Show Off Your American Gamefowl and Chat Thread!!!

[JShubin]

Good looking 2014 Pullet

 

[centrarchid]

Interesting note on a couple cocks that have been hard on hens in breeding pens with them this spring. I upped the protein by mixing in some busted eggs with feed and the aggression seems to have tapered off.

 

[sdm111]

Were they introduced this year?

 

[centrarchid]

Yes, introduced roughly 10 days ago. They are kept separate except when hatching eggs desired. A couple hens are into season 5 for egg collection and oldest cock of similar age. Most of the problematic cocks are are 2 to 3 years old. Not all cocks have proven inclined to be hard on hens regardless of conditions.

I can see difference in cocks even before hens / pullets introduced. I tried introducing the other way but results same.

 

[sdm111]

U don't think they not just " getting it out of their system " and calming since the hen or hens were readily available. Just asking cause I find when I first introduce the cocks are hard on them but seem to calm afterwards and play more overseer of the hen.

 

[centrarchid]

My single mating setup involves groups of pens in clusters, each with a single hen / pullet. A single cock is assigned to each group of pens. He is moved between pens once each day to stay with female for 24 hours before being moved again. A given hen is covered either every other day, every third .day or in one case every fifth day depending on number of females within a group. Number of hens does not appear to be important, The aggressive cocks had all hens / pullets in their cluster on the run when introduced while other cocks got along great from the git-go. Hens / pullets receiving the aggressive cocks would run even as he approached pen to be let in. The other cocks were / are greeted by hens / pullets as he is introduced.

 

[sdm111]

Tad more detailed than the first post centra, anywho so it would be correct to assume all these birds been separate until approx. 10 days ago then u started rotating? Then as u started rotating x cocks were harder on females more so than y cocks then as protein was upped x cocks calmed in aggression? Specific ages and numbers in groups y&x?

 

[centrarchid]

Tad more detailed than the first post centra, anywho so it would be correct to assume all these birds been separate until approx. 10 days ago then u started rotating? Then as u started rotating x cocks were harder on females more so than y cocks then as protein was upped x cocks calmed in aggression? Specific ages and numbers in groups y&x?

Almost all birds housed separately until rotations began. Exception was older cock kept with a pullet over winter. Older cock known gentle with all hens at all times.

Three Y cocks (aged 2 to 3) and two X cocks (ages 2 to 3). A Z cock (aged 5) being bred to five hens behaved well like Y cocks. Yes, the X cocks seemed to calm down after a couple days of upped protein. All now acting the same. I did not have a control group of X cocks where protein was not upped so approach will not pass scientific scrutiny. Numbers for X and Y also too low.

 

[sdm111]

Can u restrict x cocks to see if aggressiveness returns? No it won't be the same as having a control group but could more solidify your findings. Without having the control group at start. Worth a shot

 

[centrarchid]

Can u restrict x cocks to see if aggressiveness returns? No it won't be the same as having a control group but could more solidify your findings. Without having the control group at start. Worth a shot

Next year I will give it a shot with next cohort. This year I am trying to get broods off promptly and most of these guys will be rotated out of breeding pens after that. Next year will have a similar number of bullstags being bred to pullets so should have all sorts of fun with that, especially when stags confined with pullets for duration of clutch setting process. All of those pullets and bullstags will be out of the 5 year old cock (Z) by the pullets he is being line-bred to for fourth generation.