new/old member

marie

In the Brooder
11 Years
Jun 9, 2008
12
0
22
NW Oregon Coast
I joined BYC almost a year ago but have not spent much time at the site. Recently I've been thinking how nice it would be to be more interactive with a group of people who love raising chickens as much as I do. I have tried to find others locally who have chickens but (other than the neigbors across the road) have not had much luck. There are alot of old-timers who used to raise chickens and love to reminisce about the old days and that's alot of fun too. Still, I occasionally have concerns and questions that I'd like to be able to talk over with other people who share my interest in raising healthy - happy - chickens. I live in NW Oregon on a small farm (14 acres) that used to be part of a larger piece of land homesteaded by my family in 1870. We even have the old family cemetary out in our back field. My brother lives on the farm too and we are both very interested in gardening and putting up the foods we grow. The chickens are a new addition (last spring). We started with 9 Araucana (supposedly) which we purcahsed from the local Farmer's Co-op. They told us that the place they got their chickens from guaranteed that only 5 out of every 100 of their chicks were males (right). So, it turns out that 4 of the 9 were roosters and our chickens are not Araucana, Americana or maybe not even Easter Egg chickens (one lays a blue-green egg, one lays a kaki-green egg and the rest lay light brown eggs). They are mutts but they are still so cute with their puffy cheeks. The fighting in the hen house became such a nightmare that we finally had to kill 3 of the roosters (for the table, of course). While it was necessary, it was not that pleasant of an experience which I hope we don't have to repeat often. Peace now reigns in the hen house. We did build a chicken yard for our chickens but they soon learned to fly out of it so they now roam the property. They don't stray too far away from the garden, yard and buildings and always find their way back into the hen house at night (which I lock up tight so the racoon, weasels and coyotes can't get in). Two things that are becoming a concern for me are 1) How to clip their wings so that they can't fly out of their yard and get into the young spring garden we will be planting? 2) Why is my rooster becoming so aggressive towards us? He'll come running clear across the yard and fly at us. Puffs himself up and stalks us, etc. Most of the time we just ignore him and push him off but I'm worried that if it escalates much more he may hurt us (or visiting folks). Our neighbors across the road have a rooster but he is not aggressive at all. Earlier when I first joined BYC I had concerns about this rooster because he had trouble standing for very long. He did, eventually, grow out of it and at the time I wondered if his problem was growing too big, too fast. He is twice the height of the hens mostly because of his very long legs. Anyways, he leads his little flock all over the place digging up treats and calling for them to come get some while he keeps watch. The hens really trust him and follow him everywhere. So, I don't want to have to get rid of him. If there is anyone out there who understands chicken psychology and can provide some insight into my rooster's behavior I'd love to hear from you.......Marie
 
welcome-byc.gif
back!

Can't really help you with the rooster question, but if your chicken yard isn't too big perhaps you could put bird netting over the top, that way they wouldn't beable to fly out and you wouldn't have to clip their wings. I'm sure some one will have suggestions about the rooster, if not try posting that question in the Behavior section.

big_smile.png
 
I have read that you need to become the head rooster by picking him up and walking around with him so he knows you are in charge...My roo that I have now is a sweet heart...I gave away the one that was too aggressive
 
welcome-byc.gif
(back?
big_smile.png
)

I don't clip my girls wings, last year I didn't ahve too much problem with them getting into the veggie garden (very small 20x20 or so) they did get through a hole in the fencing but never flew over.

I like to let them have their wings in case they need to fly to get away from a hungry something.
lol.png
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom