Stimulus check spending wish list, anyone?

[gtaus]

I also had to buy hen pads, the feathers on their backs are getting damaged by the young roosters. I am going to have to separate them to night. They are too aggressive.

I only have hens, so no experience with hen pads. I have considered getting a rooster so I could raise my own chickens with a broody hen. Still thinking about that some day.

 

[CNJ]

I only have hens, so no experience with hen pads. I have considered getting a rooster so I could raise my own chickens with a broody hen. Still thinking about that some day.

My rooster made a mistake today and he knows it. I don't let them get away with challenging me. I carry a thin piece of bamboo with me when I check up on my chickens. This is the first time, I hit my rooster with the bamboo stick. They usually move out of the way when I tap them. I saw him chasing around the younger roosters, he was pumped up with establishing his dominance. I knew what he was up too when I walked past him. When he made his move for my leg, I was one step ahead of him. He got beat into submission and ran away.

He will spend the night in a transportation box and tomorrow he will be on a leg leash. He will be on probation, until further notice.

 

[Sally PB]

I have considered getting a rooster so I could raise my own chickens with a broody hen.

I have a roo and three hens. Yes, that is over-roo'd for the number of hens, but so far it's been working. One of the girls is missing some feathers on her back now, so I'm monitoring it closely.

I would like the option of replenishing my flock from within, should I need to. When I got chicken last March, at the beginning of the lockdown, I was trying to cover the possibilities. Yes, I got pandemic chickens, but I was planning to get them when I retired. I already have a big garden.

He will spend the night in a transportation box and tomorrow he will be on a leg leash. He will be on probation, until further notice.

There are a lot of articles and threads about working with aggressive roos here on BYC. If you want to keep him, you can probably find some tips to tame him down a bit. I'm working with my roo, and he is showing improvement.

I was going at it as "I AM the boss of you, jerkwad!" But that wasn't working well. After reading about the subject and asking some questions, I've changed my tactics to "We are on the same side, buddy. But you MUST NOT challenge me. They are YOUR hens, but I am allowed to be in here and interact with them whenever I want."

 

[Sally PB]

Back on thread topic... since building materials are soooo $$$ right now, one of my stimulus check spending items is improvements to the coop and run. For "improvements," read "enlargements."

I have five chicks coming in June, so I need more space. Chickens are a long term investment for us, so I look at it as "home improvements." Their home.

 

[gtaus]

My rooster made a mistake today and he knows it. I don't let them get away with challenging me. I carry a thin piece of bamboo with me when I check up on my chickens. This is the first time, I hit my rooster with the bamboo stick. They usually move out of the way when I tap them. I saw him chasing around the younger roosters, he was pumped up with establishing his dominance. I knew what he was up too when I walked past him. When he made his move for my leg, I was one step ahead of him. He got beat into submission and ran away.

He will spend the night in a transportation box and tomorrow he will be on a leg leash. He will be on probation, until further notice.

None of my hens have ever been aggressive towards me. I don't have any roosters yet, so maybe someday I'll have to face these issues if I do get one, or more.

WARNING: The following comment may be considered sexist by some. At this stage in my life, I don't care. It is only my opinion and feel free not to consider my thoughts.....

People are not chickens, of course. But punishing a rooster for his natural behavior reminds me so much of the way we treat young boys in school. I only taught elementary school for 6 years, but in that time, I came to the opinion that school is really designed for girls that are more submissive and willing to sit quietly and follow orders. If a young boy cannot sit still and quiet in the classroom like (most of) the girls, he is often separated from the "flock" and punished for his behavior. Boys who act like the girls are rewarded. Boys who are more aggressive, by nature, are punished. I don't have an answer to that problem, but I see it as an issue that needs to dealt with better than we currently do.

 

[gtaus]

I would like the option of replenishing my flock from within, should I need to. When I got chicken last March, at the beginning of the lockdown, I was trying to cover the possibilities. Yes, I got pandemic chickens, but I was planning to get them when I retired. I already have a big garden.

I got my chickens the year before the pandemic. But I was happy to see so many people discovering the benefits of keeping a small backyard flock for their families last year when the pandemic hit. I think those of us who can be just a little bit more self sufficient in any way, are better off for the experience.

I also have a garden, and I think chickens and gardens just naturally go well together. You can get some great chicken compost for the garden from the chickens, and the garden will provide some extra greens for the chickens to eat.

In the lockdown, tending chickens gives you something to do. I cannot say that raising a small backyard flock for only eggs make economic sense, as you can usually get a dozen eggs at the local big box stores for less than a dollar a dozen. I don't know too many people who can honestly say that they can produce eggs at less than a dollar a dozen from their backyard flock. But at the height of the lockdown, our local stores ran out of eggs on the shelf. I was still getting about 3-4 eggs per day at that time from my 10 hens.

