Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[MrsNorthie]

Thanks, and I edited my post to direct people to yours.

Like I wrote, water pistols are my sole level of armament.

I prefer water guns, but my grandfather taught me how and most importantly, when to shoot, when I was a little girl. Luckily, I have never had to use it, beyond target practice.

 

[Perris]

I recently saw someone offer an explanation on why roosters crow regardless of their place in the hierarchy, and why crowing increases with the density of roosters. They argued that, since the territories of junglefowl overlap, the call and response of crowing is a way for them to keep track of where everyone is. This would allow groups to avoid running into each other, thus preventing conflict. It might explain why even less dominant roosters will call unprompted, because it behooves them to hear that response and know where the doms are. I would be interested to see whether henless "rogue" roosters crow less frequently, since it might benefit them to go unnoticed so that they can sneakily mate with someone else's hens

I don't think this works with my roos. They share a single territory. They share hens.

 

[Shadrach]

Two are 6 months old (neither crowing yet, both silent in fact), three are just over 5 months (Visby croaks first thing in the morning, the other two have that sort of squeak between a cheep and a bawk, but Lulea's close to crowing I think), and three are one week younger (of them, only Merioneth yet crowing, the other two squeak). So same sort of age that you expect them to start crowing.


yes, though RJF are just bantam sized aren't they? And as I understand it, they form smaller nuclear-type flocks, unlike my mixed largish flock.
I'm sure you're right that crowing serves multiple purposes.

I feel I must point out there is a world of difference between keeping a bunch of juvenile males and cockerels to keeping a bunch of adult roosters.
Keeping a few adult males can be done but in my experience they end up fighting. This can be really distressing for the keeper so it's important that such keepers are aware that at 90% probability they will fight from six months old and onward; when often depending keeping circumstances and temperament.
Most fights don't amount to much. I used to patch them up. disinfect, seal and monitor but the vast majority of comb and wattle injuries, bleed like mad for a bit and heal up quite quickly without human attention. One comes to accept that his is what they do, rather than look for indefinite harmony.

 

[Perris]

I feel I must point out there is a world of difference between keeping a bunch of juvenile males and cockerels to keeping a bunch of adult roosters.
Keeping a few adult males can be done but in my experience they end up fighting. This can be really distressing for the keeper so it's important that such keepers are aware that at 90% probability they will fight from six months old and onward; when often depending keeping circumstances and temperament.
Most fights don't amount to much. I used to patch them up. disinfect, seal and monitor but the vast majority of comb and wattle injuries, bleed like mad for a bit and heal up quite quickly without human attention. One comes to accept that his is what they do, rather than look for indefinite harmony.

I must point out that I have multiple mature roos as well as the juveniles: Killay, Fforest, Gwynedd, Tintern, Hensol, Nefyn. They don't fight.

eta occasionally they fall out of course, like people do, and may get a bit snappy, and very occasionally blood is drawn. But I think it is misleading for people to constantly emphasize roos fighting; most people have little or zero actual experience of roo keeping, and I think it puts them off ever having one, for no good reason.

 

[Shadrach]

I recently saw someone offer an explanation on why roosters crow regardless of their place in the hierarchy, and why crowing increases with the density of roosters. They argued that, since the territories of junglefowl overlap, the call and response of crowing is a way for them to keep track of where everyone is. This would allow groups to avoid running into each other, thus preventing conflict. It might explain why even less dominant roosters will call unprompted, because it behooves them to hear that response and know where the doms are. I would be interested to see whether henless "rogue" roosters crow less frequently, since it might benefit them to go unnoticed so that they can sneakily mate with someone else's hens

Nothing like a crowing contest to ruin an afternoon nap.

 

[Shadrach]

I must point out that I have multiple mature roos as well as the juveniles: Killay, Fforest, Gwynedd, Tintern, Hensol, Nefyn. They don't fight.

Yes I know. I've had three roosters and a cockerel in one tribe and they didn't fight each other; they fought the other roosters in other tribes instead,

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I must point out that I have multiple mature roos as well as the juveniles: Killay, Fforest, Gwynedd, Tintern, Hensol, Nefyn. They don't fight.

