Texas

[hungnguyen]

I don't see how I will ever get caught up on BYC.
My daughter's wedding was beautiful. A lot of hard work. I am pooped. Happy, Happy, Happy. [/IMG] Congratulation ... looking great !

 

[magpiesing]

if you are going to wash them use a mild iodine soultion like 30% iodine 70% water to do so. but if you can get away with not washing them don't just keep an eye out on hatching day and remove the egg shells as soon as the chicks hatch to avoid them getting sick

Thank you...I made note of your info for future reference. We candled the eggsTuesday night...day 9 The bantam egg looks clear as well as 2 of the big ones and a third egg is cracked...they were all fine yesterday when I cleaned them so I guess Nell did something accidentally. The fourth and last egg looks pretty dark and appears to have an air chamber...so maybe she will get one chick...we'll check it again next Tuesday. Should I just take the cracked egg and let her keep the others for awhile longer just to be sure?

 

[magpiesing]

I don't see how I will ever get caught up on BYC.
My daughter's wedding was beautiful. A lot of hard work. I am pooped. Happy, Happy, Happy. [/IMG]

Congratulations! She is beautiful...great jpb Mom! Now things can slow down a bit for you!...

 

[RustedOak]

I don't see how I will ever get caught up on BYC.
My daughter's wedding was beautiful. A lot of hard work. I am pooped. Happy, Happy, Happy. [/IMG]

Congrats! She's beautiful!

 

[Starfire669]

I have Javas.  They are quite "vigorous".

The Javas are beautiful chickens. But I don't know much about them. Are the hens good broodies? My neighbor's game hens are always hatching chicks, yesterday his grey hen attacked a dog that was after her chicks. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The hen chased that dog out the yard and the dog didn't know what hit it. It was a good sized dog too, about 40 lbs or so. The noise and commotion brought me running thinking something was after my birds. Afterwards the dang hen stood there with her wings spread, growling. I have seen some protective hens, but nothing that comes close to what this one did. My neighbor offered me some chicks if I want, for hatching, but I do not want any of his cockerels and don't want to breed his chickens into mine. I'd need a second coop for the game chickens if I took some, I want my chickens for eggs and meat, so size is important to me.

In all the research I have done, some chicken breeds are more docile than others and the docile breeds have better chances of the roosters being able to live together. They will have fights and scuffles, but won't seriously injure each other, if raised right. I also read that the 2 roosters, once they accept each other, will gang up on and kill any new rooster that comes near their flock. Which is kind of what i want, my neighbors game cock is a very experianced fighter and killer and i hope 2 bigger roosters against him gives them a chance. Of coarse I am always near when my flock is out, and mine have clipped wings, so the game cock has to come to my yard to start a fight, and i will shoot him if i have too. My neighbor actually gave me permission to shoot the cock with non-lethal BB gun in the butt to run him off. If the rooster becomes too much of a nuisance though i will shoot to kill. I am not sure if the black Austrolorp X white Leghorn rooster, Screwball, will be docile enough, but the black Orpington rooster will be larger once full grown, his dad was a 16lb monster. So I guess I am hoping that the size difference will keep the more aggressive rooster, Screwball, in line. The black Orp at 2 months is already as tall as 5 month old Screwball, just not as developed or mature. He is also a big wuss at the moment, but we just got him so I think part of that is stress of going to a new home and being pecked on by 25 other chickens. I have had to lock up Screwball, he was chasing hens trying to mate them, didn't understand they are too young at 17 weeks old. But now that we brought the black Orp boy, Screwball is much worse and he waits to ambush the new cockerel and mate him. The behavior was making me wonder if our new rooster was actually a hen, but I think Screwball is just desperate, and well, he is just that dumb. Screwball earned his name, don't doubt that. But Screwball did try to defend the ladies before I culled 4 psychotic cockerels that we're injuring them and even trying to mate a 5 week old gosling! So Screwball may get better as he ages, he at least don't hurt the ladies, he just runs them ragged and scares the crap outta them when his hormones rage. So he spends a lot of time in lock up, for everyone's protection.

 

[Starfire669]

@Hensfortherapy your daughter is beautiful and looks like she had a great wedding! Congrats! Now rest and relax.

