Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[DesertChic]

Yep. When it is a rank settling thing, separating just prolongs it because they don't get to fully settle it for once n all. If determined, they will just keep trying to fight every time they are back together until it's truly settled between them.

If the rank has been settled and Heisenburg has accepted his new position.. don't be too surprised if Ozzy likes to chase him around a bit now and then. That will taper off. Not a good idea to put both in close confinement for now though....

One thing to watch out for confined birds is not to have anything where one bird can be cornered with no way out... they cannot understand the loser is stuck and really cannot get away so they can get frustrated and keep pecking at the head. And give hiding places- I've used plywood pieces stuck diagonally in a corner(two exits NOT one), large leafy limbs etc.. Learned this with pheasants where male on female aggression can be a problem.

Got it! No more intervention. *Sigh* Time to put the mothering instincts aside and let the boys be boys. Luckily they each have their own houses and will be separated when locked up tonight.

I'm actually wondering now if Heisenberg came out the winner. Ozzy has been hanging out in his pen for hours, avoiding the rest of the flocks, while Heisenberg is out strutting his stuff as usual. Ozzy's also now missing a point from his comb. I guess I'll know for certain once I've watched them for a while tomorrow.

 

[Phill98]

Most totally ignore the chicks... until they are too close then they might give a bop on the head to tell them to get out of the way. The chicks learn very fast.

The worst problems are roosters who are very mean to non-breeding hens by either attacking them if they happen to get too close or deliberately chasing them away at feeding time.   With those types, the worst problem is when the hen has day old babies that are not yet very mobile so the hen is kind of stuck where the babies so the rooster can get really angry and flat out attack the hen simply because she is not doing what he wants her to- which is run away. 

The other potential problem are some hens who are for whatever reason, aggressive towards chicks or are aggressive towards a mother hen because of her 'odd' sounds and behavior.

While both worst scenario cases are not too common,  it is usually much less of a headache to just have a secure pen to keep a mother hen and her new babies in for a couple weeks then let them all loose when you feel they are old enough.

One other thing- if there are magpies, crows, ravens or hawks in the area, it is best to confine them anyways because really young chicks are very often targeted by these predators- even with the mother hen, other hens and roosters around.

I might give it a try, but I would probably spend whole day out with them and see if that would work. I will also have plan b to move them somewhere where they can be alone.

To make a problem little bit smaller, would it be better if I used a top girl or one that is high in the pecking order? Maybe that way other hens that are not that high ranked wouldn't try to do anything with the chicks?

 

[Kev]

I might give it a try, but I would probably spend whole day out with them and see if that would work. I will also have plan b to move them somewhere where they can be alone.

To make a problem little bit smaller, would it be better if I used a top girl or one that is high in the pecking order? Maybe that way other hens that are not that high ranked wouldn't try to do anything with the chicks?

Yeah if you can, have the higher ranking hens be the mother hens as she can shoo the other hens away especially at feeding time. But that is not terribly important, so if a lower hen goes broody, let her especially if there is plan b.

 

[Kev]

Got it! No more intervention. *Sigh* Time to put the mothering instincts aside and let the boys be boys. Luckily they each have their own houses and will be separated when locked up tonight.

I'm actually wondering now if Heisenberg came out the winner. Ozzy has been hanging out in his pen for hours, avoiding the rest of the flocks, while Heisenberg is out strutting his stuff as usual. Ozzy's also now missing a point from his comb. I guess I'll know for certain once I've watched them for a while tomorrow.

Hope I didn;t come across too strong.. I realize it is no fun at all when it happens.. it is either that or being forced to cull or make separate quarters.

I've had to cringe and see how it played out with the totally free range chickens.. no coop at all... with the 'rank rearrangement' fights it always eventually settled into a new order with 'peace' coming back. That was also when I was not yet able to do the killing part of culling.. and no place to isolate the rooster(s).

It is the one boy that simply cannot tolerate other roosters or what seems to be a pure and unrelenting dislike for a particular rooster that needs to be watched for. This is rare but does happen.

 

[nchvac]

Got it! No more intervention. *Sigh* Time to put the mothering instincts aside and let the boys be boys. Luckily they each have their own houses and will be separated when locked up tonight.

