The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Has any of you had experience with a vicious little silkie roo? If I just even reach out toward him, he attacks my hand. He doesn't just peck, he grabs on and twists. I always have to wear gloves. And... he doesn't like it if I am in the chicken house (not run) - he attacks me then too. When I pick him up and hold him, he will turn his head around like an owl and keep trying to rip my skin off. He doesn't fly at me or chase me - just attacks if I reach out or am in the house. My other silkie roo does his little dance on occasion but has never pecked. Even my big EE roo doesn't peck at all or show any aggression. The little vicious guy is a good protector though - he always sounds the alarm for the flock, etc. My EE roo seems oblivious to everything.

Nope. I would not put up with that..

If you definitely don't want to send him to the freezer, you can try a few tricks.. But to me it sounds like you babied him as a chick and now he is just not afraid of you and is trying to put you bellow him in the pecking order.

So here is what I would do (I'm taking this question as you do not want to kill him).

• Do not handle him at all any further.
• Do not let him mate in your close proximity
• Do not let him eat treats from your hand or directly near you
• If he shows attitude, have a stick with you and tap him quickly - like another rooster would peck (not too hard of course) on his butt/back/wings/chest (avoid head because silkies are prone to brain damage if hit there).
• If he even looks at you in a way you are not comfortable with, make him move away with the stick. Make him wary of your presence.
• Do not allow him to fight with the other roosters while you are around.
  

I get all these pointers from watching my older head rooster Jagger that passed. He was amazing. He did all of this to any rooster who was misbehaving, but totally respected my presence. He is probably why I never had any aggressive roosters - except Gigi who had kicked people when they weren't looking - but never me - and I did all of this to adjust his attitude. It worked.

Remember that your hens are YOURS and not HIS. You are alpha. He needs to respect your presence.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote:
I have used Ivermectin (Ivomec) without any problems when I had my large flock. It's Ivomec for cattle and swine 1% solution. 1 cc/litre (quart) of water. If treating best to treat the whole flock. Now back to Natural Chicken Keeping.....

 

[countrygirl74]

Nope. I would not put up with that..

If you definitely don't want to send him to the freezer, you can try a few tricks.. But to me it sounds like you babied him as a chick and now he is just not afraid of you and is trying to put you bellow him in the pecking order.

So here is what I would do (I'm taking this question as you do not want to kill him).

• Do not handle him at all any further.
• Do not let him mate in your close proximity
• Do not let him eat treats from your hand or directly near you
• If he shows attitude, have a stick with you and tap him quickly - like another rooster would peck (not too hard of course) on his butt/back/wings/chest (avoid head because silkies are prone to brain damage if hit there).
• If he even looks at you in a way you are not comfortable with, make him move away with the stick. Make him wary of your presence.
• Do not allow him to fight with the other roosters while you are around.
  

I get all these pointers from watching my older head rooster Jagger that passed. He was amazing. He did all of this to any rooster who was misbehaving, but totally respected my presence. He is probably why I never had any aggressive roosters - except Gigi who had kicked people when they weren't looking - but never me - and I did all of this to adjust his attitude. It worked.

Remember that your hens are YOURS and not HIS. You are alpha. He needs to respect your presence.

Yes, he was babied as a chick... but they all were - up until we figured out which ones were roos. I thought the alpha roo was my EE simply because he is the crazy mater - I've never really seen this silkie try to mate but once or twice. He seems scared of my EE. I have chased him around the run when he acts up and I have "pecked" him with my finger, but I guess I should try the stick on the back. Will I always need to carry the stick or is that just for training and he should eventually stop his behavior? He makes me laugh so hard because he's so little and acts so tough but I definitely want him to stop. My EE is the one who constantly tries to mate in my presence. It's gotten to the point that when I open the coop door, my RIR is instantly on my shoulder or head to be saved from the EE roo. But he is not aggressive at all! He doesn't even do the dance at me or anything, which the black silkie roo will do. Another question... if I need to handle him for inspection or anything and he grabs on to my hand - do I let go and give him a peck with the stick or hold him until he stops biting???

 

[aoxa]

Yes, he was babied as a chick... but they all were - up until we figured out which ones were roos. I thought the alpha roo was my EE simply because he is the crazy mater - I've never really seen this silkie try to mate but once or twice. He seems scared of my EE. I have chased him around the run when he acts up and I have "pecked" him with my finger, but I guess I should try the stick on the back. Will I always need to carry the stick or is that just for training and he should eventually stop his behavior? He makes me laugh so hard because he's so little and acts so tough but I definitely want him to stop. My EE is the one who constantly tries to mate in my presence. It's gotten to the point that when I open the coop door, my RIR is instantly on my shoulder or head to be saved from the EE roo. But he is not aggressive at all! He doesn't even do the dance at me or anything, which the black silkie roo will do. Another question... if I need to handle him for inspection or anything and he grabs on to my hand - do I let go and give him a peck with the stick or hold him until he stops biting???

If you must handle him, hold him upside down.

He should stop the behaviour after some training. Sounds to me like he is Beta roo and desperately wants to stay that way. He sees you as a threat to his status.

My roosters didn't even attempt fooling with me even when I was handling a hen that would scream. They were good boys.

Also how old is he?

 

[countrygirl74]

If you must handle him, hold him upside down.

He should stop the behaviour after some training. Sounds to me like he is Beta roo and desperately wants to stay that way. He sees you as a threat to his status.

My roosters didn't even attempt fooling with me even when I was handling a hen that would scream. They were good boys.

Also how old is he?

