Minnesota!

[Mistahbue]

Well last night the 5 remaining chicks officially moved to outside housing, still with a lamp, but they are out of the garage and can now roost and scratch sand for their feed and munch on some grass and seeds. I didn't sleep worth a hoot but this am they are all fine.

I've got an order placed for 15 chicks from McMurray's at the end of the month (Aug) - I had paid for the Mercks because I thought I had too get them vaccinated. Since the others aren't I'm going to call and have them cancel the vaccine on those birds. I don't know that they will mix and mingle but I'd like for all my chickens to learn to play nice with each other.


Question -- how do you manage with multiple roos? And at what age have you introduced younger chicks to established birds?

Lena is peeved that she lost her egg laying spot (since chicks now live in that coop). I fixed her another dark area in their roosting coop for eggs. Hopefully she will use it. Otherwise there's not telling where she'll plop one.

 

[Mistahbue]

Just ran across this -- to show how ignorant I am I don't know if MN has something similar in the works.

Figured you might want to pass it along if you know folks in NC.

http://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.e...e-and-small-must-register-for-farm-id-number/

 

[NikonD2xer]

I had 7 RIR roos run free together. 5 were 1 year old and 2 were 2 years olds. I was the only one that ended up bleeding. One of the 2 year olds get a bit nasty and would lay in wait for an ambush. Last i checked he was still hiding in the freezer. I never did see or even hear a major squabble between the roos.

I am more worried about incorporating the young birds into the group. They have been in the same coop just separated by wire. I am open to any and all suggestions on incorporating the 2 groups.

 

[Mistahbue]

I had 7 RIR roos run free together. 5 were 1 year old and 2 were 2 years olds. I was the only one that ended up bleeding. One of the 2 year olds get a bit nasty and would lay in wait for an ambush. Last i checked he was still hiding in the freezer. I never did see or even hear a major squabble between the roos.

I am more worried about incorporating the young birds into the group. They have been in the same coop just separated by wire. I am open to any and all suggestions on incorporating the 2 groups.

Following

These chicks are separated from Ole' and Lena's roosting coop by about a foot, however they roost at the very end of the coop which is about 6 ft away. They do show curiosity about the chicks - even when I had them in the 'exercise' pen prior to putting them outside for keeps. Never noticed them trying to peck at the kids. The chicks are still too small, IMO, to be let out to roam free. The cats are tolerant of the guineas and the grown chickens but they'd see these guys as fair game.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I would like to know who gave directions to my house to every skunk in Minnesota.

Tonight I heard some scratching on the back door, thinking it was my nomad tom cat, I opened the door.
Dang skunk fell into the door way. I thought it was going to come all the way into the house.
After regaining my composure I grabbed the shotgun. It hadn't moved ten feet. I couldn't shoot it with a 12 gauge that close to the house.
It would not run away no matter what i did. I had to go back in the house and get the 22 revolver.
There had to be something wrong with this one, I was less than 3 feet away from it when i shot it.

That makes 8 skunks since the mention of the critters on here 5 or 6 days ago.

No more PLEASE !!!!!

You have a family or more than one on your property, is my guess. And one that acts like that has active rabies, so I would bleach the area where you shot it so no domestic critters pick it up.
We were overrun with them when we moved to this place 16-years ago. The first summer here our dog had to have gotten sprayed at least 25 times. Every night he would go down to their nest area snooping and they would chase him to the house and spray him at the back step. You think he would have learned to kill them or leave them alone, but Nooooooo. One night I it was 10:30 and the boys (hadn't had the daughter yet) were in bed asleep. Trouble came in licking the stink and puked on the carpet. Considering it was very old carpet and that ugly gold of the 60's and 70's (not shag at least!), I didn't feel so bad about tearing it off the steps. I was just mad it woke up the kids. Eventually, we trapped or shot them all and destroyed their habitat enough that they didn't come back for a while. Now, we just have them wander through. Then there was the one momma skunk who got caught in my weasel trap this spring, and her 7 babies. We haven't seen them though since the dog brought the kits to us one by one. At least one of our dogs now knows how to kill the dang things instead of just getting perfumed by them!

 

[Minniechickmama]

Anyone know whats up with this?

