Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[LaurenRitz]

Oh I thought you had 3 males . I would start with the one you have no problem getting rid of. See if that changes flock dynamics.
If not pick the next.
How many hens?

25 hens

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

My 2 cents, given what the goals of our projects in this thread are and from years of my experience with interfering with the social order, is this: don’t.

Whenever I try to pick the genetic winners to control how my flock progresses against the option of letting natural selection happen on the farmyard, I weaken the flock. I’ve seen it play out too many times.

Your senior rooster should be able to decisively whip the young one. If he can’t, the young one may be the stronger one. If he topples the old rooster and his competition from other stags, he’ll undergo a rapid maturation process and become the new dominant cock.

Roosters fight in a state of nature for a purpose; to let the strongest rooster do most of the breeding. I’d say you got to let that happen.

Is there a risk of losing them both? Yes. Have a backup penned and ready to be released should both the young stag and the old cock mortally wound each other. But that’s the nature of these beasts quite literally. The strongest needs to survive and make your next generation of chicks.

 

[Perris]

Fwiw, I agree with Florida Bullfrog.

I'd add that the hens have a say in whose genes go forward too. It's not just about males competing with each other; it's also about which one each female prefers to fertilize her eggs. Leaving it to nature encourages diversity and diversity enhances survival for the species.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I'm getting rid of the jerk this morning. The girls don't like him, he hangs around the chicks just so he can chase them away and eat their food, and then the behavior yesterday, taking advantage of the fight to get his licks in and then running.

That will leave 5 adult males, one of whom does not appear interested in the girls, and another who is several pounds lighter although only 6 weeks younger than his brother (his brother is the one that was fighting).

I separated them last night. They're both bloodied, limping, but apparently not too badly hurt.

Shall I give them a chance to heal, or let the senior roo out this morning?

 

[LaurenRitz]

Well, I think the question is answered.

I let the senior roo out this morning, and he was eager to go. After one minor flurry, he went back and stood by the door, waiting for me to let him back in.

 

[Appalachickens]

With the roosters, my current (constantly evolving plan) is to keep one stag contained as a back-up while his brother roams free. If the first gets killed, I will let the brother out. When someone starts reproducing, I can just hang back and see what happens with the cockerels.

I put up a little fence covered in netting on one side of the shelter that holds the back-up stag and his two leghorns. It felt mean to just keep them completely locked up. And then altered it today with tall garden stakes so I don't have to walk like a hunchback when I'm bringing in food. The free-rangers visit frequently and there's a lot of posturing going on between the hens on either side of the fence, plus the multiple daily crow-offs between the two game stags and my coop roo. They all crow from 3 AM to dark, every day.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I heard the white rooster alert this morning and went outside in time to see the neighbor's two dogs trotting past on their morning patrol.

The other three roosters within sight were still foraging and crowing, apparently oblivious.

At least the hens were paying attention.

 

[Appalachickens]

One or both of my game hens decided where they needed to be laying was way, way back in a wineberry/blackberry thicket. I nearly killed myself getting back there, but I pulled out the dozen eggs, shoved a nesting back farther back in so it feels more sheltered to them, and left two of the eggs in it to make them think it was their idea.

 

[LaurenRitz]

One or both of my game hens decided where they needed to be laying was way, way back in a wineberry/blackberry thicket. I nearly killed myself getting back there, but I pulled out the dozen eggs, shoved a nesting back farther back in so it feels more sheltered to them, and left two of the eggs in it to make them think it was their idea.
View attachment 4319480

How far back is way back? I use one of those reachers with the suction cups on the end to gather eggs that I can't reach. Something like that might make it simpler.

 

[Appalachickens]

How far back is way back? I use one of those reachers with the suction cups on the end to gather eggs that I can't reach. Something like that might make it simpler.

10-12 feet maybe? Really way back. I had to get down into the gulley and climb over the brambles. It was a whole thing.