Texas

[SlipsWife]

The Ladies are fluttering higher & higher...and last time we checked, they are all growing back their flight feathers. Time to clip again, I guess. I didn't think we'd have to do it again so soon, but one of our ladies made it up to a 5ft branch of their tree...next step is back over the fence and in our neighbors' tree again. We can't have that.

Also, this morning there was a squirrel in the enclosed run of the coop. There is a small gap between the bottom of the coop/run & the blocks underneath...and this silly squirrel got in sometime this morning to snack on the chicken feed. When I came into the chicken yard (where The Ladies spend their days, when not completely free-ranging), the squirrel freaked and couldn't remember how he got in...or, better yet, how to get out. He realized just in time, and I had to laugh as he desperately scampered along the fence, looking for a place to jump and get away from the big mean monster that was me. RAWR!

My husband has agreed to help me correct the gap in the coop AND clip some wings this weekend.

Otherwise, The Ladies are still getting bigger...and Fred's (White Leghorn) comb is coming in nicely. It's completely flopped over, but doesn't seem to block her vision. Red's (Red Sex-Link) comb is also coming in nicely. It's taking shape, but isn't far off her head at the moment. My EE's, Olive, Shed & Goldie appear to have pea-combs. They are so big now, and I can't imagine how big they'll be once they're full grown. I'd say they are about 16/17weeks old right now. I'll try to get good pics of each of them soon.

Have your ladies even had time to molt since their last clipping? It sounds to me like someone is very determined and has figured out how to work around her clipped wings...

 

[tiedyemommy]

Sounds like they are doing well. Glad your going to fix the gap in your run, keep your ladies safe.

How's the pullet hunt going? Found any you want to add to your flock?

Not actively looking for pullets at the moment. Just as The Ladies (and Quackers) sort of fell into our laps, we feel when the time/bird(s) is right, it'll come together effortlessly. That being said, I do keep an eye on Craigslist. Wouldn't want to miss an opportunity because I wasn't paying attention.

 

[Starfire669]

Have your ladies even had time to molt since their last clipping?  It sounds to me like someone is very determined and has figured out how to work around her clipped wings...

I have had to clip my chickens 3 times so far. They are growing new feathers because my eldest chickens, aside from Screwball, are 17 weeks down to 2 months old. I think it's just their age and once they get full grown the crazy feather growth will stop. I started clipping my chickens at 6 weeks old because of how high and far they could fly, and how badly they steer. I watched too many crash into obstacles, like trees, fencing, and even each other, to not clip them, lol.

 

[Starfire669]

Not actively looking for pullets at the moment.  Just as The Ladies (and Quackers) sort of fell into our laps, we feel when the time/bird(s) is right, it'll come together effortlessly.  That being said, I do keep an eye on Craigslist.  Wouldn't want to miss an opportunity because I wasn't paying attention. 

Lol, true. Just make sure it's a breed you want and is healthy. You can tame a skittish chicken with work, but getting a sick chicken or a breed know to be aggressive would be bad for both your current ladies and your little girl. BTW, tell her Ebony is out with Daisy and Ivory again and is very happy! Soon the ducklings will be out with them as well.

 

[tiedyemommy]

Have your ladies even had time to molt since their last clipping? It sounds to me like someone is very determined and has figured out how to work around her clipped wings...

No molting yet...just crazy feather growth. Red, who had all but one tail feather plucked from her by one of the ducks (back when we had 'em) now has a full tail again. It almost happened over-night. Most of The Ladies have three of their flight feathers fully grown in. I thought it would be a while...I guess it'll slow as they get older.

 

[tiedyemommy]

Lol, true. Just make sure it's a breed you want and is healthy. You can tame a skittish chicken with work, but getting a sick chicken or a breed know to be aggressive would be bad for both your current ladies and your little girl. BTW, tell her Ebony is out with Daisy and Ivory again and is very happy! Soon the ducklings will be out with them as well.

Yay Ebony! Yeah, my husband wants to get more EE's...and he'll come with me to assess any potential additions to our flock. I know Craigslist isn't the best source, but we don't mind rescuing birds (for now) before we get into raising chicks or hatching (down the road).

 

[SlipsWife]

No molting yet...just crazy feather growth. Red, who had all but one tail feather plucked from her by one of the ducks (back when we had 'em) now has a full tail again. It almost happened over-night. Most of The Ladies have three of their flight feathers fully grown in. I thought it would be a while...I guess it'll slow as they get older.

Gotcha. We didn't clip ours until they were around 6 months (I believe...) and haven't had to clip since. A couple have molted but now they are heavier and don't seem as interested in what might be on the other side of the fence.

