Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[BullChick]

Quote: doDO IT... DO IT.... DO IT...
If Mc. Can strap those birds to the bike and drive for 2 hours,,,I can always find the space
Heck, I am becoming a pro at riding around with animals on the bike. Fish, dogs, chicks and chickens.

Reyvaughn, I think you'll get a kick outta this. Nettie has been trying to follow us into the house all the time. Well yesterday Gavin decided to let her in while I was in the shower. I step outta the shower and she's just standing there in front of me staring, baas at me and trots outta the room...took me a bit to realise what the h*** had just happened. I'm sure the look on my face would've been priceless...poor girl probably had nightmares last night.

Quote: Harley-Davidson?

Quote: Well... I DO have the room since I have sold/given away a dozen birds, and emptied 3 coops and 2 brooders. But you (LMP) still think I have too many. Maybe I will drop off a dozen or so chickens and some building supplies.

 

[tinychicadees]

Hi all! I have a golden sebright cockerel that is starting to peck at me feet n legs. What is the best way to get him to stop doing this? I have kids and don't want to have him start going after them? I let them free range in the day, and so far its only me he will run thru the yard to try to peck me....

.

 

[stake]

Hi all! I have a golden sebright cockerel that is starting to peck at me feet n legs. What is the best way to get him to stop doing this? I have kids and don't want to have him start going after them? I let them free range in the day, and so far its only me he will run thru the yard to try to peck me....

.

TC:

I have a baby Basque roo...he's always jumping on my feet and pecking...its exploratory not aggressive...my baby roo always runs to me, I am his security blanket...(except when at 12 weeks, he's crawling under my broodie for security at nights...(good thing she's got a big heart)...if its a hard peck, knock him on his tucas...if its not feed him some scratch....my two cents...

 

[tinychicadees]

TC:

I have a baby Basque roo...he's always jumping on my feet and pecking...its exploratory not aggressive...my baby roo always runs to me, I am his security blanket...(except when at 12 weeks, he's crawling under my broodie for security at nights...(good thing she's got a big heart)...if its a hard peck, knock him on his tucas...if its not feed him some scratch....my two cents...

Ok, I've kinda pushed him back with my foot, it doesn't seem hard, I wasn't sure if it was aggressiveness or not, only thing I could find was that it was aggressive, I will keep an eye on him. Thanks for your "2 cents", I'm new to all this. But I'm sure learning a lot!

 

[stake]

Alright folks clue me in...

Every night at dusk I go out to close the coop....here's what I found...

Mama is in one of the nesting boxes with one chick....two other are outside chirping and running around under the feet of the other big girls...the chirps are distressed....
My dork who was tagged teamed last night is in the nesting box next to mama..(she was the alpha girl until she went broodie and now she's missing alot of hackle feathers)...now the marans have her totally intimidated....

I herded the baby basque(12 weeks) into the coop and he immediately runs and hides under the broodie mama who has three chicks...( I captured the two outside and put them back under her)...good thing she is accepting of the boy...

Total Kaos.....

 

[LisaYolkUm]

Alright folks clue me in...

Every night at dusk I go out to close the coop....here's what I found...

Mama is in one of the nesting boxes with one chick....two other are outside chirping and running around under the feet of the other big girls...the chirps are distressed....
My dork who was tagged teamed last night is in the nesting box next to mama..(she was the alpha girl until she went broodie and now she's missing alot of hackle feathers)...now the marans have her totally intimidated....

I herded the baby basque(12 weeks) into the coop and he immediately runs and hides under the broodie mama who has three chicks...( I captured the two outside and put them back under her)...good thing she is accepting of the boy...

Total Kaos.....

sounds like they are keeping you busy----------------both in thinking about the variables and physically running around after them!

might be normal for them all...............not really sure!

 

[fisherlady]

Alright folks clue me in...

Every night at dusk I go out to close the coop....here's what I found...

Mama is in one of the nesting boxes with one chick....two other are outside chirping and running around under the feet of the other big girls...the chirps are distressed....
My dork who was tagged teamed last night is in the nesting box next to mama..(she was the alpha girl until she went broodie and now she's missing alot of hackle feathers)...now the marans have her totally intimidated....

I herded the baby basque(12 weeks) into the coop and he immediately runs and hides under the broodie mama who has three chicks...( I captured the two outside and put them back under her)...good thing she is accepting of the boy...

Total Kaos.....

Chaos is to be expected when there are changes happening... a hen leaving her regular spot in the pecking order due to broodiness causes a shuffle everywhere, and the hen is often left back on the low end of the pecking order and has to fight to get her status back, sometimes it doesn't happen because younger hens who were previously intimidated by her age/status have enjoyed a taste of the upper order and are willing to fight to keep their place from being lowered again. It will work itself out, but it is not a pleasant process at all.
Youngsters who are up and coming, 12/20 wks or so, (I call them the 'teeny boppers') are also causing some shuffling in the ranks, their impact is pretty minor at first, and they take a beating from the older birds, but eventually they do gain a bit of rank if they are determined enough.
Chicks who are just left on their own by mamma are the lowest of the low and spend much of their time trying to scurry around and grab bits and goodies without getting beat up too bad by the adult hens and teeny boppers. They tend to stick together pretty tight until they hit the 12 -14th wks, at that point you will start to see them start to develop a bit more independence.

As far as the two outside... we have seen it happen sometimes also. One of our hens will head into the coop in the evening and call her little ones to follow but if one or two get 'lost' she doesn't go back after them, she calls to them, but does it from her broody nest while the others settle in with her. It usually only happens the first week or so while the little ones are still learning their way in and out of the coop, but is very upsetting to say the least. We make sure we do a head count on the babies each night, especially with that broody hen. One of our other hens absolutely won't leave any outside, if any have trouble getting in she repeatedly goes back out after them and will even bring her others back out so they are all together and she will lay down outside for them to tuck under her to warm up. She repeats this process till she eventually gets them all inside. Is certainly frustrating for us humans to watch.... but yes, they do sometimes leave little ones behind.

 

[stake]

sounds like they are keeping you busy----------------both in thinking about the variables and physically running around after them!

might be normal for them all...............not really sure!

Lisa:

I am in a situation that there is no clear pecking order...and its unsettling to all the birds..its a PIA....and its escalating not abating over time...I am going to give it some time, but one Marans may be banned from the group....and live in the grow out pen....after a month or two she may re-integrate into the flock if not I'll trade her out...her bloodlines are good.....

 

[fisherlady]

Lisa:

I am in a situation that there is no clear pecking order...and its unsettling to all the birds..its a PIA....and its escalating not abating over time...I am going to give it some time, but one Marans may be banned from the group....and live in the grow out pen....after a month or two she may re-integrate into the flock if not I'll trade her out...her bloodlines are good.....

We have had to cull out 'problem birds' for the good of the flock.... sometimes they are just too extreme. Removal from the flock for a few days may be enough to settle them down also. Pecking orders are rarely status quo, there are usually some type of squabbles going on. Having changes in the flock just makes it way more problematic.

 

[stake]

We have had to cull out 'problem birds' for the good of the flock.... sometimes they are just too extreme. Removal from the flock for a few days may be enough to settle them down also. Pecking orders are rarely status quo, there are usually some type of squabbles going on. Having changes in the flock just makes it way more problematic.

Fisher:

Thanks for the validation of my thoughts...I have seen the tugs of setting the pecking order...just need to see my one errant(aggressive) bird can be made to be civilized ...getting ready to put my boat to sleep for the season....are you still fishing?