I do herd. I used to use an old fishing rod but here it's a plastic rake. It helps mine are used to it & know it only comes out when I need them in bed so they know where they are supposed to be going. And they have a terrible habit of congregating around my feet which makes it easy to start the whole process off.That works for me too, except for getting them to bed, since we have no run so I can't con them into the coops - and trying to herd them in like sheep is a dead loss
Good luck finding the right hens! I have not had much success finding exactly the right breeds, which is why last time I bought what I could find in the fodder store.
I have absolutely zero experience breeding and no understanding of genetics, so I'd love to know what your suggestions for Peggy's breeding are. What do her characteristics suggest to you?Odd that she lays blue with that mix. Usually a blue layer crossed with a brown layer yields some shade of green since the brown layer "tints" the shell with brown as the egg passes. Maybe her paint sprayer is broken
This congregating around your feet is a real problem. I only have 4 adults and I cannot imagine how I will handle it when the Hooligans grow up. It is a total safetly hazard. Because I am on a hill I have to navigate down some steep steps within the Chicken Palace and I am constantly terrified I will 'land' on a chicken. I have trod on a couple of feet in the past but because the ground is thick with leaf litter I don't think I did any damage.
I think this is right. So many of the so called *Australorps* look nothing like the Aussie bird ~ & the temperament is off too. They are a dual purpose bird so should be quite heavy & are generally a very calm, placid bird. I started with BAs & BRs for this very reason & they were super calm & easy to deal with.
It's another reason for some sort of pole. I can gently nudge chickens out of the way or progress is very slow. As you say, it's a safety hazard.
It's a really good idea. I wish I hadn't disposed of Dad's old fishing rod with the end snapped off because it would've been perfect for chicken herding.
I think I am going to try a corn broom. Or maybe a badminton racquet.
Yes, fishing rods are perfect. They give some stability while having a nice long reach to poke that one chicken.
Do you really think chickens fall in love or, if the metaphor is still operating in the second half of the sentence, I'm wondering what is the people equivalent of a senior hen?
Mine do too Penny. The other day I was chatting with a neighbour when she commented that the chickens had all perched on the bench and table behind me, and I realized we were absent-mindedly standing between the coops and putting them off going in! It's the getting them in early that's tricky when they're used to going at dusk and the only way in is a pop hole.
You have reminded me Ribh that I do periodically have to herd them (and it's a nightmare) - when I move the coops in spring after winter on the terrace. It takes the slowest-witted/most set-in-their-ways members of the flock up to 5 days to go to the new location instead of where they used to be! It takes 2 of us with a rake or suchlike in each hand too. But they're not long enough and we're not fast enough to be able to use them to poke any offenders !
It is indeed -
ditto. My solution is to adopt the kind of sliding leading foot perfected by guardsmen on parade doing a slow march; the moving foot barely hovers above the ground as it goes forward so there's not enough room for much more than a toe to get caught under or to trip over.
