Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

Eat more eggs!
http://www.businessinsider.com/10-reasons-to-eat-eggs-2014-5

 

[My peeps]

Any ideas on how to get a mean rooster to stop his bad behavior other than freezer camp? I usually don't have a problem getting rid of a rooster but this is the first chick my kids hatched from our incubator. He was always the friendliest chicken until this week. He will be a year old in June. When the kids went in the run with me he puffed out his chest and tried to peck their legs. Then out of no where he started coming after me a few days later. I grabbed him and held him down to let him know he is not the boss. Not sure what else I can try. I told the kids if his bad behavior continues he has to go and they were very sad. I will have to give him away for someone else to do as they please with because my kids will be very upset if WE eat him. He is such a pretty bird too

 

[Katt66]

Any ideas on how to get a mean rooster to stop his bad behavior other than freezer camp? I usually don't have a problem getting rid of a rooster but this is the first chick my kids hatched from our incubator. He was always the friendliest chicken until this week. He will be a year old in June. When the kids went in the run with me he puffed out his chest and tried to peck their legs. Then out of no where he started coming after me a few days later. I grabbed him and held him down to let him know he is not the boss. Not sure what else I can try. I told the kids if his bad behavior continues he has to go and they were very sad. I will have to give him away for someone else to do as they please with because my kids will be very upset if WE eat him. He is such a pretty bird too

I don't have a lot of advice but I can sympathize with you. Of the 5 EEs we hatched and welcomed into the world and raised last year, all turned out to be cockerels. (Sixth egg to hatch was marked and claimed by my cousin's daughter before hatching, lucky her, she got the only darn pullet which was eaten by a weasel a few weeks ago D

Anyway, of those five cockerels, DH and I ended up butchering 4. The fifth, was my older daughter's baby. The sweetest little guy you could ever ask for. She'd walk around the yard all afternoon with him on her shoulder like an enormous cross beaked parrot. Always very approachable and willing and happy to be picked up and cuddled to bits. Until a few weeks ago, that is...

He's going to be a year old on June 20th. A few weeks ago he started doing his rooster dance for us. Which I at first thought was cute. Within a few days it led to charging and pecking and coming at us with his feet, etc. You know? Run of the mill rooster showing he's dominant over you behavior. So we started pinning him to the ground, carrying him around, kicking him across the yard, etc. when ever he'd show the slightest sign of aggression. Stopped him from crowing while we were in the yard, etc. Everything that I've read about being suggested for fixing problem roosters.

All this lovely stuff works for a little while. Sometimes days, sometimes not. But in the end, the bad behavior starts coming out again and again. I don't want to spend the next five to ten years kicking this cross beaked feather bag around the yard like a soccer ball every few days to keep him in line. That's no life for him or us... We're at the point now where my older daughter's agreed it is time for Peedles to meet the crock pot... Actually, she insists she wants him breaded and made into chicken fingers. She's serious too. My kid is strange like that. Her only request is, don't tell her when we're going to do it. Just wait till they go to school and then one day she'll come home and instead of greeting her at the gate as usual, he'll greet her on a greasy paper towel in the kitchen with some BBQ sauce in a bowl on the side.

My husband and I are actually the last holdouts. We know it needs to be done. We've done it many times before. Both born and raised around livestock of various kinds and we're well aware of the food chain and all that stuff and are happy members of the top of said food chain. This is our little girl's baby though. And ol' hardarse hubby of mine keeps putting it off and putting it off. We are having a hard time playing the role of Grand Executioner this time. I just keep wishing the darned thing would just keel over and croak one day and let us off the hook already! D:

 

[wingstone]

I hope no one minds but I am writing everyone's feed response down in a notebook for comparison, one pattern I see is the layer feed, I have never fed layer so I am curious for the reasoning of it..

Ray we have more of those panels that we plant grass under if you need some....speaking of grass and bugs for that matter, how would you determine what percentage of protein they fall at, for they must be different according to type and I would assume even location plays a role...

Pellets seem to ferment better than mash, I find area's of lumpy spots with mash, might be the way it sticks to the whole grains.....but when feeding dry I have less waste with mash

 

[wingstone]

Just a little word of caution for those of you chasing after roosters, and this is only my opinion which is coming from experience..
When you pin a rooster down or otherwise chase him, all you are doing is reversing the challenge and as he grows he will keep coming back at you for the next challenge, he will always be trying to up his rank in the flock...and yes you and the kids do play a role in that flock standing....

I do not need to say where that rooster needs to go, I think it will come to that in the end

 

[Katt66]

Just a little word of caution for those of you chasing after roosters, and this is only my opinion which is coming from experience..
When you pin a rooster down or otherwise chase him, all you are doing is reversing the challenge and as he grows he will keep coming back at you for the next challenge, he will always be trying to up his rank in the flock...and yes you and the kids do play a role in that flock standing....

I do not need to say where that rooster needs to go, I think it will come to that in the end

I'm afraid you're absolutely right. And I know it, just can't get DH off the couch to execute his Princess' rooster. D:
Gonna have to go do it myself. That way I'M the only one responsible. I think that's the underlying motive here. HE doesn't want any parts of this one.


