Show Off Your American Gamefowl and Chat Thread!!!

[roosterhavoc]

I saw 4 chicks. She had 6 eggs. So there may be a couple more. Weren't due to hatch til Tuesday. My guess is all extremely high station, vigorous stags. Lol

 

[roosterhavoc]

I disagree with selection by nature. Sometimes it's luck of the draw. If a bird gets struck by lightning that don't mean it's a dumb bird. It's a domesticated chicken some are trying to make semi wild. I will never understand it.

 

[narragansett1]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/7032117/width/200/height/400[/IMG these chicks are lucky to be alive thay where hatch under a broody hen I went to take them away from her I was pulling a batch out the pen with the net she put a mean shuffel on the net she knocked 2 out cold and broke 2 legs I thought there was 2 broken necks but thay came around I'll be more careful next time
....

 

[sdm111]

Take them at night she won't move

 

[centrarchid]

I disagree with selection by nature. Sometimes it's luck of the draw. If a bird gets struck by lightning that don't mean it's a dumb bird. It's a domesticated chicken some are trying to make semi wild. I will never understand it.

Selection, whether by nature, your hands or the pit requires birds to be exposed to threat and to survive or not. Odds of survival are very much a function of genetics even though chance does play a role. This a very well understood concept in wild and domestic animals. You are arguing without actually understanding how the underlying genetics are capable of being changed by selection.

When you do not maintain selective pressure, especially with small populations you will get changes by chance alone and if you do not correct then those different animals used as breeders will cause long-term damage to your stock by making them different from what you started with.

 

[narragansett1]

Take them at night she won't move

you are right on that one it was a mean shuffle the 2 with the broken legs I took a bandage and taped the leg to the body has any one ever done this I should have just culled them but I figured if its a hen I will give it to a beginner if its a rooster than we will see...

 

[sdm111]

Nah never delt with broken legs

 

[B123]

I feed mother hen of chicks to be reared as broodies by hand so they calm down and bring chicks to me. Once chicks start eating out of my hand on occasion they are well on their way to being tame as adults. Some mother hens complicate so if their genetics are important then I simply have a more gentle hen rear their offspring. You can get similar results with hand-reared from brooder chicks with that group getting to the point where they will bring entire broods up on your lap later. This process even works in the psycho hens that otherwise want to put it to your face or fly across pasture to avoid looking at you.

Interesting, I do something similar and use a few older hens as my broodies. They receive extra care attention and plenty of treats. It amazes me how much the chicks respond to the behavior of the mother. If she is calm and trusting of me, then her chicks are too for the most part as there are always exceptions. I have found it helps if the hens have dominant personalities too as the chicks pickup on this and benefit from it with interactions with other birds.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Selection, whether by nature, your hands or the pit requires birds to be exposed to threat and to survive or not. Odds of survival are very much a function of genetics even though chance does play a role. This a very well understood concept in wild and domestic animals. You are arguing without actually understanding how the underlying genetics are capable of being changed by selection.

When you do not maintain selective pressure, especially with small populations you will get changes by chance alone and if you do not correct then those different animals used as breeders will cause long-term damage to your stock by making them different from what you started with.

I understand what your saying. Losing 80 chicks to the weather is unacceptable and piss poor husbandry at best. At some point, whatever percentage of loss you deem acceptable (should be = to much less than 80 chicks for the amount of birds you have. One would think there had to be a lot of potentially good birds lost. I get the selection pressure and all but come on at some point most would intervene and make a change to prevent losses. Your constantly saying how you yard and native flora provides plenty of cover and shelter, guess not. My point is as a human you put them there, but only took them so far to be on their own.
Case in point that hen I just showed pictures of was nesting in a crate up against the side of the pen. I have had 12 + inches of rain dumped since she started setting. She was constantly soaked. No worse for wear. Yesterday morning I had a fox test my electric fences before I ran outside and he ran off. Had she been nesting (naturally) jn the woods or just out in an unsecured location. She would probably be dead. That isn't selection pressure and wouldn't help breeding efforts.

 

[roosterhavoc]

The other thing I don't fully understand is you want them to nest and be hen raised yet wasn't to turn them into a circus monkey? I have plenty of pictures with a bird that would sit on my legs, shoulders and eat out of my hand. 1.5 years later he wants to hurt me any chance he gets. Handled exactly the same as other birds that will still eat of my hand and sit on my lap.