Couple years ago, I had a welsummer who had patches of feathers missing on her chest, sides, etc. Not molting. Bare patches of skin. If you looked real close, you could see a few feather shafts(the quill part) bare of the feathering stuff - at the edges of the bare patches. center was just skin, all feathers gone. I decided that this must be feather mites. Couldn't see anything, but...something was chewing on the feathers. I thought it was weird that it was patchy, and that she was the only one in the flock affected. Nevertheless, I did a sulphur dip bath for the flock, followed by another one a few weeks later. It seemed as if it stopped the problem. Fall came, she molted, came back fine.

Two years later, this summer....problem reappears. Same hen, or at least another welsummer.

Again, no other chickens showing this.

Also this spring, Seaquist started sporting two slashes at either side of her neck. feathers cut off at base.



I've heard mice will nibble? I considered whether this was beard/muff nibbling (my ee's apparently have been shaving from the looks of it), but Seaquist roosts in a different room.

I have a couple with the same thing!!!! Never had it before, now I have 2! I am going to see what I can find out and if I get an answer will let you know. I am going to go through and treat all my birds with Frontline or Sentry and see if that helps clear it up and any lice they may have picked up. Someone said ringworm on another forum, but I am not jumping on that. I don't have any way they could have picked it up. It is odd that it is just the neck like that. And it isn't roosters pulling feathers on mine, one IS a rooster and he started when he was still in the breeding pen with only females. Mice is one consideration since I am seeing those little turds again. I better lock my cats in the chicken house.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Thanks Minniechickmama,

Always interesting to hear other opinions. I'm getting the chickens for eggs to sale - and maybe if someone else handles the ugly part they might be dinner some day.

I thought when chicks were ordered that the Mercks vaccine was mandatory. I'm learning something new everyday. Thanks!

No vaccines are mandatory and they cost extra to have them vaccinated. I did the first year then decided not to after that and I don't regret it. Of course, I haven't bought hatchery chicks other than meat birds in a few years.
The most common practice among breeders is to cull any birds that display symptoms of Mareks. It is passed both vertically and horizontally, meaning through propagation and between birds living in the same space. So, culling removes it from any chance of breeding, and it removes the source so it does not spread to the rest of the flock.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Last night had a pack of yotes yippin pretty darn close to the house. Probably within 300 yards. Fortunately the chickens are fine, but this morning I just gave them access to the run and not gonna free range them today.

We have a pack that lives down in the field, I believe or close enough by that they run past the property pretty close some nights. Raises the hair on the back of my neck. I hate them! But since I have mine pastured it, I haven't had them snatched by anything other than that weasel and owls. The pasture is plenty big enough for them to go scratching and pecking around, so it might as well be free ranging, but they are somewhat safe from larger predators. I do miss seeing them out on the property though. I don't miss the daily egg hunt though.

I had one rooster when we first started and did let them all free range, that would take a few of his hens down in the field toward the runoff area between some fields. One day, all the hens came back, but Rascal didn't. I am thinking a fox came along and he sacrificed himself so they could get away. He was that kind of a rooster. It is always the good ones that you lose too, isn't it?

 

[Minniechickmama]

So, this is my 5th post in a row..... And that is what happens when I come to the desk and find over 40 posts!!!

When it comes to roosters and housing together and how many, my answer is... it depends.
What breed are they?
How many females do you them with?
How big of a space do you have?
How old are they?
How many do you really need?
Are you keeping them to use or just growing them out?

Outside I have 7 roosters with about 25 hens and they get along fine, but there is also plenty of space for them to get away from each other. When I first turn them out onto pasture, they fight, there is bloody faces and ruffled up feathers, but then it settles down and everyone knows their place in the pecking order. I even see hens beat the crap out of roosters twice their size. I watch, but it is all normal chicken behavior. I have Cornish that I will not turn two roosters into the same pen or pasture once they have had their own pen or they will fight until one or both are dead.

I have concluded that when growing out cockerels just so they can be butchered, then find a way to separate them from all the females and the keeper roosters. If they don't have females to fight over, it will be a much calmer flock. Except if you have ducks, then if you have all drakes in one pen or pasture, they will gang (rape) up on the weakest drake, and they are brutal.

***I will be back tomorrow. Don't have too many posts for me to read through.

 

[scandiafowl]

We hear coyotes almost every night. There is a pair with a pup in the area.
Rosie will tear out the back door and chase them off. Fortuntely there are enough dogs in the area.

Live and let live.