So, my next question is this, IS it possible to have a "friendly" or at least tolerant rooster with a flock of hens? Or do they all get crazy when they've got a flock?
Reason I'm asking is my cousin had a huge Barred Rock roo who was sweet as could be. He was housed completely by himself and penned all the time.
They also had a pair of EE roos, the uncles to my current roo who strolled around the yard and bothered no one ever. In fact, the only time they showed any interest in people was when you'd go into the shop. They'd follow you in to beg for a handful of cracked corn. These guys were all very mature older roosters. At least 4 or 5 yrs old.

All the EE roos we hatched though got downright vicious. Is it all just up to the individual roo? Or are some breeds known to be crazy and some more mellow and easy going?
Because right now I've got what looks like a Blue Silkie cockerel and a Dark Brahma cockerel coming up. If I'm going to have to end up sending these two to freezer camp I'm gonna cry I think!

 

[dheltzel]

I hope no one minds but I am writing everyone's feed response down in a notebook for comparison, one pattern I see is the layer feed, I have never fed layer so I am curious for the reasoning of it..

Ray we have more of those panels that we plant grass under if you need some....speaking of grass and bugs for that matter, how would you determine what percentage of protein they fall at, for they must be different according to type and I would assume even location plays a role...

Pellets seem to ferment better than mash, I find area's of lumpy spots with mash, might be the way it sticks to the whole grains.....but when feeding dry I have less waste with mash

I find a lot more is wasted with dry mash. They seem determined to pick through it to find pieces to eat, tossing out the finer stuff on the floor, where it is ignored. Once it's wet, it's a different story - they eat it all.
Maybe it's that the mash is a cheaper mix and they don't like the taste as much. We get 100 lb bags of mash for just $18.50, but that source doesn't have equipment to make crumbles or pellets. If I had time to ferment feed, I'd use the mash and a paint mixer on a big drill, that would fix those lumpy spots, and give me an excuse to use a power tool!

 

[heatherscooby77]

I get feed delivered from Brown's in Birdsboro. Since they deliver cattle feed to the farm, there is no additional cost to deliver the poultry feed. It's so nice to just have it show up, stacked against the wall in the barn. They have a 16% layer crumble and an 18% gamebird breeder pellet. The pellet is low calcium, so I make sure any layers that get that also have free-choice oyster shell. I also get a medicated chick starter crumble from them, and feed that as long as I can, then switch them to pellets. Older layers get the layer crumbles because they are used to that. I give cracked corn as a treat, as well as a cheap layer mash from a different supplier (which gets bought sometimes without my input, so I'm really just using it slowly so it's not a complete waste). The chickens won't eat mash until you add water, then they think it's a treat and go nuts over it. I don't have time to ferment feed, but the mash would be perfect for that, much cheaper too.

I also get my feed from Brown's. I love there feeds. My birds actually eat it. So many brands I have tried they wouldn't eat. I like to feed there high energy grower/finisher pellet. It has lower protein, but has higher fat. It contains animal protein. Chickens are omnivores!!!

 

[dheltzel]

I'm afraid you're absolutely right. And I know it, just can't get DH off the couch to execute his Princess' rooster. D:
Gonna have to go do it myself. That way I'M the only one responsible. I think that's the underlying motive here. HE doesn't want any parts of this one.


So, my next question is this, IS it possible to have a "friendly" or at least tolerant rooster with a flock of hens? Or do they all get crazy when they've got a flock?
Reason I'm asking is my cousin had a huge Barred Rock roo who was sweet as could be. He was housed completely by himself and penned all the time.
They also had a pair of EE roos, the uncles to my current roo who strolled around the yard and bothered no one ever. In fact, the only time they showed any interest in people was when you'd go into the shop. They'd follow you in to beg for a handful of cracked corn. These guys were all very mature older roosters. At least 4 or 5 yrs old.

All the EE roos we hatched though got downright vicious. Is it all just up to the individual roo? Or are some breeds known to be crazy and some more mellow and easy going?
Because right now I've got what looks like a Blue Silkie cockerel and a Dark Brahma cockerel coming up. If I'm going to have to end up sending these two to freezer camp I'm gonna cry I think!

It's definitely an individual personality thing. Some breeds may be more prone to certain behaviors, but it's no guarantee either way. In the distant past, we even had some free range roosters that were aggressive. That gets bred out real fast, if they come at me, I can catch them and being caught by me is the fastest route they could take away from this life, especially if they hurt or scared one of the kids. We only have one mean roo and he's in a small cage and everyone knows to be careful with him. There are at least a half-dozen in pens we enter regularly and none of them are mean to me. Most have 1 - 5 hens with them to protect, yet they still know we are not the enemy.

I wonder if it has to do with the other roos in close proximity? Maybe they have enough other rivals to worry about that a human seems the least of their worries, but if you're the only one around that could possibly challenge them, then they feel the need to establish dominance with you. Just a theory. The one mean roo has another one roo inches away, so that's not the case with him. I believe he's just evil and as Ron White would say, "you can't fix stupid".

 

[jmayday]

Green Dragon tomorrow morning anyone???