NY chicken lover!!!!

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Well had a nasty little fight today. Seems that Mr. Fredo the indoor rooster is a fighter! Every once in a while him and my Alpha Roo Woody go at it through the fence and it slipped down. I thought that I fixed it the last time that it happened. That time Fredo got the worst of it..I guess that he had enough and kicked my Woody's butt. Not really happy about the whole thing. Tomorrow it'll be fixed so it won't happen again! Had to bring them both in and clean them up. Fredo looks worse then it really is cause he won't let me scrub his comb real well. So I washed him up checked him out real good, put some cream on him and kicked him back outside. Poor Woody is in for the at least the night. He has a badly broken toe nail. It was bleeding pretty good. Finally got that stopped. Gave him a bath to get him all cleaned up. Poor little dude couldn't open his eye. I was worried what the eye looked like, but the swelling is starting to go down and he can open it up a little. So far it looks better then it did this afternoon.

Fredo lost a little chunk of his waddle and a few minor cuts on his comb.


Poor Woody got the snot knocked out of him!


Poor guy's resting. I'm hoping that I don't have to mess with him to much tomorrow. Hope to put some cream on him and ship him back out

 

[Metella]

ha ! Roosters ! Silly guys.

Yeah, I've had my share .. they will heal up nicely.

 

[rancher hicks]

 

[Gramma Chick]

Well had a nasty little fight today.


Poor guy's resting. I'm hoping that I don't have to mess with him to much tomorrow. Hope to put some cream on him and ship him back out

Boys will be Boys ! Hopefully they have worked it out ...this time ...
They are both used to their own harem ..with no competition !
Is Woody a bantam ?

 

[cracrzy4chicks]

A few breeds I have an eye out for are Salmon Favs, Welsummer, Buckeye, Australorp, and blue/green egg layers. I have a Barred Rock, Cochin, EE, Buckeye, Australorp, and 4 red stars right now and like all of them and they all are doing great.

I think (as far as I have read/learned) that I have a laid back crew so I don't want to add any typically higher strung birds to the mix. I do have a second coop and run started that I will keep the newbs in until they are old enough to mix into the current flock. The new and old run are side by side so they can familiarize themselves safely but I think it best to keep the general profile of my flock to the submissive breeds.

I have Australorps. I just love them, they are easily handled and calm. I haven't had a mean rooster yet, although that's always a possibility. My birds are from 2 different breeders. I have fertile eggs and will have chicks in April. I will also have Silver laced Wyandotte chicks in the spring and EE's

I have one Welsummer, there is a woman in Pompey that breeds them. I'm getting some buff Orp and partridge Rock eggs from her (along with Del and EE from Rancher) for a valentines hatch. Her Welsummers won't be ready till later, so will likely do another hatch this year just so I can get some more of them.

Can you pm me with this lady's info, please. I have 2 hatchery Welsummers and they are very, very talkative & funny. They lay a nice speckled egg, but I would like to get a few more non-hatchery birds

 

[rancher hicks]

Just so we're clear on the rooster matter. I don't advocate nor approve of Cock Fighting. I keep my boys apart unless they've been raised together.

Right now I have three C. Rock boys in one coop, two Del boys in one coop and four assorted boys in another. They seem to do fine. However I will not keep them together if they're doing major damage such as putting out an eye.

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Boys will be Boys ! Hopefully they have worked it out ...this time ...
They are both used to their own harem ..with no competition !
Is Woody a bantam ?

Woody is a bantam frizzled cochin. He is my favorite by far. All my roosters are now bantams. My last 2 big boys are resting very comfortably in the freezer...Well one of them is dinner tonight..Chicken and Biscuits! YUMMO!

Just so we're clear on the rooster matter. I don't advocate nor approve of Cock Fighting. I keep my boys apart unless they've been raised together.

Right now I have three C. Rock boys in one coop, two Del boys in one coop and four assorted boys in another. They seem to do fine. However I will not keep them together if they're doing major damage such as putting out an eye.

I hate the fighting. I have had a lot of success with my roosters. All of my others have been raised together like yours.

As for my fighters. I have the newbies in a separated area of the main run with their own little coop. There is a fence between them. I have done this every time I have brought in a new rooster. The problem that I had is that I didn't attach the fence to the poles well enough so the fence slipped down. I use a plastic mesh fence that has worked really well for me in the past. This morning I went out and fixed it so now it will not slip down. Not sure why I didn't use the zip ties to begin with. It is really my fault that it happened. I have been thinking about sectioning off some of the run for separate breeding pens so the decision is now made up.

Also have been thinking about separating the LF from the bantams, but still not sure about it yet. Other then this fight they have all lived happily together up till this point. Haven't really ever had a problem.

 

[Beer can]

Some people are against caponizing but I plan on it. I plan on starting a flock of white jersey giants and wont do it with the first batch because I want to weed out the smaller roos. Cornish cross roos don't fight because they never reach sexual maturety before you butcher. J Giants are over a yr old by the time they are fully grown. To make a more tender, better marbleing of fat, heavier bird I will caponize all the roos except for my breeders, that way you don't have to worry about fighting either.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Some people are against caponizing but I plan on it. I plan on starting a flock of white jersey giants and wont do it with the first batch because I want to weed out the smaller roos. Cornish cross roos don't fight because they never reach sexual maturety before you butcher. J Giants are over a yr old by the time they are fully grown. To make a more tender, better marbleing of fat, heavier bird I will caponize all the roos except for my breeders, that way you don't have to worry about fighting either.

The thing I dont like about Caponizing is they are awake while you do it .
Ive also heard that if you put them on a milk & corn diet ..for 2 ? weeks before slaughter ....it does the same thing ...makes the meat tenderer & fatter

if they are all raised together ..younger males generally yield to the Dominate Roo .
I currently have 3 Adult roos in the same coop. ( 23 total chickens) ( 5 really ..2 baby roos - 4 months )
The most that happens is Lucky chases them & pecks them ..if they get too close to him ..or mate with his hens
They run away
Lucky the boss

Bobbie 2nd in command

Last But Not Least... Spot ...who will have his own new harem shortly ...weather permitting


2 baby Roos - Blondie & Marker

They have their pecking order all established .
Luvs Roosters are trying to establish their Pecking Order as they were both at the top of their previous flock

 

[Beer can]

@Gramma Chick
I've watched a lot of vids on it and yes it does seem cruel but compared to how the crush the scrotum of bull calves, slice them off on pigs, or dock the tails on dogs all with no anesthesia, it doesn't seem that bad.
The main concern is infection. I do plan on finishing with corn and milk hear it helps. The main reason I want capons though is I plan on having a good size flock with many roos and I don't plan on segregating them from the rest of the flock, don't want the fighting or them taking advantage of the hens. I had several roos of different breeds last yr and had to butcher them sooner than I wanted because of what they were doing to the girls, one roo is enough. I still averaged three and a half and four pounds dressed. I can't segregate because I'm going to be raiseing a few different breeds and keeping them seperate is going to be hard enough.