Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[Beekissed]

Hmm reminds me of my dog training consistency is always the key. Its my poor mother whos going to have to learn this as she loves feeding the chickens but is a women who never wears pants and lives in long skirts, hopefully with this she will be able to keep feeding the hens.

You'll have to "own" her in front of him...put her out there doing what she does and you monitor his behavior around her. Don't let him approach her at all...pressure him away from her and don't let him participate in the flock ritual of her feeding the hens until you are satisfied that he "gets" it and then allow him to join the flock when YOU say he can. If he gets too close to your mother, tap him so that it startles him and then keep him moving. They are smarter than we think and training actually works. If he does what you want, ease the pressure and reward him with some food.

Be consistent and now and again reinforce it just because you can and I think you'll have a bird you can work around.

Bee, the joy in your post has made my night... I am so happy for you that your eggs are developing.... don't apologize for sharing your joy!

Thank you!!!

day 19 plus 12 hours on my hatch (#5 this spring) and each one is special, can't understand why I am on the edge of my seat in wonder and awe, wondering what those little eggs are giving me if anything.................................................

I finally get it! I'm so glad to hear that it never gets old because that is what I always feel about working with animals and their babies....that wonder never leaves me.

 

[AmericanMom]

Geese are terribly territorial.. especially come mating season. The local botanical garden has a pair and now that it's spring... well... Just imagine me running up two dozen steps while carrying a stroller with a 2 year old strapped in, getting away from a mad goose (happened last Wednesday....).

Geese and swans are gorgeous, but I would never EVER dream of keeping, unless I had some remote pond that I didn't do much with.

This is what I was afraid of... Maybe just keep a couple females for the eggs... Just not sure, I don't tolerate aggressive behavior in my animals, they end up in the stew pot pretty quick.

We have a lot of family and friends with small children, we have become the place to be to see baby chicks and rabbits and Jeff and I love sharing our little farm, of course there are rules to be followed...Don't chase nanny's chickens and don't pick up the birds, but they just love being here and I don't want them ever to have a reason to be afraid.

 

[Tomtommom]

Not really. If you can't control one 2 ft. feather duster is it likely that you'll be able to control the next 2 ft. feather duster? Usually the problem is the human, not the bird.

Yes and no. I've had some boys that were bad from the start. I've had some boys that were good from the start. Ofcourse, any bad bird can be made into a good bird, it just may take more work.. and vice versa.. a good bird can most definitely be ruined. Personality does play a role, but how you respond is a biggie too.

My main hen makes sure she stays in charge, which does make my life easier... because she knows I'm the top boss, never tries a thing with me. The hens kept my last guy from crowing, except in the morning before the hens woke

. He tried to flog me once, made sure he knew not to try that again. Walk into him, make him move away from me, tap with a stick. He was a good guy, just trying to rise to the top and failing miserably. He went to a lovely home, with some gals of his own. I didn't like the 4-5am "The cockeral is crowing, go catch him in your nighty and stick him in the tub til 9am so the neighbors don't have a fit" dash.

I've also had a little fellah who became dinner at 12 weeks old (and tasted awful, he was WAAAY too stringy from jumping so much). He was flogging everyone.. jumping the sides of the coop if you walked by.. pulling feathers.. pouncing anything resembling a pullet.. crowing day and night. Hormonal mess

Even if I were ok to have a rooster, he wouldn't have made the cut. Gotta choose your battles for the health of your flock. He was toxic to the flock. You want to make sure the genes are worth passing on to offspring..

One part training, one part personality and genetics.

My current clutch is a nasty riot of 5 week old little cockerals, little piranhas. They're just as bad as that 12 week old, if not worse. Funny enough, the good guy was an egg I hatched from someones flock, the bad guy was a hatchery chick..... currently group is hatchery.... seeing a pattern?

Lol

my frizzle pekins are definitely not for the table but thanks for the recipe all the same !!

Just joking around

I'm sure you have plans for him, or you wouldn't bother straightening him out.

Kids LOVE herding the rooster with a switch and it does the bird no harm~just supervise them and instruct them to walk calmly, don't hit the rooster, just touch him on the back, head or butt to move him along. It makes the kid feel powerful and more confident which translates to how the bird sees him also. The rooster needs to know that ALL humans are off limits to his dominance, family or stranger. The only way that is going to happen is if all humans are consistent in their behavior towards him and the rest of the flock.

