about the same height in a holly. The other one roosts in a conifer with half a dozen pullets; he roosts lower than they do. But, he is also less capable at flying up, and at picking his way through branches to find a good spot. So in his case it may be needs must, rather than a deliberate choice to roost lower.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

She's head hen, and she's not going to give up that position to a teenage punk.

I think you are right. My coop-to-tree experiments are not inspiring any of the girls to defect to the trees. And the yellow game hen (head hen) gave me a long telling off when I put her in the tree last night. I am going to try putting the black Hatch up again tonight and I will just keep doing this with her instead of messing with any of the other hens. She at least slept next to the rooster last time. I think the yellow Hatch is just too independent to submit to the rooster—she doesn’t spend the day with him, she doesn’t eat with him (he won’t let her), so she sure as hell doesn’t want to spend the night in the same tree with him. At least that’s what I understand from her monologue last night

 

[Hablo]

I've almost read the whole discussion.
Interesting to read and thanks to all of you who contributed!

@LaurenRitz
When you write about your breed crosses: Which breed is the abreviation "BA"?
And what does "BYM" mean?
Greetings!

 

[LaurenRitz]

Black Australorp, and Barn Yard Mix. Basically unknown parentage. I keep pretty close track of which birds are related and how.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Coop 2 only had 12 birds at bedtime, so I went hunting #13.

Found her up on the ladder, right where I put her last night. I brought out two more girls to keep her company.

Good girl!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I’ve decided BCMs are no longer my favorite chickens lol. I got two from a hatchery (don’t know which because technically I bought them as pullets from a guy who makes a business of growing chicks out) and they are just not good birds. The one that lays consistently lays oblong eggs—like a squashed football—and the other has never laid anything but soft-shelled eggs. Caught her sitting by the house looking like this so I put Corid in everyone’s water but I couldn’t catch her to give her extra calcium and even if I could I’m pretty sure she is just a reproductive train wreck waiting to happen. I thought about culling her but she is acting normal

 

[centrarchid]

I think you are right. My coop-to-tree experiments are not inspiring any of the girls to defect to the trees. And the yellow game hen (head hen) gave me a long telling off when I put her in the tree last night. I am going to try putting the black Hatch up again tonight and I will just keep doing this with her instead of messing with any of the other hens. She at least slept next to the rooster last time. I think the yellow Hatch is just too independent to submit to the rooster—she doesn’t spend the day with him, she doesn’t eat with him (he won’t let her), so she sure as hell doesn’t want to spend the night in the same tree with him. At least that’s what I understand from her monologue last night

I have been able stimulate abandonment of a given roost cite by simulating a predator knocking them off a roost. If the birds bales from the tree in the dark on its own accord, then more likely than not it will find a new roost site the following evening. In some instances the bird will become secretive at roosting time after disturbed.

A few years back we had a Great-horned owl trying to take tree roosting chickens. The group targeted was a game rooster with two hens and their half grown juvenile offspring. The owl would come in and get entire group to bale where the chickens would then hide in weeds until the following morning. Dogs down below prevent owl from coming down to catch chickens on ground like it would otherwise do. Owl still kept repeating process over multiple nights even though did not take a chicken home. Each time the group found a new roost site at least 100 feet from that used when last disturbed. The rooster seemed to do the site selection. In the end the entire group started roosting on ground in dense brush.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Coop 2 only had 12 birds at bedtime, so I went hunting #13.

Found her up on the ladder, right where I put her last night. I brought out two more girls to keep her company.

Good girl!

View attachment 4235451

Last night she was another 2 rungs up. Keep climbing!

Once the other two settle on this as their roost spot, coop 2 will have 10 hens and 2 cockerels, which is what it was designed for.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Two!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Two!
View attachment 4238511

That's a fancy ladder for your girls!

(most ladders I see are, let's say, vintage, and definitely all wood)