I'm actually wondering now if Heisenberg came out the winner. Ozzy has been hanging out in his pen for hours, avoiding the rest of the flocks, while Heisenberg is out strutting his stuff as usual. Ozzy's also now missing a point from his comb. I guess I'll know for certain once I've watched them for a while tomorrow.

Wonder if you kept them in the same pen at night if perhaps that would solve some of your problem? I think I would let them wake up together for a couple of weeks and see if they start getting along better. I am thinking maybe when they wake up alone they assume that is their territory type thing. Need to think like a chicken sometimes, make that most times. Isn't that what some of the politicians seem to be doing? LOL

 

[nchvac]

Heat stress is the big monster in my area. It can delay growth and onset of lay in a big way, and can stop egg production dead, which is inconvenient because by the time it gets cool enough for them to start laying again (here that can be as late as mid nov.) it is time for a molt. Scaleless will still feel the heat but they will shed it like no other bird can, and you can provide cooling and enriching things like sprinklers and wallowing pits without having to worry about bad things like stripping feathers of their oils and inviting lice or fungal rot! Also without feathers, they're much, much more unlikely to get anything like fly strike, have wounds go unnoticed and untreated, and so on.

I think the name Scaleless might also be derivative from the fact that a feather is simply a modified scale, which explains why one gene affects both! I love telling people it is called scaleless because they don't have scales on their feet, though. They always gape at me and give me some variation of "THAT is what they named it for, not the elephant in the room?!"

You mention bringing the chickens indoors. Do the scaleless chickens not have the dander issues that a chicken with feathers have? I can only keep chicks inside for about 1.5 weeks before they start making my eyes water from all the dander or whatever they shed.

 

[Kassaundra]

You mention bringing the chickens indoors. Do the scaleless chickens not have the dander issues that a chicken with feathers have? I can only keep chicks inside for about 1.5 weeks before they start making my eyes water from all the dander or whatever they shed.

No absolutely no dander or allergens.

 

[DesertChic]

Hope I didn;t come across too strong.. I realize it is no fun at all when it happens.. it is either that or being forced to cull or make separate quarters.

I've had to cringe and see how it played out with the totally free range chickens.. no coop at all... with the 'rank rearrangement' fights it always eventually settled into a new order with 'peace' coming back. That was also when I was not yet able to do the killing part of culling.. and no place to isolate the rooster(s).

It is the one boy that simply cannot tolerate other roosters or what seems to be a pure and unrelenting dislike for a particular rooster that needs to be watched for. This is rare but does happen.

You were in no way offensive, and I always value your insight. Don't ever worry about hurting my feelings. I'm both thick skinned and know you're character well enough to know that every speck of advice you offer is made with the best of intentions.

The yard has definitely quieted down so they must've worked out their differences. Ozzy is still spending a lot of time in his pen, but I've also noticed the Heisenberg seems to be falling lower and lower in the ranks overall. I think he's just too nice....a lover and not a fighter. He's not my biggest rooster, but he's one of the most solid and with the largest spurs...and no desire to use those assets to his advantage. He's still protective and caring of his girls, but that's the only time I clearly see him come out the winner.

 

[DesertChic]

Wonder if you kept them in the same pen at night if perhaps that would solve some of your problem? I think I would let them wake up together for a couple of weeks and see if they start getting along better. I am thinking maybe when they wake up alone they assume that is their territory type thing. Need to think like a chicken sometimes, make that most times. Isn't that what some of the politicians seem to be doing? LOL

I had actually considered that, but Heisenberg's pen is already filled to the max and if a fight starts before I get out there to release them in the morning, I'm afraid the casualties will extend to some of the hens as well. And while I may eventually learn to "think chicken", I positively refuse to "think politician", LOL.

 

[Kev]

No absolutely no dander or allergens.

Yep what Kassaundra said. I have allergies to chicken dander so bad I can't even have an incubator or indoor chicks... would be getting extremely sick plus difficulty breathing on hatch days or chicks were in the house.

I can handle the scaleless with no problems. Carry them around, hold for a good bit while details for their clothes were being worked out etc. not as much as a sneeze or stuffiness.. which happens with the other chickens.