I like that suggestion. I do worry about the kids and roosters.. so that's very good advice. Ofcourse, I don't keep 'em around long enough.. but the last time we had a fellah around I was concerned about the kids interacting with him, since he had tried to challenge me (and lost).

 

[Beekissed]

It really starts when they are little....a lot of folks think it's cute when a chick runs and pecks them or bites them when they are filling the feeder and such, but to me that is a training opportunity. I have one meat chick that has tried it a few times and I finally got to do some training with him....he hasn't tried it since.

Any and all roosters have the potential to break bad at any given time, some will, some won't, but they all have the potential, so watching for those early signs of dominance and nipping it in the bud can yield good results. I've never had to kill a rooster for aggressive tendencies towards humans and I've had many, many roosters. I have had to kill hens for needless aggression towards other flock members, though it's a rarity.

All my birds until this year have been hatchery birds, so I don't really think it has much to do with hatchery vs. breeder stock...one of the hens slated for culling this spring for aggressive tendencies is of breeder stock....an excellent breeder, at that.

 

[aussie pete]

i've been lucky as i have australorp & light Sussex (both quiet breeds).but both have very large roosters
my current LS rooster (Roger) & Australorp rooster (Mr noisy)comes when their called,brings their hens with them ,both go into coop when told ,taking their hens with them .
i run separate flocks for each breed
run all my growing cockerels in the flock with them,so they teach the younger ones basic manners,but as Bee says they know i'm boss and moves whenever i walk within 4 ft of them

 

[misschickenlittle]

Haven't read through whole post but very interested... So subscribing!!

 

[Beekissed]

i've been lucky as i have australorp & light Sussex (both quiet breeds).but both have very large roosters
my current LS rooster (Roger) & Australorp rooster (Mr noisy)comes when their called,brings their hens with them ,both go into coop when told ,taking their hens with them .
i run separate flocks for each breed
run all my growing cockerels in the flock with them,so they teach the younger ones basic manners,but as Bee says they know i'm boss and moves whenever i walk within 4 ft of them

I've seen that too, Pete. My young PR cockerel watched me school an old RIR once and I never had to school that PR once in 6 yrs. They are very much monkey see, monkey do on various things.

That way of moving through the flock is more characteristic of men and so they get flogged less then do women and children, who tend to move more hesitantly and move around the birds instead of through them. I've seen this work for chickens, dogs, horses, cattle, sheep, etc. A confident and "big" walk can show dominance behaviors these animals can pick up on and understand.

Pete, most of the people I know with BA roosters report more aggressive behaviors from them than other breeds they have....do you see that at all in your breeding stock birds?

 

[LindaB220]

I'll copy a post I wrote from another thread....it may sound at first like it doesn't apply but the training technique does. I hope it helps you!

Wow, that has to be one of the most amazing lessons you've taught yet. And just what I needed. I'm trying not to coddle my babies. Not going to do the carrying around. We'll see.

 

[Cowpoke]

That is very informing, Thank You for posting Pete!

 

[Beekissed]

Wow, that has to be one of the most amazing lessons you've taught yet. And just what I needed. I'm trying not to coddle my babies. Not going to do the carrying around. We'll see.

Here's an interesting read, Linda: http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/applied-ethology/Bottle-raised males can be very dangerous.pdf

Flock management is serious stuff if one wants to delve into it and really study their birds and interact with them more on their level. I believe that is why I've never had bullying, feather picking, integration problems, manfighter roosters, pecking order issues, etc.

One can study behaviors and either deal with them or cull them from the flock and the genetics....but every rooster is going to have a surge of hormones eventually as he becomes sexually mature and this is to be expected. If we kill every rooster feeling his oats, then soon all we will be breeding is roosters with low testosterone levels.....and that won't last for long, for obvious reasons.

I wonder how people would react if someone suggested killing every dog that~ while he was eating~ growled or lunged at a human who came near, without even trying to train the dog about this issue. Sure,if you truly put in some training time with a rooster and it doesn't yield good results, go ahead and trim his neck...and rightly so...but kill every rooster who is indulging in normal rooster behavior and is confused enough to turn it on a human? Not a good idea.