Pullet Police?!

[Lazy Farmer]

Good thread

 

[Abriana]

Once i was eating bread in my chicken pen, and they were all trying to get it, so i hid it behind my back. Not a smart move. I never did get to finish that piece of bread.
Coffee? I would think that was bad for chickens, but thats pretty funny.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Mine drives off predators, and more than once too.

I have seen many roosters give their life in the line of duty especially with larger predators like raccoons, bobcats, coyotes and the like.

Hawks and owls may be discouraged, but they too often take the rooster.

I'm glad yours is effective for your flock...but it is important that flock keepers keep a vigilance against predator with proper predator management (fencing, netting, etc.) and not count on a rooster doing the job.

LofMc

 

[Abriana]

Hawks are my roosters specialty, actually. He attacked one that had a hen in its grasp, and pulled out a tail feather from the hawk another time. The hawks don't visit my chicken pen anymore lol.

 

[Faraday40]

That is what I am leaning towards. We live in the middle of nowhere so crowing bothering our neighbors won't be an issue. But my fiancée thinks the eggs will be weird. I told her that not all are fertilized and even if they are all you may see is a tiny white spot as long as they are collected in a timely manner. Yes?

You won't notice any diff in taste between fertile/nonfertile eggs. You will notice a diff in egg taste from free ranging birds eating grass & bugs vs. hens only eating chicken feed. Like everyone else mentioned, you just need to collect them daily so the hens don't incubate them. If you find a hidden stash of eggs & you don't know the age, don't eat them. (We candle & smell them before feeding them to the dogs. No sense wasting them.)

 

[Abriana]

or you can hard boil, crush, and feed to the chickens. My hens' favorite treat. You can add dried or fresh oregano to the hard boiled eggs for a respritory health bonus. also, the hens will eat the shells and use the calcium. Recycling!

 

[rIrs roost]

Once i was eating bread in my chicken pen, and they were all trying to get it, so i hid it behind my back. Not a smart move. I never did get to finish that piece of bread.
Coffee? I would think that was bad for chickens, but thats pretty funny.

I'm not sure if it's bad or not. I just happened to catch her in the act a couple time lol. She must like it black like me lol. But luckily She's taught me not to sit my coffee down.

 

[Faraday40]

lol I'd love to have a squirrel chaser. I've had a sandwich grab outta my hand more than once. My hens will run and jump to get them when I'm walking. First time it happened I chased her for a minute before I thought to myself, even if I get the sandwich back I'm not going to eat it lol. I mostly eat inside now. Oh yeah I have one that loves coffee. I can't even go outside with a cup now.

My flock will grab (as well as try to steal) treats from anyone in our family, but they usually act "chicken" around a bunch of visitors.

Not that I'd ever try, but a chicken on caffeine sounds pretty funny.

 

[Abriana]

I'm not sure if it's bad or not. I just happened to catch her in the act a couple time lol. She must like it black like me lol. But luckily She's taught me not to sit my coffee down.

Lol, that is so funny what chickens like. Mine love coconut shavings. Weird, huh?

 

[newlyaddicted2chickens]

First and foremost check your zoning laws for chickens. Are you allowed to have roosters?

If not, you can receive a fine, and worse, the requirement that all your birds go.

If you can have roosters, it is imperative you only keep "nice" birds as a poorly behaved rooster can be a health risk to humans...the spurs and attacks can be serious, especially for children.

If the rooster is well behaved (which means appropriate gentle but firm handling at all times, keeping proper flock order with you as the "head" of the flock), they are delightful in the flock.

You have RIR's and Australorps which breeds can be known for aggressiveness, especially the RIR.

If you have a firm standard that no bird leaves your property, and this bird is a rooster (which behavior indicates it may be), you can "castrate" the bird...it is known as caponizing. There are videos on the internet for that. It will not prevent crowing but it definitely gentles the rooster such that some even become nursemaides for chicks.

Caponizing is not for the squeamish, and it must be done with care as you can easily kill the bird.

With loving but realistic understanding of the animal language, you can modify your flock with behavioral reinforcement so that most birds are pleasant flock members.

It is important to remember to think like a chicken though and not assume they think like us or you will have encouraged wrong behavior in your birds.

Good luck with your flock.

LofMc

Like I said, middle of nowhere, very small rural town that is home to many a farm, there are no rooster restrictions. The one aware fairly certain of is one of the least assertive/aggressive.

My research indicated that both of these breeds were on the friendlier spectrum..... that's partly why we chose them over other hardy egg layers.