Possible breeding program

[LaurenRitz]

Three of the four BuckeyeX went into the rafters without a problem. The last refuses that option. I carry her over, and even in full dark she screams and runs back to the other coop.

Currently six in coop 2, ten in coop 1, and nineteen in the rafters. Good enough for the moment.

I transferred them in order of age, youngest first, so other than the one BuckeyeX all the older hens are in the coops, along with my main roo and three of his sons.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I counted the rafter roosters. 21. Must have mis-counted. Counted again. 20.

Ok. Double-miscount. Whatever. I know all 19 are up there. Coop 2, 6. All good. Coop 1, 9. What?

Recount. Definitely 9.

One of the RangerX decided to move herself into the rafters. I hope she's ok coming down in the morning. The RangerX are easily my heaviest birds.

All present and accounted for.

 

[LaurenRitz]

One of my BuckeyeX died last night. More likely some time this morning, as she wasn't stiff. She was on the roost as usual last night. No visible sign of injury or disease. Her butt feathers were a little messy, but that could have happened when she died.

((JGxRIR)xRIR)xBuckeye)

Last night was cold, but that shouldn't have been the problem unless she was already sick.

Three BuckeyeX remaining. They have the pea comb I need. I'm tempted to start an incubator batch. Probably not a good idea at this point.

 

[LaurenRitz]

They're now eating every scrap of food I put out for them, so it appears their foraging is no longer giving them what they need.

Time to increase it a bit. Currently 2 quarts per day for 34 birds. Other than not leaving any food they don't act hungry, but I want to make sure they can all eat.

What's funny is that two of the bowls always have food left over. They're maybe 200 feet away by the other coop, but the birds don't seem to realize they're there.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I gave them 3 quarts yesterday, and measured what was left. They ate just a little over a cup of quart 3, so I know they're still foraging the majority of their food.

I also moved the additional two bowls closer in, but still out of sight. All six feeding stations had some amount of
food left.

Three of the six will not work in snow or other weather. I'll need to figure out solutions there. The two feeding stations at the other end of the yard were in the coop over there, so protected from weather.

A few of the younger birds have started flying up into the trees to eat seeds snd winter fruit.

(As a side note, I've started singing the "Waddle Waddle" song when I watch the older hens walk. Definitely some extra weight there...)