The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[KF0002]

An interesting thing happened just a little while ago. I was logging some patients from clinical today and heard a peeper peeping. I looked everywhere to figure out where it was coming from. I have been known at times (rarely) to forget to write down expected hatches on the calendar, so I immediately thought "uh oh." But it wasn't coming from the Sportsman. Lo and behold, a Game hen had hatched out chicks in a big urn-type flower pot on the front porch, hidden by a big overgrown juniper limb, and one of the chicks had somehow fallen out. The hen was feisty, but I managed to wrangle her and her 5 chicks, and she is happily leading them around the yard as we speak. lol

 

[KF0002]

There was an unhatched egg left in the flower pot and it has a chick peeping inside so I stuck it in the Genesis to see if it will hatch. Dang Game hens and their unauthorized breeding. lol

 

[NagemTX]

I need to see what a chamois spangled looks like. Sounds fancy. lol

This is Chamois Spangled Spitzhauben.

 

[KF0002]

This is Chamois Spangled Spitzhauben.
View attachment 4127589

Ooh that's pretty!

 

[Amer]

This is Chamois Spangled Spitzhauben.
View attachment 4127589

Fancy

 

[WallyG74]

That’s a nice spotted chicken ya got there!

 

[KF0002]

My husband is on my case about keeping all my Leghorn roosters. Saying we only need to keep “a few” because we can’t individually pen all of them. How do your Leghorn roosters do in a bachelor pen @The Moonshiner? My Speckled Sussex roosters gang up on the extra Legbar roosters we have in the goat lot and they are constantly getting bullied. Luckily the goat lot is big enough for them to all have the space to get away but the Sussex roosters can be relentless and chase them. I would love to leave a big Gamecock in there with them for a while to humble them a bit but my husband doesn’t want the Sussex roosters beaten to a bloody pulp.

I don’t want to put my precious extra Leghorn roosters in there with the meanies! So would a bachelor pen just for extra Leghorn roosters work? How aggressive are they toward one another when they are grown? My husband doesn’t want a dozen + Leghorn roosters running loose in the yard tormenting the layers.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Things are starting to be different lately but long ago I'd keep a couple hundred together just loose in the barn over the winter. I'd lose a few but had more then enough so...
Last few years over the winter I'd set up bachelor pens and bi... hen pens. I just keep the sexes separate. Depending on the space I've had 50 to 75 roosters together. You just don't want to shuffle them. Subtracting is fine but adding or merging causes chaos.
There's always a few that will get picked on too much and lots of little skirmishes but for the amount of birds together it's something I've lived with.
When I find any that I'm getting worried about I either decide I don't need them and move them on before they get too jacked up or if it's one I really want to keep I'll usually throw it and one of the female pens. Those are pretty large groups too and several pens so come spring they might each end up with three four or five roosters in each one. I can't say it's Flawless and works perfectly but just for me it works out well enough and a lot better than all the experts claim.
World of difference between Leghorn roosters and game roosters.

 

[KF0002]

Things are starting to be different lately but long ago I'd keep a couple hundred together just loose in the barn over the winter. I'd lose a few but had more then enough so...
Last few years over the winter I'd set up bachelor pens and bi... hen pens. I just keep the sexes separate. Depending on the space I've had 50 to 75 roosters together. You just don't want to shuffle them. Subtracting is fine but adding or merging causes chaos.
There's always a few that will get picked on too much and lots of little skirmishes but for the amount of birds together it's something I've lived with.
When I find any that I'm getting worried about I either decide I don't need them and move them on before they get too jacked up or if it's one I really want to keep I'll usually throw it and one of the female pens. Those are pretty large groups too and several pens so come spring they might each end up with three four or five roosters in each one. I can't say it's Flawless and works perfectly but just for me it works out well enough and a lot better than all the experts claim.
World of difference between Leghorn roosters and game roosters.

Okay maybe as long as our Leghorn roosters are raised around each other they will be good in a bachelor pen together. I think 4 out of my 6 Buff Leghorns are roosters, so I'm going to have quite a few spare roosters.

The F1 Silver Ginger Game crosses will be aggressive also because even half Game roosters are super aggressive towards other roosters, so we will likely have to pen those separately.

 

[KF0002]

@The Moonshiner how are Murray McMurray's Silver Duckwing Leghorns?