 

[Starfire669]

My hens go broody all the time but I don't allow them to hatch and raise their own, so can't speak to how well they do with brooding.  Tried with one in the past when she was a year old - had a negative result so have not given her or any of the others a chance since then.  Currently can't afford to take the risk of allowing them to brood since I need to increase the numbers of my foundation breeding flock and need to be able to have enough good birds on the ground that losing a hatch would not be a problem for our breeding program. 

You know, there are so many variables that go into a chicken's behavior that those descriptions of "friendly", "docile", "flighty" don't really do a lot for me when using the term for a general breed description.  Individual flocks are different as are individual chickens.  And people's ideas of what those terms mean are so different.  Chickens can be trained through husbandry to exhibit behaviors which are termed "friendly", "docile", "flighty", "aggressive" etc all depending on how they are managed.  Some people want a "docile" chicken that is just easy to catch when needed.  Other people want that "docile" to mean calm without engaging in pecking order behavior.  And still others want a chicken that wears a diaper and comes in the house to watch tv.  So it's all about perspective and flock management as to what those terms describe as well as individual chicken personalities.

So you know where I'm coming from - we do "serious" breeding. We want males that are good breeders, ones that don't allow a hen to throw them off their backs and cause poor fertility.  We want males that are protective of their hens.  Basically we want males to get a rooster's job done.  So that means the cocks we keep for breeding are likely to have more dominant personalities than a backyard flock where it's ok to have males that aren't "vigorous" because breeding isn't something done with specific goals in mind.  Plus they have to meet a whole lot of other criteria that has nothing to do with behavior - we ask a lot of our chickens  

If another male is unwilling to take a subordinate role and stay in his place, the dominant male is not going to tolerate that other rooster. being around - true with pretty much all animals.  We do have a few exceptions to males not living with each other, but their management is different than the males actively used for mating, and there are dominant and subordinate cocks in those pens.  But most of our cocks refuse to take a subordinate role and for our purposes - that's a good thing.  It does mean we have to have a bunch more housing to keep single males in, but we do what we have to as part of our breeding goals.

Now we did butcher some physically excellent specimens that were just too rough on hens.  There was a clear difference between the males that were "good roosters getting the job done" and the males that tried to beat up and rape every hen they saw and did it constantly.  That was something we didn't want to risk perpetuating by breeding those males.  We managed to keep one male out of that group who was not so rough and that cock is a good rooster - not too rough with the ladies and also is respectful of people, getting out of the way to let me work in the pen while still being interested in what I'm doing so he can protect his hens or call them over if I've got treats.  So I know that not every chicken with the same/similar genetics is ALWAYS destined to turn out having a lousy attitude even if others related to them do.

With young males, we separate by gender before the males get any idea of what sex is.  This helps us be able to keep cockerels together in a grow out pen longer without hassling as much over a female.  It also keeps the stress levels lower so that both the males and females don't have growth stunted because the cockerels are chasing pullets, and each other all the time, and running off any weight they put on because the males are horny.

So our situation is probably a bit different than most people's flock management.

Bored now? 

I guess I should also mention, that I got different chicken breeds to start with. I did this to try and see which breeds I liked, and also as an attempt to reduce inbreeding. All my chickens came from the same hatchery and are probably already inbred. I currently have 6 RIRs, 6 BOs, 6 BAs, 5 BRs, and 1 SLW hens (out of 7 SLW chicks, 6 were cockerels and all of the cockerels were way too aggressive, talk about psychotic birds. The RIR cockerel was just as bad, and the hens aren't anything special). There are things I don't like about the SLWs or the RIRs, so I will focus on the Orpingtons, Austrolorps, and Rocks as the breeds for me. Both of my roosters are from outside sources and are not related to the hatchery stock. This is especially true of the black Orp cockerel, as he is from show lines and Ideal don't carry black Orps. I know I will have to occasionally bring in hens for new blood, but I hope that by focusing on getting good outside roosters often, I can reduce how many new birds I need to bring in, as well as increase size and productivity in my chickens.

If you have any tips for my flock management to reach my stated goals, please share them.

 

[Starfire669]

Yay Ebony!  Yeah, my husband wants to get more EE's...and he'll come with me to assess any potential additions to our flock.  I know Craigslist isn't the best source, but we don't mind rescuing birds (for now) before we get into raising chicks or hatching (down the road).

Check for external parasites around their eyes and vent, and check their poop. Also, keep them away from your ladies for 30 days unless your absolutely trust your source.

 

[kittybethaustin]

I'm in the Austin area and would like to learn how to process chickens for eating. Is there anybody within a 50 miles radius or so of Austin who would let me come help the next time they need to do this? Possibly even let me bring a few of my own birds and process them at the same time?