Maine

[buckabucka]

So much for integrating roosters!

I had the two biggest ones crammed in the brooder, but the blue Ameraucana (smallish) is the biggest jerk of all. He is constantly harassing the Basques, and now the smallish and skittish wheaten Marans is following suit.

I came out to find two injured Basques, one just with a little limp, and the other with droopy tail and shaky leg. I was tempted to strangle the aggressors right then and there.

My first idea was to put all the aggressors in the two brooder boxes, but as soon as I added the Marans in with two of the others, they tried to kill him. He went limp, but after I dragged him back out he was fine.

So now I am back to the old carport system. So glad DH was here and willing to help me set it up. Four giant roosters are in there. They are only 13 weeks but are quite heavy. The wheaten Marans and blue Ameraucana are going to grow out in the brooder in the jail, while the Basques and OEs will have the run of the jail and be able to free-range.

I'm going to keep one Basque cockerel. I had considered replacing my current OE roo with the wheaten Marans, but not anymore. I'll keep my even-tempered olive egger roo. I've developed a new-found appreciation for his temperament!

 

[buckabucka]

SCG, DH thinks the bees look great. It was fun to see the photo. And he says you will love the new frame grip.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

We're having integration issues here, too. Besides the ones that are too stupid to figure out their way back inside the coop, my cornish are majorly bald still. I can't integrate half bald chickens into a coop with ferocious adult biddies.


Glad your husband is enjoying the bee pictures. I'm really enjoying this new venture. If things continue along this good I will more than likely get another hive next year

 

[lazy gardener]

So much for integrating roosters!

I had the two biggest ones crammed in the brooder, but the blue Ameraucana (smallish) is the biggest jerk of all. He is constantly harassing the Basques, and now the smallish and skittish wheaten Marans is following suit.

I came out to find two injured Basques, one just with a little limp, and the other with droopy tail and shaky leg. I was tempted to strangle the aggressors right then and there.

My first idea was to put all the aggressors in the two brooder boxes, but as soon as I added the Marans in with two of the others, they tried to kill him. He went limp, but after I dragged him back out he was fine.

So now I am back to the old carport system. So glad DH was here and willing to help me set it up. Four giant roosters are in there. They are only 13 weeks but are quite heavy. The wheaten Marans and blue Ameraucana are going to grow out in the brooder in the jail, while the Basques and OEs will have the run of the jail and be able to free-range.

I'm going to keep one Basque cockerel. I had considered replacing my current OE roo with the wheaten Marans, but not anymore. I'll keep my even-tempered olive egger roo. I've developed a new-found appreciation for his temperament!

I sent 3 roosters to freezer camp the week before last. Their behavior was totally unacceptable!!!!! They were quite small, hardly worth the effort, but at least the meat is organic. Have 3 Doms yet to go. If and when I end up trying to breed my own birds, I'll not bother unless I can get a rooster who treats the ladies with the respect they deserve. Harvey Ussery stresses the importance of breeding appropriate chicken behaviors into your flock, including successful brooding and mothering, and roosters who tend the hens and court them before jumping on them. Supposedly a dancing rooster has hens that willingly accept his advances, and there is less injury resulting. IMO, roosters are a total pain in the ****!

So sorry Ash for your dilemma.

I've had 3 different birds fly over the electronet within the last few days. Don't want to clip them b/c I want them as mobile as possible to protect from predation, however, I also need to protect my garden from predation!! Told the 6 y.o. my rationale of clipping wings for a second offense, and she goes into great detail explaining the process and "why" to any one who comes into the yard. She is such a little farmer!! She calls one of the Doms "Chew-Chew" because that's what he does to the hen's neck when he catches her!

 

[VioletBlueIvy]

My head roo is a dancer, the girls love him He will even get in the nest boxes, in a cozy corner, under a bush, and coo and beep and squat down and tread a little nest and try to get a hen to come lay an egg. He is quite the charmer! He even tries it with me All of the roosters I have raised here with him that I have kept since he came along have learned the behavior from him. It's really neat to watch.

I never had a roo before him that did this, and there have been several that were not raised here that dont demonstrate the behavior either. I think raising them as a family group is important so the young roo's learn some manners and are kept in line by the head roo. I have a roo that I got all grown this spring, he has had a hard time integrating into the flock, he was a backup for breeding and wasn't raised in a flock and he just doesn't know what to do with himself, poor guy. He has started hanging with Bee and following him around like one of the hens, like Bee is his hero. So cute, if he starts nesting too, that just goes to show.
I LOVE roosters, especially my Bee
He has lots of babies this year

 

[lazy gardener]

My head roo is a dancer, the girls love him

He will even get in the nest boxes, in a cozy corner, under a bush, and coo and beep and squat down and tread a little nest and try to get a hen to come lay an egg. He is quite the charmer! He even tries it with me

All of the roosters I have raised here with him that I have kept since he came along have learned the behavior from him. It's really neat to watch.

I never had a roo before him that did this, and there have been several that were not raised here that dont demonstrate the behavior either. I think raising them as a family group is important so the young roo's learn some manners and are kept in line by the head roo. I have a roo that I got all grown this spring, he has had a hard time integrating into the flock, he was a backup for breeding and wasn't raised in a flock and he just doesn't know what to do with himself, poor guy. He has started hanging with Bee and following him around like one of the hens, like Bee is his hero. So cute, if he starts nesting too, that just goes to show.
I LOVE roosters, especially my Bee

He has lots of babies this year

Glad to hear that chivalry is not dead. The only other down side is that we only have 4 acres, mostly wooded, and the coop is in direct line with the bedroom windows. Not too condusive to a good nights sleep! However, perhaps when I get to the point of breeding, I'll give you a yell for a mannerly rooster! It only stands to reason that a lot of behavior is learned. So have you laid an egg for him yet?

