My perfect flock ruined by Rural King. Need advice for new flock.

[centrarchid]

The best way to is often through mistakes so route taken not all that bad. Commercial hatchery birds are generally not the best repressentatives of the breeds they are sold as but they do generally lay pretty good. After everything settles down in fall and egg production commences again all will be fun and next season will not be so troublesome. For me the summer is most difficult because young birds are on ground, multiple age groups are being reared, predator pressure is important with smaller birds and it is hot.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Jersey just passed something that looked like a shriveled egg shell, so we are hoping that she will be ok. She acts normal.

About the food-- Max says that they are supposed to get 90% of their nutrition from the Grower food, and the rest from free-ranging. He is complaining that I am giving them too much fruit, and they aren't eating as much of their Grower. They probably eat around a cup of fruit each a day, with most of it being watermelon, and I have been offering it because of the heat. You indicated that they might not get enough food foraging on our property, but their main source of food is the Grower, and the free-ranging is a bonus (in my uneducated mind).

I'm wondering if Jersey's problem is due to not enough calcium since she is eating the Grower. I have offered ground egg shells, but I'd better go buy some oyster shell calcium.

Sorry to take up your whole day! I never dreamed raising chickens would be so complicated! Thank you so much.

 

[dainerra]

it's not complicated. you're just worried

hens will do fine on grower as long as there is a source of calcium offered (egg shells or oyster shells will both work) Since she is new to your house I wouldnt' worry about 1 bad egg. Stress can cause them to do that.

Yes, 1 cup of fruit per bird is over-doing it a bit. Watermelon especially is going to be lacking in nutrients. Since you are offering it to "cool off" I would offer spinach or green veggies soaked in cold water. Otherwise, just keep their waterer filled with cool water and they will be fine

 

[Mother2Hens]

Thank for your emotional support! It's like having a new baby and feeling inadequate. ha. I have offered fancy organic spring mix types of greens, and surprisingly they have not been interested. Maybe they were saving room for their favorite blueberries.

 

[centrarchid]

I can provide anything free-choice (all they want) and they will not over consume a given item so long as something more suitable (grower) is also present. The watermelon intake may actually be more to satisfy need for water but like us chickens seem partial to sweets. If the forage is high quality, then it can greatly exceed 10 % of the nutritional intake. The 90 % estimates for grower is for birds confined to a low quality free-range habitat with vegetable matter actually dominating forage. And that vegetable forage may not be the best since not all plants are equal in that regard. With a small number of birds going truelly free-range, they get 100% of their nutritional but that comes with a serious increase in ranging behavior which seriously increases risk of predation.


More time is required for your flock settle in. I can not type with infant son being a stinker butt.....

 

[1muttsfan]

Your flock dynamics are interesting. Hope they are starting to settle in a little. RIR's tend to be bossy and dont do well in close confinement, where Ams/EE's tend to be shyer and easily bossed around.

You could also use a feed called Flock Raiser, and it would be a good idea to keep free-choice oyster shell available at all times. And as has been said, most of their nutrition should come from their feed, with a little added fresh food.

And if you want to be technical about terminology, a female chicken is a pullet until about a year of age, regardless of when she starts laying

 

[Mother2Hens]

To Centrarchild: Ha. One of my needy cats typically jumps up and tries to type while I am on the computer.

To 1muttsfan: Actually when "Jersey" joined the flock, she took over as the leader since she is a year old, and the others were four months. I am sure she has been stressed from moving to a new situation, the heat, and from the cockerel occasionally trying to mount her. She throws him off and he is basically scared of her as are the other younger ones. Hopefully, Jersey will feel better after passing that yucky stuff. Do you know what time that she would normally lay eggs? We let them out of the coop around 7am, and wondered if she should stay in longer in case she needs to lay. On the other hand, it seems like she'd want the younger ones out of the coop so she could relax. So far in the morning, she is at the bottom floor guarding the food and water while the other three are in the coop afraid to come down. That's why I like to go ahead and open the doors (and keep them open all day). I also place water bowls around in a few shady places. And thanks for the terminology tip-- I have a lot to learn!

 

[NYREDS]

Actually, if we want to clarify terminology, which I agree is important a pullet is a pullet until she's a year old then she becomes a hen. A cockerel becomes a cock at one year of age. Rooster is an imprecise term that apparently means any male.

 

[Mother2Hens]

I am pleased that there are so many reliable sources of information. Thanks for your clarification and input.

 

[centrarchid]

Actually, if we want to clarify terminology, which I agree is important a pullet is a pullet until she's a year old then she becomes a hen. A cockerel becomes a cock at one year of age. Rooster is an imprecise term that apparently means any male.

To add confusion to definitions of pullet vs hen and cockerel vs cock. Working definition varies with type of interest in the birds. I am a biologist coming from a gamefowl background. Those interested in production and show have need for different set of criteria.

Criteria that can used to distinguish pullet from hen
1) Point-of-Lay which is biologically significant with respect to sexual maturity
2) One year post-hatch which is arbitrary but is easy for record keeping
3) Biologically significant and based upon completion of second adult feather set when full maturation of slow growing breeds like games occurs which occurs between 12 and 18 months post hatch depending on hatch date.

Criteria that can used to distinguish cockerel / stag from cock
1) Biologically significant with respect to sexual maturity and completion of first adult feather set (the not very good definition I used to in first post)
Bullstag is interval between completion of first and second adult feather sets
2) One year post-hatch which is arbitrary but is easy for record keeping (bracketed by bullstag interval)
3) Biologically significant and based upon completion of second adult feather set when full maturation of slow growing breeds like games occurs which occurs between 12 and 18 months post-hatch depending on hatch date. This is also very important for Jungle Fowl which are sexually mature for 6 months to a year before becoming a harem master. Second and subsequent feather sets of such adults are distinguishable in some breeds (especially games). Length of spurs can also be a criterian.


Options 1 and 3 are most informative in understanding the physiology and behavior of both genders.