Last fall I sifted bags and bags full of chicken compost from my chicken run. I put the chicken compost on my raised beds last fall and hope to see the benefits this year. I am not a great gardener, not even a very good gardener. But I try every year. I plant 2X-3X what I think Dear Wife and can eat, because about half my plants don't grow so well. If we have extra, we either give it away, freeze it, or can it. Now with the chickens, some of that extra goes to them. Nothing gets wasted.

Growing your own food, or having a small backyard flock for eggs, just makes you appreciate your food more, I think. Doesn't everything taste better knowing that your efforts produced it?

 

[gtaus]

There are a lot of articles and threads about working with aggressive roos here on BYC. If you want to keep him, you can probably find some tips to tame him down a bit. I'm working with my roo, and he is showing improvement.

There is a lady on YouTube called Becky, and she has a channel about living on a small homestead. She raises small animals. Her approach to getting a good rooster is to have more than one, and then select the rooster(s) who have the natural behaviors you want in your flock. If a rooster is too aggressive towards you or too hard on the hens, it's freezer camp time. She does not attempt to tame any rooster. She just keeps roosters that have a more natural behavior she wants in her flock. In theory, those desired traits will be passed on to the next generation.

 

[gtaus]

Back on thread topic... since building materials are soooo $$$ right now, one of my stimulus check spending items is improvements to the coop and run.

I was in our local Home Depot yesterday. Both myself and another guy were looking at the prices of OSB sheeting, which is currently at $35.00 per 4x8 sheet. A year ago, it cost $7.00 per sheet. I made the comment to the other guy that I wished I had invested in OSB sheets. He agreed and said that he would have bought a truckload of the stuff IF he would have known. He told me he used to work at a plant that produces the OSB sheets, and he just cannot believe the current prices. Most other lumber prices have also skyrocketed.

So, yes, I have had to reconsider some of my options this year. I had planed on buying wooden posts and lumber to expand my chicken run. But with the current price of wood, I ended just buying some metal T-Posts instead of using wood. It will not look as nice as I imagined, but the chickens don't care.

My plans for building wooden raised garden beds have been modified to using a wooden frame using galvanized sheet metal panels as the sides. I bought the sheet metal panels a few days ago so I will get started on those garden beds soon. The good news is that the metal panels are supposed to last much longer than wood, so not only is it cheaper than wood, but it might be better for the long term. I have enough scrap lumber behind the garage, so I did not have to buy any wood for the frames. So maybe it was just meant to be that way.

 

[CNJ]

I have a roo and three hens. Yes, that is over-roo'd for the number of hens, but so far it's been working. One of the girls is missing some feathers on her back now, so I'm monitoring it closely.

I would like the option of replenishing my flock from within, should I need to. When I got chicken last March, at the beginning of the lockdown, I was trying to cover the possibilities. Yes, I got pandemic chickens, but I was planning to get them when I retired. I already have a big garden.


There are a lot of articles and threads about working with aggressive roos here on BYC. If you want to keep him, you can probably find some tips to tame him down a bit. I'm working with my roo, and he is showing improvement.

I was going at it as "I AM the boss of you, jerkwad!" But that wasn't working well. After reading about the subject and asking some questions, I've changed my tactics to "We are on the same side, buddy. But you MUST NOT challenge me. They are YOUR hens, but I am allowed to be in here and interact with them whenever I want."

My rooster needs to be reminded like how they train chickens to peck at things to get treats. When he rushes my leg, its kind of like a head fake. He likes to do it when I am not looking, like a sneak attack, but the strange thing about it is I would not know that he did it unless I feel something brush against my feet, so he is not kicking or biting. It seems more like acting or posturing. But when he is in that state of mind, he goes into a fighting stance when I go to pick him up, so its a sparring challenge.

I didn't hit him this time, instead I picked him up and pushed him to the ground and pinched the skin behind the top part of his neck and pulled it back. I kept lifting him up and pushing him down until he gave up and made an uk, uk sound when I pulled his head back. This straightened him out for the day. I gave him some banana and papaya for good behavior.

 

[gtaus]

My rooster needs to be reminded like how they train chickens to peck at things to get treats. When he rushes my leg, its kind of like a head fake. He likes to do it when I am not looking, like a sneak attack, but the strange thing about it is I would not know that he did it unless I feel something brush against my feet, so he is not kicking or biting. It seems more like acting or posturing. But when he is in that state of mind, he goes into a fighting stance when I go to pick him up, so its a sparring challenge.

Maybe you could use some of your stimulus money to buy a chicken rotisserie. That way you could show the rooster his options of either behaving properly or being invited for supper!