Quote: Very strange, I've never seen a chicken die in this position. Perhaps a seizure of some kind? Specially the fact that it was stiff but not cold... That to me would put 'seizure' high on the list of possibilities. The muscles were hard used to become stiff before cooling; it's worth looking into how rigor mortis works and what differences are found when the creature died in peace or during a fit, etc.
Quote: Nice work Bulldogma! Acrylic? At first glance I thought it was a photo.
Quote: Personally I believe you get the best of any animal's genetics if you breed in middle age. I have done this for years with different species; in my experience old parent plus young parent, or two old or two young parents, never produce the sheer quality offspring that two middle aged parents produce. I have tested this theory in every direction and the best genes just seem to become readily available in middle aged parents for some reason; the offspring will look markedly different to the offspring those same two parents had at a younger or older age. These will be those chicks that show great breeder potential from a very young age rather than the normal way it goes, of just picking the best of the whole lot once they're adults. The middle aged parents is what I rely on to provide me with my next lot of breeding stock.
Too young/too old throws the worst genetics in that animal into its offspring. For some reason middle age seems to settle the best genetics into the production line, so to speak. I definitely recommend you at least try middle aged breeders. Chickens of most breeds don't really hit their peak prime until their second year or afterward; more eggs doesn't equal peak prime to me, only peak production, which has its uses but is not best for breeding quality stock from. When I say 'middle aged' in chooks I mean around and after two or three years old, but before five or six. Obviously this differs a huge amount between breeds and different husbandry methods so everyone would have to find what works for them if they choose to try it. Definitely worth a try though I doubt it'd work with commercial production breeds since they're burned out by that age.
Quote: Thin shelled eggs is one of those things, it can be caused by so many different factors. If you're on a tight budget so must have eggs or must cull, then you could try separating one hen for the morning, doesn't matter which of the sex links it is; just nab her off the perch at night and put her in another cage to lay in the morning, then let her out once you're sure it isn't her. Or keep in and treat/cull if it is her. Some hens can hold an egg for a day though if you're preventing them laying where they want. On the other hand, personally I would look at random thin shelled eggs occurring as being symptomatic of something underlying being wrong, and I treat such advents as being an opportunity to learn how to fix it; culling is best for some but what if the rest of them start laying those eggs too? That's why I try to learn what treats it instead of culling so I'll never be the wiser. Commercialism only takes us so far.
I'm not into chook keeping for commercial reasons so my method of tending to the issue is different from those who are.
Quote: Of course they know there's babies, they can hear them too.
Maybe it's the food attracting them. Maybe they're curious. Or maybe --- I hope not though --- they are thinking the tiny peeping means food. If they're from commercial hatcheries, I would suspect their motives until proven otherwise.
Quote: Public school does much to force children to develop hard outer shells. It's rather like chooks from large commercial hatcheries, where masses of youngsters are cooped up in an unnatural environment for most of their days and reared largely minus the 24/7 parenting some kids still take for granted... lol. Some cope, some don't. It certainly brings survival instinct to the fore, and that's not often one of the prettiest instincts to watch in action. I've been both homeschooled and publicly schooled; my older siblings were homeschooled and my younger siblings publicly schooled... Worlds of difference in what it does to the children. It depends on the child as to whether or not they cope either way, pros and cons.
Quote: Well, in my experience it depends on your roosters, rather than the number of them. Having said that, most roosters are to some degree mean to the hens, but that's easily bred out of them, however I can't speak for caged chooks who never free range, as that can condense and distill incorrect behaviour. I'd cull for hen hounding and didn't (still don't) breed roosters who are unkind to/careless with the hens, so for many generations now I have not seen it; even the supposedly uncontrollable horny teen roosters are well mannered and polite. I think it helps to have mature adults of varying ages in attendance as they grow up. If they never get out of line they don't need putting back into it.
I free range mine, all together, sometimes letting the population reach a 50:50 ratio of hens to roosters, and don't have hen-hounding problems; each rooster and hen finds the one/s they like and sticks with them. Each rooster spends more time polishing up his good husband skills rather than his violent dictator skills. Hens choose whatever male they like. Some hens visit multiple roosters daily. Some hens don't pick a rooster to associate with, but 'play the field' so to speak, so the males who don't have girlfriends are taken care of too. With so many settled, calm older males around and hens who know their rights (LOL) this prompts the teen roos to spend more time learning to become good providers rather than chasing and taking all they can. It's very peaceful. I don't have any serious rooster fights; the teens have rare and very short contests which are resolved without bloodshed. Occasional hen fights too, but no blood drawn, just the usual hothead teenagers checking out if they get up the social ladder.
It helps to keep multiple ages of chooks together; no teenage male or female can just run around wreaking havoc without being put in their place repeatedly in quick succession. Generally all it takes is a look from the resident alpha roos and hens. Sometimes a few steps toward another chook. Very rarely a 'front-up', even rarer a scuffle.
If I see a male pushing his suit on a hen who is letting him know he's very unwelcome, and it looks like he'll keep trying, I mentally tick him off onto the cull list. I can't keep or breed roosters who are willing to harm hens; that's directly counterproductive. I'm not going to solve that problem by giving a nasty rooster even more hens and getting rid of other probably kinder roosters to make room for his attitude, as I need to build up the population to eat the excess every year, and they are so much healthier free range that for the sake of my family's health, as well as the chook's, I won't consider caging as a method of control.
Obviously this won't work for everyone, but I have an idea of how it needs to be for my own and my family's safety, the adults and baby chook's safety, and the health and wellbeing of humans and animals, and I cull for anything threatening that. A good rooster values hens, not views them as disposable sport toys. A bad hen is worth more to me than a bad rooster because she can keep laying eggs to feed us while I fatten her for the cull whereas he's instant trouble who needs culling asap. I don't like that pushiness.
lol. Neither do the hens. A good rooster does not make your hen's day distressing. Negative pack mentality in roosters is something worth culling for as well. They can be a friendly pack, or as you've seen, nasty. Blame the animal in particular, not the breed, not the gender. The diet, breeder and the environment must take some of the blame too. Usually this sort of attitude is quite heritable. While I'm enjoying the easy social atmosphere now, it did take more work to get it than just playing musical cages and culls until I had any problems arising taken care of; also it takes maintenance as I bring in new roosters and hens and keep correcting for bad attitudes. Same problems everyone else has but different methods of handling it with different objectives in mind. Whatever works for you, is the idea.