The whole flock is about 19 weeks... my EE roo does seem to get a little ancy when I am messing with the hens, but he never does anything at all.

 

[Ashdoes]

Your ducks feather out faster? Wow.. Mine feathered out much slower. The calls were still half naked at 4 weeks. I threw them out at that time. Couldn't handle raising them in a brooder all day. they made such a mess and stink. That was in early August.. so it was warm out. They hadn't had any heat lamps on them for a week by that time, but I was worried about the older birds bothering them.. They were the ones who harassed the chickens. Little boogers. This is them the first day outside (all but three were sold and are alive and well). They hardly had any feathers as you can see. This was at dusk. They weren't sure where to go in to bed, so I corralled them in. It was so easy. They follow the leader

Well then that was just something I read, that is obviously wrong. A website talking about how much sooner ducks can go out. I guess we'll get to the four week mark and see how they're doing. By May it'll be warm enough, I think, for them to go out at four weeks.

 

[aoxa]

Well then that was just something I read, that is obviously wrong. A website talking about how much sooner ducks can go out. I guess we'll get to the four week mark and see how they're doing. By May it'll be warm enough, I think, for them to go out at four weeks.

Ducks do not need as much heat as chicks do.



Quote: As they grow, they will need more space and less heat. Observe the birds - if they stay away from the heat, turn it off - if they get their pen messy rapidly, they need more bedding and more space. Supplementary heat may be needed for 5 to 6 weeks in cold weather; in summer, only 2 to 3 weeks. By five or six weeks they can probably be outside all the time, except in extremely cold, wet weather. Make sure it's good weather before you put them outside. In some areas attention to predator control may be necessary when the ducklings and/or goslings are turned out.
http://home.comcast.net/~out1rider/page13.html

 

[Noncentzter]

I tried pellets. I removed them after a week. I HATED them. So much.

Just my opinion on the matter....

I use pellets in the nesting boxes and it works well...they break down and are easily cleaned up.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Aoxa -

my little hen house (baby barn) has a floor space of 8x12 but I have a small area of about 4x3 (estimate...I'll have to measure it) that is divided off for the "people entry" that the chickens can't get into. I have stuff stored in that entry on a shelf I can access the nests from that area also. I do like having that little access space where I can keep stuff and not be walking right into "chickendom".

The other divider I did was so that I could divide off an area in case I wanted to separate brooding chicks or a broody mom. The door between that and the other chicken area stays open all the time unless I need to divide someone off. Since you're going to have your big barn soon, you probably won't need to do that!

I do think If I had the ability I'd definitely divide off a "people area" in there even if your little barn will only get used for brooding or similar after the big barn is ready. It's very convenient to have your stuff right at hand.

It also allows me to hook open the double doors and leave them open all day long for ventilation and light. One or both of those doors is usually open during the day if the temp is 30 F or above. The walls have 1/2" hardware cloth and there are good, double latches on the interior door. Walls and doors reinforced w/cross pieces so that there is not a large span of the hardware cloth for a predator to push against. (This makes it harder to push through it.)


Here's some photos:

For perspective looking in from outside. This little shed has a double door off-set to the right. I had to make the "people side" work with where the door is. You can see the where the nest box is looking in through the door. (There is also storage in the overhang.)





Looking at the nest box from the inside. This is before the second wall was up. You can see the second wall on the next photo below this one.




You can see the door in there that divides the 2 interior chicken sides. I don't think you'd need that extra divider since you'll have the big barn.


If I didn't have the interior divide, roosts could be added across that wall. Mine has the "permanent roost" to the left opposite the nestbox.



Roost across from the nest box.

 

[aoxa]

Aoxa -

my little hen house (baby barn) has a floor space of 8x12 but I have a small area of about 4x3 (estimate...I'll have to measure it) that is divided off for the "people entry" that the chickens can't get into. I have stuff stored in that entry on a shelf I can access the nests from that area also. I do like having that little access space where I can keep stuff and not be walking right into "chickendom".

The other divider I did was so that I could divide off an area in case I wanted to separate brooding chicks or a broody mom. The door between that and the other chicken area stays open all the time unless I need to divide someone off. Since you're going to have your big barn soon, you probably won't need to do that!

I do think If I had the ability I'd definitely divide off a "people area" in there even if your little barn will only get used for brooding or similar after the big barn is ready. It's very convenient to have your stuff right at hand.

It also allows me to hook open the double doors and leave them open all day long for ventilation and light. One or both of those doors is usually open during the day if the temp is 30 F or above. The walls have 1/2" hardware cloth and there are good, double latches on the interior door. Walls and doors reinforced w/cross pieces so that there is not a large span of the hardware cloth for a predator to push against. (This makes it harder to push through it.)


Here's some photos:

For perspective looking in from outside. This little shed has a double door off-set to the right. I had to make the "people side" work with where the door is. You can see the where the nest box is looking in through the door. (There is also storage in the overhang.)





Looking at the nest box from the inside. This is before the second wall was up. You can see the second wall on the next photo below this one.




You can see the door in there that divides the 2 interior chicken sides. I don't think you'd need that extra divider since you'll have the big barn.


If I didn't have the interior divide, roosts could be added across that wall. Mine has the "permanent roost" to the left opposite the nestbox.



Roost across from the nest box.

You did a lot of work in there! They are delivering the baby barn tomorrow at 9am, and I am thrilled. I really do need a bit of an area for people stuff. But I lost ALL of the tools in the fire. I'll have to borrow some.. Maybe my dad will help. Yes.. He should help.