Where can I get colorless iodine? I have looked and have only found Bedtadine at Walmart, Walgreens, HEB, and other stores. Is it a special order thing? Also what would be a good general antibiotic to add to my critter first aide kit? I'd like a good one for my chickens, ducks, and geese. And maybe 1 I could use on my remaining outside cat, Patches. Now that we lost ShadowKat I want to take extra precautions with Patches. I know ShadowKat and Patches are related somehow, just not sure if they were mother daughter or sisters. It doesn't really matter I guess, I just want to stock up my animal first aide kit and have it ready when the next thing goes wrong.

 

[bnjrob]

The Javas are beautiful chickens. But I don't know much about them. Are the hens good broodies? My neighbor's game hens are always hatching chicks, yesterday his grey hen attacked a dog that was after her chicks. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The hen chased that dog out the yard and the dog didn't know what hit it. It was a good sized dog too, about 40 lbs or so. The noise and commotion brought me running thinking something was after my birds. Afterwards the dang hen stood there with her wings spread, growling. I have seen some protective hens, but nothing that comes close to what this one did. My neighbor offered me some chicks if I want, for hatching, but I do not want any of his cockerels and don't want to breed his chickens into mine. I'd need a second coop for the game chickens if I took some, I want my chickens for eggs and meat, so size is important to me.

In all the research I have done, some chicken breeds are more docile than others and the docile breeds have better chances of the roosters being able to live together. They will have fights and scuffles, but won't seriously injure each other, if raised right. I also read that the 2 roosters, once they accept each other, will gang up on and kill any new rooster that comes near their flock. Which is kind of what i want, my neighbors game cock is a very experianced fighter and killer and i hope 2 bigger roosters against him gives them a chance. Of coarse I am always near when my flock is out, and mine have clipped wings, so the game cock has to come to my yard to start a fight, and i will shoot him if i have too. My neighbor actually gave me permission to shoot the cock with non-lethal BB gun in the butt to run him off. If the rooster becomes too much of a nuisance though i will shoot to kill. I am not sure if the black Austrolorp X white Leghorn rooster, Screwball, will be docile enough, but the black Orpington rooster will be larger once full grown, his dad was a 16lb monster. So I guess I am hoping that the size difference will keep the more aggressive rooster, Screwball, in line. The black Orp at 2 months is already as tall as 5 month old Screwball, just not as developed or mature. He is also a big wuss at the moment, but we just got him so I think part of that is stress of going to a new home and being pecked on by 25 other chickens. I have had to lock up Screwball, he was chasing hens trying to mate them, didn't understand they are too young at 17 weeks old. But now that we brought the black Orp boy, Screwball is much worse and he waits to ambush the new cockerel and mate him. The behavior was making me wonder if our new rooster was actually a hen, but I think Screwball is just desperate, and well, he is just that dumb. Screwball earned his name, don't doubt that. But Screwball did try to defend the ladies before I culled 4 psychotic cockerels that we're injuring them and even trying to mate a 5 week old gosling! So Screwball may get better as he ages, he at least don't hurt the ladies, he just runs them ragged and scares the crap outta them when his hormones rage. So he spends a lot of time in lock up, for everyone's protection.

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?

 

[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? 

Nope, not bored. I may not be breeding a specific breed, but I am breeding for specific traits. I want large, birds that are good layers and provide a good table bird. I want the hens to be tame enough to be able to check for injuries and doctor them when needed, but they don't have to be lap chickens either. The cock should be a good breeder and protector but should never injure a hen or offer me aggression. I will knock that cock silly if he even looks to offer me aggression, and if he does it to many times I will make him dinner, just like I did with the 4 cockerels that were injuring my pullets and terrorizing my goslings.

With 24 hens, 1 cock isn't enough to ensure fertility. And while I don't intend to hatch all eggs, we plan on eating a lot of them, I do want to hatch some chicks for table birds and to have a next generation. I also got this black Orp because of his size, I want his chicks to be bigger. After a few years, I will cull both current roosters and bring in 2 new cocks to breed all the pullets we hatched and kept. Once again focusing on egg laying and size. This is my flock management plan. I can only have 1 permanent chicken coop, I can put a temporary grow out pen for cockerels next year, but I need to be able to take it down as well. So I am working with 1 flock to achieve my goals which means I need to cull my roosters often to prevent inbreeding. I am also doing something similar with my ducks and geese, who are in my waterfowl coop. But I may have to separate the ducks from the geese during breeding season, which is why temporary pens are needed.

 

[tiedyemommy]

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.

 

[Starfire669]

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.   

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?