While visiting family in north Florida a few years ago, I was mesmerized by the chicken setup on the small farm behind a local farm-to-table restaurant. They had 30-40 chickens in a 40'x15' run/open coop, including a dozen males of varying breeds, sizes, and ages (according to spurs). None of the males had injuries – absolutely zero bloody combs – and none of the hens had feather damage.

What kind of sorcery is that!? My chickens have 100x the space, and the roosters can't get along.

I asked workers around the farm how the birds were so serene in a small space. They all shrugged like it was no big deal and gave me the contact for the main chicken keeper, who was also the restaurant owner. She never answered my email.

Two massive, older Light Brahma roosters did appear to be patrolling, and some of the younger cockerels were napping on roosts rather than on the ground chasing girls. But they all looked to be in good weight and feather condition, meaning they were accessing enough food and not overly stressed. Indeed, the birds all appeared relaxed and sociable with humans and each other.

To this day, my only hypothesis is that with such a mixed group of ages thrown together in a small space, males learned from a young age to remain peaceful for self-preservation.

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours today. It spat a couple of times but not enough to make anyone wet.

They saw something but I don't know what.

I turned over another plank today. Lots of slaters and bugs.

The people who took on this plot dug a small corner of their plot, planted a few things and then gave up. Mow and Sylph are cleaning up.

Old coop sorted.

 

[fluffycrow]

You're looking at this from the perspective of "land custodian" I think. I've lost birds to 1 or more foxes around here, and I live in a rural, diverse ecosystem area. I've chased a fox out of the yard when it was going for the chickens....and had it try to follow me back in. I now have a rifle to shoot it with IF IT IS ACTIVLY HUNTING MY BIRDS. I've seen it several times roaming around the valley hunting mice and rabbits. I have a responsibility to protect the birds as they look to me for food and care. But I do NOT need to kill the fox as a POTENTIAL threat, only in an IMMEDIATE threat scenario.

I've also had a skunk visit the yard, sometimes multiple times a week. It is a threat to small chicks and to eggs. As long as the coop is secure, that part isn't an issue. Now, seeing it roaming about in the middle of the day does warrant shooting as it's likely rabid. I can, however, come up with some scenarios where that isn't the case (creek is flowing extra high/washed out and took the den with it for example), so would definitely observe before shooting.

I think the idea of electrified fencing is a good option for you to ENCOURAGE the family to hunt elsewhere. I also think you need to be prepared to shoot if you find one in Hot Pursuit of your birds. That being said, I think you're approaching this the right way: not in anger, but in calm rationale.

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, an active persuit is really my only chance to shoot them anyways. I just know they nest close to the property, since I have seen the kits visiting (so they are probably at the age where they start hunting practice).

Personal ethics about guns and shooting aside, I have never held a gun (only a few toy guns and water pistols), and obviously don’t know how to use one or have one in my possession.
So even before considering shooting a fast, agile target, I would need to learn how to use one, and before that, go through some paperwork (thankfully) to be able to get one.

No matter if it’s in active persuit or not, I’d still be taking away from the family.

What you and Shad have said about fox activity has peaked my interest however. This family has been spotted hunting in total daylight. The attack happened at 12 in the morning, and the fox came back to collect the carcass it had dropped (the noise from the attack drew me to the coops and I scared away the fox, which dropped the hen it had caught, and left) at 2pm. The kits were spotted at around 10am.
Most attacks that have happened here have been daytime attacks. I had not heard of a correlation between hunting hours and rabies before.

Thank you very much for your help

 

[fluffycrow]

That is encouraging. Thank you. I’ll keep looking into the electric thing. Hopefully it can/will work.

Otherwise, it’s LGD as soon as it’s possible.

I have no doubt that foxes are incredibly smart animals. They have realised that the current guard dog is as guarding as a garden gnome.
With the previous guard dog brothers, the foxes wouldn’t dare come in; most who did, didn’t come out

To pile on to this which I agree with (though I never learned to shoot so that isn’t really an option for me), I have found that the foxes and raccoons learn about the fence and pass that knowledge down through generations.
They go out of their way to steer clear of it.