sebright thread

[Year of the Rooster]

I am having trouble incubating my Sebright eggs. I recentely was told that each breed of chicken requires different incubation settings. What is the recommended settings for Sebrights?

I wouldn't imagine why different breeds would need different incubation settings... a chicken is a chicken. I hatched some eggs udder a couple broodies this summer and didn't have any trouble hatching. What temp. and humidity do you have it set?

 

[Jungleexplorer]

It is true though. Up until this year I raised gamefowl. At first I used the standard wet incubation for my gamefowl eggs and had horrible hatch rates. Finally I switched to the dry method and started getting high hatched rates. This year I got a pair of Dominiques and started hatching eggs from them in the incubator with my gamefowl. All my gamefowl eggs were hatching fine but all the dominique chicks were coming out all deformed. I thought the deformities were due to genetic defects, but after talking to an expert, it was suggested I use different settings just for the Dom eggs. When one of my game hens went broody I stuck a dozen eggs under her and she hatched all 12. Not a single one had a defect. This proved that the deformities were connected to my incubation settings. So the expert was right about different breeds requiring different settings. Sebright eggs are a lot smaller then normal chicken eggs ( more like quail eggs) and so I think it possible they might need different settings as well.

 

[crowcreek]

Not sure if this should be a new thread?

Sebright people do you think I can ever get my young Silver Sebright cockerel to stop being aggressive? He started about a week ago, at 12 weeks. Just came at me one day. Now I know to keep an eye on him. He gets very defensive when I am around the coop. They free range in my yard during the day and when I go outside the five pullets run for me to see if I have any treats. Bob deals with this to an extent but no way can I turn my back on him. The other day he challenged me and I walked at him so he flew up in the air. I tried to catch him mid air but darn he is fast. He got away and I chased him under the truck. I would not let the hens near him for a bit even tough they tried. After a good 5 minutes or so he ran in the bushes and I let him be. He stayed away from me the rest of the day but the next day he ruffled himself at me a couple times (I always make him move back when he does this). That little sucker has no fear really. If I am giving the girls treats he is right there grabbing though.

Do I stand a chance of training him. I realize he is probably very hormonal at his age. He has no spurs yet but I worry that when they come in (not sure when that happens) I will become afraid of him. Right now I am not. Can I file the spurs down when he gets them? Doubt I can re home him. Not willing to kill him so I need to deal with this. It is a pain always looking over my shoulder though.

 

[macg4ira]

She hurt her foot so she's getting extra attention...

 

[Silseb]

That is a nice picture of the sebright with the brahma bantam. This time of year many young cockerels get a bit feisty. Best way to keep it under check is by putting an old cock (several years old) in with your group of young boys, he will do an excellent job of policing them.

 

[crowcreek]

Thanks Silseb, he is a beautiful Sebright. If he didn't have a crooked toe I would ask if anyone though he was show worthy.
I don't have the option of putting an older rooster in with them. He has been a little better since we had a big show down a couple days ago. I was cleaning the chicken tractor and he came up to me all cocky so I moved toward him to back him up but instead he came up in the air at me. I lunged for him but other than knocking some feathers off him he got away. I chased him under our truck and blocked him from getting to the hens. I "claimed" them! He eventually started making a pitiful crying kind of sound and I let him go to the bushes and then eventually the hens with him. This all had gone on for about 10 minutes. He has given me my
Space since! I am still watching him close.

 

[chippysmom327]

Wow!! Glad you won the fight!

 

[crowcreek]

LOL me too. I hope we will be able to co-exist peacefully one day. I am hoping it is just young hormones.

 

[GallusGirl]

I was frustrated with my little Golden Sebright rooster, and found a few helpful tips on other Backyard Chickens threads. If you search for "mean rooster" I'm sure dozens of threads with lots of helpful advice will pop up. I copied this text from somewhere into a word document, but didn't save the source.

"Okay, to begin with, this is perfectly normal young rooster behavior. At 10 weeks old, his hormone levels are likely ramping up, and he will be starting to act like an adult rooster. When he gets older (seven months or so), he should mellow out.

There are several things you can try to gain dominance over your rooster. While doing chores (feeding, watering, etc), pick him up and carry him around with you. This lets him know that you can do anything you want with him. When giving your chickens treats, give the pullets treats first. Don't allow him to hand the treats over to the pullets himself; if he does, this means that he thinks that they are his pullets, not yours.
Whenever he pecks you, tap him back. You don't have to be mean about it. All you have to do is make him back away a few steps and rethink what he just did.

If he starts all-out attacking you, you could try some more things. When he attacks, speed-walk after him, making him get out of the way. If he's on a perch, knock him off; this is what a dominant rooster would do to a subordinate one. You could also try holding him down on the ground for a few minutes, as a dominant rooster would do something similar."

Not sure if this should be a new thread?

Sebright people do you think I can ever get my young Silver Sebright cockerel to stop being aggressive? He started about a week ago, at 12 weeks. Just came at me one day. Now I know to keep an eye on him. He gets very defensive when I am around the coop. They free range in my yard during the day and when I go outside the five pullets run for me to see if I have any treats. Bob deals with this to an extent but no way can I turn my back on him. The other day he challenged me and I walked at him so he flew up in the air. I tried to catch him mid air but darn he is fast. He got away and I chased him under the truck. I would not let the hens near him for a bit even tough they tried. After a good 5 minutes or so he ran in the bushes and I let him be. He stayed away from me the rest of the day but the next day he ruffled himself at me a couple times (I always make him move back when he does this). That little sucker has no fear really. If I am giving the girls treats he is right there grabbing though.

Do I stand a chance of training him. I realize he is probably very hormonal at his age. He has no spurs yet but I worry that when they come in (not sure when that happens) I will become afraid of him. Right now I am not. Can I file the spurs down when he gets them? Doubt I can re home him. Not willing to kill him so I need to deal with this. It is a pain always looking over my shoulder though.

 

[crowcreek]

Thank you GallusGirl, I have now done most of those things except pick him up. They have all helped quite a bit. I have not been able
To pick him up. Just when I think I have him he scooted away. He sat on the porch with us today while I picked up one of the buff pullets to look at her foot. She has developed a little
Limp. He moved slightly closer and watched me but didn't seem to get as upset as he use to. I will keep working with him. I hope he does calm down as he gets older. I like him and am glad for his watchful eye over the girls.
These Sebrights sure do mature fast!