Pebble Update - good news and bad-ish news

[chaoticandrew]

Aww! Do you have them all in together? Is it a big pen? I'm still trying to figure out how and when two roosters can live together. I want a new wild type next spring so i can get some feather sexable birds, but I also want to keep Oreo my teenage tux who is adorable and far too good for the pot.

With the recent exception of Pebble, they do all live in a coop together. Usually two roosters can live together if they have enough hens to themselves.... your tux sounds really cute! I love tuxedos honestly, and Oreo is the cutest name for that ever.

 

[FloorCandy]

Aww! Do you have them all in together? Is it a big pen? I'm still trying to figure out how and when two roosters can live together. I want a new wild type next spring so i can get some feather sexable birds, but I also want to keep Oreo my teenage tux who is adorable and far too good for the pot.

I’ve had 3 Roos all along in my main pen since about may. The alpha is sweet and kind and huge compared to everyone but one female haha. There are 2 other Roos who vie for sub dominance. For most of the time, Aragorn was #2, but that recently changed for seemingly no reason, and Big Red became #2. Red has always been a punk, crows constantly, rough on the hens etc. but when he was last roo, the hens protected each other and if he tried to grab one, they all grabbed him.

2 nights ago I found a bloody hen, it was late and dark so I took her in and cleaned her up. Her head has a huge gash, but not all the way to the bone at least. She cried constantly for company so I put her in the grow out with my 5 week olds, since she’s very docile and submissive. She happily snuggled with them. The next day I watched the main pen and saw Red being a rough rider, so I culled him and put the hen back with her peers. Everyone is happy.

The moral is, whatever the balance, it can change at any time, for any silly reason the birds decide on. I’m sad Red is gone, he was my only red male, so no more sex links for a while. I have his kids in the grow out, hopefully I can breed one of his sons with my 2 red unrelated red adults and get a new red male.

 

[chaoticandrew]

In a surprising turn of events, it turns out Aki is actually the culprit! My big mistake was judging the birds based on their personalities as chicks, and not bothering to do a full investigation. (facepalm)

I recently checked the coop and found Bean, one of the hens, with a head injury. I spent awhile watching the birds and saw Aki chasing pretty much everyone around, attempting to peck at various birds' necks (including Mocha, my other rooster), and basically terrorizing the whole coop.

To see what would happen, I removed Aki, and suddenly the coop became a peaceful utopia. Nobody pecked at Bean's injury, even though it was bloody. They napped together and exhibited much less stressed-out behaviour.

Furthermore, seeing how lenient the hens (and Mocha) were towards Bean's injury, I put Pebble back in with them, and they pretty much acted like nothing had happened. They all napped together and ignored the injuries.

Then Basil escaped and disappeared into the neighbor's yard. That was stressful and I hope she comes back, but I'm not counting on it. I may invest in wing clipping.

Mocha seems to have had a complete 180 in personality since he was a chick. He used to be crazy, but now he's very sweet towards the hens and probably the gentlest rooster I've ever seen. Likewise, Aki used to be the chill one, but now he's showing quite a violent streak.

I'll observe more to make sure the injured hens are truly safe, and then Aki will probably be culled. I liked him cause of his pretty feathers, but I can't risk passing on his violent tendencies to new generations.

Any advice? I'm feeling very stupid right now for jumping to conclusions, haha.

 

[Quailobsessed]

In a surprising turn of events, it turns out Aki is actually the culprit! My big mistake was judging the birds based on their personalities as chicks, and not bothering to do a full investigation. (facepalm)

I recently checked the coop and found Bean, one of the hens, with a head injury. I spent awhile watching the birds and saw Aki chasing pretty much everyone around, attempting to peck at various birds' necks (including Mocha, my other rooster), and basically terrorizing the whole coop.

To see what would happen, I removed Aki, and suddenly the coop became a peaceful utopia. Nobody pecked at Bean's injury, even though it was bloody. They napped together and exhibited much less stressed-out behaviour.

Furthermore, seeing how lenient the hens (and Mocha) were towards Bean's injury, I put Pebble back in with them, and they pretty much acted like nothing had happened. They all napped together and ignored the injuries.

Then Basil escaped and disappeared into the neighbor's yard. That was stressful and I hope she comes back, but I'm not counting on it. I may invest in wing clipping.

Mocha seems to have had a complete 180 in personality since he was a chick. He used to be crazy, but now he's very sweet towards the hens and probably the gentlest rooster I've ever seen. Likewise, Aki used to be the chill one, but now he's showing quite a violent streak.

I'll observe more to make sure the injured hens are truly safe, and then Aki will probably be culled. I liked him cause of his pretty feathers, but I can't risk passing on his violent tendencies to new generations.

Any advice? I'm feeling very stupid right now for jumping to conclusions, haha.

The number of times I have jumped to conclusions with my quails

I'm sorry about Basil. I hope you find her

 

[chaoticandrew]

The number of times I have jumped to conclusions with my quails

I'm sorry about Basil. I hope you find her

oof, well at least i'm not alone in this haha

 

[hedgemoo]

Now mine are hitting adulthood I'm discovering same! You never know. I'm glad you didn't cull your rooster in haste.