Moodleroni Farms - My 'Chicken Math' Origin Story

[Moodleroni]

So I was awoken this morning by a loud, awful noise that sounded like one of my dogs was choking...

Nope, my 7-8week old, teeny bopper cockerel wants to copy his older brothers & thinks he's grown so he decided to start practicing his crows at 3AM...

Doesn't he look like he's all proud of himself for waking me up!? I didn't have the heart to tell him he sounded like a broken car horn or like he was dying. Someone needs to tell him he's not old enough for all that!

 

[TwoCrows]

So I was awoken this morning by a loud, awful noise that sounded like one of my dogs was choking...

Nope, my 7-8week old, teeny bopper cockerel wants to copy his older brothers & thinks he's grown so he decided to start practicing his crows at 3AM...
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Doesn't he look like he's all proud of himself for waking me up!? I didn't have the heart to tell him he sounded like a broken car horn or like he was dying. Someone needs to tell him he's not old enough for all that!

Young cockerels sound pretty bad developing their crowers. He's gorgeous!

 

[Moodleroni]

Is Nugget an EE or like an Americauna or something? She's almost 1 year old and lays large green eggs. She has cheeks, a beard, a pea comb and darker legs but I don't know.

 

[TwoCrows]

Is Nugget an EE or like an Americauna or something? She's almost 1 year old and lays large green eggs. She has cheeks, a beard, a pea comb and darker legs but I don't know.
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She is a doll! I am not sure, start a thread in our What Breed and Gender forums, they can ID birds really well! https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/what-breed-or-gender-is-this.15/

 

[2ndTink]

She looks like an Americana I had from Mt Healthy Hatchery, but I'm not an expert chicken breed identifier, as TwoCrows said, the Breed / Gender ID section has some amazing contributors.

 

[Moodleroni]

So Popcorn got beat up this morning, stepping up to Nugget for some worms.... they both fluffed up, Nugget said 'I don't think so' and charged at him, ripping out all kinds of feathers that she carried around in her mouth for a bit 'til I got them out.

So every morning I bring the teens outside into the run with the OGs. They have their own separate area, but I've been letting the teens roam with the biggens while I'm in there setting everyone up for the day (food/water), then pit them back in their area when I'm going to leave. It's been going fine like that for a while, pecks & chasing but nothing to be concerned about.

So after Popcorn got beat up, he ran and the two OG roos started coming over since Nugget was still all fluffed up. No visible damage on anyone (other than a small bald spot on Popcorn) so I put the teens up and everyone seemed to calm down after they were all in their respective areas, all still eating and whatnot... hope it's not too big of a setback for the "smooth" transition I'm hoping for

 

[TwoCrows]

So Popcorn got beat up this morning, stepping up to Nugget for some worms.... they both fluffed up, Nugget said 'I don't think so' and charged at him, ripping out all kinds of feathers that she carried around in her mouth for a bit 'til I got them out.

So every morning I bring the teens outside into the run with the OGs. They have their own separate area, but I've been letting the teens roam with the biggens while I'm in there setting everyone up for the day (food/water), then pit them back in their area when I'm going to leave. It's been going fine like that for a while, pecks & chasing but nothing to be concerned about.

So after Popcorn got beat up, he ran and the two OG roos started coming over since Nugget was still all fluffed up. No visible damage on anyone (other than a small bald spot on Popcorn) so I put the teens up and everyone seemed to calm down after they were all in their respective areas, all still eating and whatnot... hope it's not too big of a setback for the "smooth" transition I'm hoping for

I am sorry to hear Popcorn got beat up. Integration of birds can take months before you have peace in your flock. Just make sure they aren't cramped in, you put out extra feed and water stations because older birds will guard these and offer plenty of hidy places and levels for escaping. Over time they will all learn to get along but it takes a lot of time. In the mean time, if one of the birds is a huge bully, don't be afraid to cage the bully for a few hours a day.

 

[Moodleroni]

I am sorry to hear Popcorn got beat up. Integration of birds can take months before you have peace in your flock. Just make sure they aren't cramped in, you put out extra feed and water stations because older birds will guard these and offer plenty of hidy places and levels for escaping. Over time they will all learn to get along but it takes a lot of time. In the mean time, if one of the birds is a huge bully, don't be afraid to cage the bully for a few hours a day.

Thank you. Yea, I figured it would take a while, the teens have had their own area, their own food (still on the starter/grower), and their own water. They can see each other but not interact physically unless I'm in there letting them roam. It'll be fun stuff once I put the babies in to!

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you. Yea, I figured it would take a while, the teens have had their own area, their own food (still on the starter/grower), and their own water. They can see each other but not interact physically unless I'm in there letting them roam. It'll be fun stuff once I put the babies in to!

Wouldn't it be nice if they would all get along instantly?! Although the chicken addiction would probably be much worse, we'd be always adding more birds to our flocks!

 

[Moodleroni]

6-7 weeks now:

Parmesan^

Honey^

Teriyaki^

Sesame^

Ginger^

Fajita^

Going to be posting on the 'Breed & Gender Forum' cuz some of the feathering looks weird, and what's with Ginger & Sesame's hairdo!?

I agree, I feel like I finally got all pullets!