 

[SilverLaceWy]

Ok so I have been reading a lot about sand litter for the coop and run. I heard a possible drawback would be the winter months and the sand being cold. Has anyone used or is using sand as a litter? I'd luv to hear the pros and cons if there are any out there.
Thanks

 

[longgrove]

Ok so I have been reading a lot about sand litter for the coop and run. I heard a possible drawback would be the winter months and the sand being cold. Has anyone used or is using sand as a litter? I'd luv to hear the pros and cons if there are any out there.
Thanks

I have a coop on my porch as I am in a wheelchair and can get to the flock there. I have lined the floor with a heavy duty rubber roof membrane. I put a 1/2 to 1 inch layer of sand down and top it with 2 to 3 inches of shavings. I spot clean the litter every 2 to 3 days,

They make the most mess in certain spots; this facilitates spot cleaning. The sand keeps the floor dry. It seems to disperse the moisture initally and it then evaporates. Most of the shavings get picked up every week or two. In Fall and Winter, I put the soiled (dry) shavings in large bags in the barn and put them on the pen's paths after snow falls. (The divas' feet must not touch snow, or so they believe). The sand does not need to be changed as often. (Of course, some of it gets picked up with the shavings), I add more sand as needed. It does not need to be swept up and fully changed more than every 2 to 3 months or so. When I do change the sand, I save it as a soil amendment in gardening.

Of course, ithe litter system stays clean longer when weather permits day ranging much of the day. The coop is 12 x 8 feet. There are 2 roos, 11 hens and 5 chicks. With this regimen, the litter remains fluffy and dry, without significant smell. As they fly off the roost, the shavings sometimes get blown off some areas of the floor. The sand does not move as much and keeps the floor from getting wet and messy. This system works well for me and keeps the coop very inoffensive (it is accesed from the utility room which is entered from my bedroom so smells are undesirable, lol).

New topic. Spurs. I have a roo (Jack) with 1 1/2 inch spurs. i have sanded them round once but they are sharp again. is there a way to remove them without harming him? Jack is generally dominated by the other roo, Flash (who is just 1 year old and has only nubbins where the spurs go).

Occasionly Jack gets frustrated enough (Flash does like to torture him by mating with Jack's favorite two hens who were with him in a breeding pen before he came here) to go beserk and fly at Flash with the spurs and turn the tables. Then there is chaos. Flash does not attack the Jack when he is on top. Jack, however, will chase and attack Flash constantly when the tables are turned and a series of bloody battles ensues. The hens are very upset when this happens. Also, Jack is rough with the hens compared with Flash. If Jack didn't have spurs, i think Flash would remain dominant and the flock would be more peaceful.

One othe spur related question. One of my spangled h\Hampberg hens has spurs. ayes, she is a hen, has laid an egg a day since last Fall. None of my other hens have spurs (including the other Hamberg). Interestingly, she has a very dominant personality, was flock boss before the roos came, despite being about 3 1/2 #.

Ash, so sorry for the difficulties with your flock and the difficult decision you have made. What will you do with the heritage geese with the blue eyes? They are so beautiful.

 

[SilverLaceWy]

Thanks Longgrove.

 

[buckabucka]

My head roo is a dancer, the girls love him He will even get in the nest boxes, in a cozy corner, under a bush, and coo and beep and squat down and tread a little nest and try to get a hen to come lay an egg. He is quite the charmer! He even tries it with me All of the roosters I have raised here with him that I have kept since he came along have learned the behavior from him. It's really neat to watch.

I never had a roo before him that did this, and there have been several that were not raised here that dont demonstrate the behavior either. I think raising them as a family group is important so the young roo's learn some manners and are kept in line by the head roo. I have a roo that I got all grown this spring, he has had a hard time integrating into the flock, he was a backup for breeding and wasn't raised in a flock and he just doesn't know what to do with himself, poor guy. He has started hanging with Bee and following him around like one of the hens, like Bee is his hero. So cute, if he starts nesting too, that just goes to show.
I LOVE roosters, especially my Bee
He has lots of babies this year

This is interesting to me. I had decided all my rooster's behaviors were embedded in his genetic material. We were so amazed with our very first flock that the lone rooster knew what noises to make for ground predators, aerial predators, food, etc., and that the girls all automatically knew what these meant. It is not at all like a human baby learning a language from it's parents, as they are all babies together (assuming you get a bunch of day-olds) and somehow have this common language in their genes.

Of the 5 roosters we have kept for any period of time, 3 make a nest and call the girls over. With our first rooster, this also amazed me, because he made the nest and kept pushing the leghorn into it. It was our first egg, and I wondered how he knew she was about to lay. That is what has kept me fascinated with these birds. It also had me wondering what other animals had these "flock behaviors" that I knew nothing about previously. Just from brief conversations with our friend who raises cows, they have their own set of interesting behaviors. (Bees, too!)

And while I feel like I have so much to learn and understand about chickens, I am surprised that many people don't realize you can have eggs without a rooster, that roosters don't lay eggs, that different breeds lay different colors, and you can't hatch eggs if you don't have a rooster. And many children don't even know that eggs come from chickens!

Sorry to go on... The coffee is kicking in.
We have sand in our run, but only because that is what we have for soil, pure sand.