Ribh's D'Coopage

[notabitail]

I lost Leonard this afternoon.
I had him up @ the house to treat him for stick flea when he began convulsing & died in my arms.
I couldn't have asked for a better rooster. His girls will miss him.
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[Ribh]

Oh no!!! I’m so sorry Ribh!

Oh no. So sorry Ribh, that is very sad. He was such a perfect gentleman for your flock.
Fly high little man.

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(Without words, hope the message is clear )

I'm so sorry. He was a wonderful rooster.

sorry for your loss @Ribh

I'm so sorry @Ribh It's so hard to lose a pet, they bring so much joy into our our lives.

Thank you everyone. As I do want to close my flock I have approached Leonard's breeder. She may have another rooster for me ~ white & none frizzled. Also not crowing yet. I am dubious. I'd rather any other colour than white & I'd prefer a mature lad, not one still learning his manners.

 

[BDutch]

Thank you everyone. As I do want to close my flock I have approached Leonard's breeder. She may have another rooster for me ~ white & none frizzled. Also not crowing yet. I am dubious. I'd rather any other colour than white & I'd prefer a mature lad, not one still learning his manners.

The hens are fine without a rooster for a while. I would wait for a better opportunity.

Second possibility id to hatch some of the girls eggs. The ones you have /get are fertilised by Leonard. The eggs are fertile up to 3 weeks after Leonard stopped mating. : Try to encourage broodiness or start an incubator. Best keep the eggs in cool storage (cellar temp and humidity) and turn them daily. More instructions available on BYC/online.

If you get a broody that will raise the chicks , a cockerel will learn manners within the group.

I had a good cockerel buying fertile eggs a few times. Unfortunately I can’t keep one bc I live within city boundaries and my neighbours don’t want to wake up by a loud crowing cockerel early mornings.

 

[Ribh]

Second possibility id to hatch some of the girls eggs.

I've considered this. Problem is I can't use the bantam eggs as I don't want sizzles & I'm not sure Ha'penny or India's are fertile. I may try 2...

The hens are fine without a rooster for a while.

Oh yes. They've mostly been without a rooster & for all her craziness Ha'penny is a pretty good lead hen. As I said, my main reason for a rooster is so I can close the flock.

 

[BY Bob]

I lost Leonard this afternoon.
I had him up @ the house to treat him for stick flea when he began convulsing & died in my arms.
I couldn't have asked for a better rooster. His girls will miss him.
View attachment 4183058​

Oh no! I'm so sorry. He was awesome. I'm sure he will be missed by all.

 

[BDutch]

I'm not sure Ha'penny or India's are fertile. I may try 2...

I hope you and your hens get over loosing Leonard soon.

I thought that if a hen lays eggs, she is fertile. If none of the eggs develop with a committed broody or a good incubator it’s the roosters ‘incapability’ when the eggs wont start to develop. Maybe you are right and there is more to it , like a flaw in genetics why the embryo doesn’t start to develop in the egg.

With only 2 eggs there is no guarantee at all for a future rooster. But I understand you don’t want any chance of getting more than 2 cockerels.

so I can close the flock.

Can you give an explanation of this sentence? I was guessing you mean herding the flock but otherwise I don’t understand what you mean by saying this.

 

[Ribh]

I hope you and your hens get over loosing Leonard soon.

I thought that if a hen lays eggs, she is fertile. If none of the eggs develop with a committed broody or a good incubator it’s the roosters ‘incapability’ when the eggs wont start to develop. Maybe you are right and there is more to it , like a flaw in genetics why the embryo doesn’t start to develop in the egg.

With only 2 eggs there is no guarantee at all for a future rooster. But I understand you don’t want any chance of getting more than 2 cockerels.


Can you give an explanation of this sentence? I was guessing you mean herding the flock but otherwise I don’t understand what you mean by saying this.

By closing the flock I mean I no longer need to buy birds in. Every time you add new birds you risk bringing in illness or disease ~ even with quarantine, as @MaryJanet has had happen. Breeding & raising your own lessens that risk though if I have understood @Shadrach correctly I would need new blood every 7 years to prevent inbreeding problems. Still, every 7 years is better than about every 18 months, which is roughly what I've been doing to keep my numbers up.

 

[Ribh]

With only 2 eggs there is no guarantee at all for a future rooster. But I understand you don’t want any chance of getting more than 2 cockerels.

I hadn't even considered the rooster question. No, it's more most of my hens are bantams & most of the bantams are frizzled. A frizzle mated to a frizzle will give me a sizzle & they have issues & frankly I don't think that particular X should be allowed to happen. It's not fair to the birds. Of the 2 bantams, one is a Jap & apparently they are super hard to breed & can hatch with deformities. That leaves Tootsie, a mille fleur, & I haven't seen her mate with Leonard for a while. That leaves Ha'penny & India, either of which would be ok. Ha'penny is a straight up plain Campine chicken. India is a silkie X Aracauna. A hen from her might give different coloured eggs. Nix is still broody. Cobweb has broken.

 

[BDutch]

By closing the flock I mean I no longer need to buy birds in. Every time you add new birds you risk bringing in illness or disease

Thanks for explaining. I am very well aware of the risk of buying pullets and I keep a sort of closed flock myself since my first chicken-year. Without a rooster. Unfortunately I cant keep a crowing cockerel when days are lengthening. Only twice I could keep a cockerel long enough for offspring.

I don’t buy chicks or pullets but hatchery eggs whenever I lost a few hens and like to get back to 6-8 hens for a nice mixed flock and enjoy a few eggs during the winter period too. Bringing in eggs is not a 100% guarantee, but very few illnesses pass through eggs.

I only made an exception with bringing in Kraai. Who in fact had been quarantined by the previous owner, being a rescue and a lonely hen for a couple of months.

 

[LozzyR]

I’m getting Caturday in early; I just had my old boy Jasper euthanised. He was 18 1/2 and ended up with kidney disease. He went really downhill in the last week and ended up with a raging infection as well. He spent the day at the vet’s today, they were trying to rehydrate him, but he took a turn for the worse and his body began to shut down. RIP matey, be with Mishka again and also your daddy.