The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

OH...they could still see each other if they were in the little house...but it would be a bit farther away.

 

[Phoenixxx]

OH...they could still see each other if they were in the little  house...but it would be a bit farther away.

I've had boys that absolutely hated each other. They'd fight through the fence! One of them I still have, and he came here as an older youth and shares alpha with another roo. One of his sons i've chosen as a keeper and the boy has gained a position on one of the upper roosts. The younger they are, the easier to integrate, i've found. If the rambunctious fellow isn't drawing blood, it's likely he's simply decided that he'll be head honcho and is letting the others know his position. Lesser roos tend to just accept it; the problems (ime) really only arise when trying to add a grown alpha into a flock that already has one or more alphas.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I pen mine where they can see and interact with the others, whether it's inside or outside in their own micro pen and run. That way if I want to let them out there's no drama. I have mature roosters that keep the younger ones in line somewhat. Do you have mature roosters? They can help. Calmer roosters are definitely better, your buckeye sound nice. How many roosters do you plan to keep? And are you planning on keeping the breeds separated? Or one big flock?

 

[Leahs Mom]

No adult roos. 5 adult hens. 3 18-wk old sfh girls. 3 13-wk old Buckeye girls. 3 13-wk old Buckeye cockerels...still very much "little kids". And the 2 18-wk old sfh cockerels.

I was going to keep 1 Buckeye roo and 1 SFH roo.

The plan was for all of them to run together most of the time; separate breeds in the early winter/spring when I want to get eggs for hatching.

Originally thought I'd separate the boys into a pen by themselves this winter so they weren't constantly harassing the girls when they're pretty much stuck inside. Not sure if I CAN put one of the Buckeyes and an SFH together based on what I'm seeing at this point, but I do have 2 pens that are side x side that they could reside in (each 6x6) and then the larger area the girls could have which is very adequate for winter housing.

If the Buckeye boys turn out to be more gentlemanly in their young stage, I might let the one I keep be with the girls during the winter.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You might want a nice pen to house a rooster and swap them out. Having only 2 will cause them to fight more, but if you rotate who's out you shouldn't have troubles. An inside pen is okay. I've kept some of mine penned for months inside my shed, they do okay. I don't think you have enough hens for both boys to be out, your hens will be bare backed.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Interestingly....

In this group of sfh there are 2 distinct groups. The breeder had chicks from her own flock and from another flock that had German parentage.

Three of the birds are from her flock. All have a decent disposition. The 2 adult sfh hens I have are also from her flock with decent disposition.



The cockerel in question had a German line mother.

There is a pullet that is mean as snakes. She bites rather than pecks. Very aggressive toward ME. I can be minding my own business doing something like opening a clasp on a pen and she will come over and bite my hand. She'll stand up tall and "complain" at me face to face. If I try to touch her she will BITE. Never had a pullet act this way. She had a GERMAN LINE Father.

So....I see a potential line connection. Perhaps I just need to remove these 2 from the flock.

I don't think the Pullet is going to change her demeanor. Not sure about the cockerel as boys are hard to judge their real temperament when they're young. He has never been aggressive toward me like the pullet is. She's a real pistol.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

As I am part German I get that feisty temper. I guess I would watch that rooster and maybe choose now to cull him, he might be too much for your smaller flock.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I forgot to add, I often start by removing the ones most obnoxious and aggressive towards the hens, and work my way down the line and often are left with the better roosters with a more even temperament.

 

[lazy gardener]

Interestingly....

In this group of sfh there are 2 distinct groups. The breeder had chicks from her own flock and from another flock that had German parentage.

Three of the birds are from her flock. All have a decent disposition. The 2 adult sfh hens I have are also from her flock with decent disposition.



The cockerel in question had a German line mother.

There is a pullet that is mean as snakes. She bites rather than pecks. Very aggressive toward ME. I can be minding my own business doing something like opening a clasp on a pen and she will come over and bite my hand. She'll stand up tall and "complain" at me face to face. If I try to touch her she will BITE. Never had a pullet act this way. She had a GERMAN LINE Father.

So....I see a potential line connection. Perhaps I just need to remove these 2 from the flock.

I don't think the Pullet is going to change her demeanor. Not sure about the cockerel as boys are hard to judge their real temperament when they're young. He has never been aggressive toward me like the pullet is. She's a real pistol.

I would definitely cull the nasty tempered birds. Have you done any dominance training with them? I had Little Man last season who started being nasty at 2 weeks old. I immediately took him in hand (literally) and it toned him down to the point where he was one of two that was allowed to stay into early winter. Those 2 were then culled b/c they were too much for the hens.

I forgot to add, I often start by removing the ones most obnoxious and aggressive towards the hens, and work my way down the line and often are left with the better roosters with a more even temperament.

Agreed. If a cockrel can't treat his hens right, he's not worth keeping around.

 

[Leahs Mom]

How old do you guys think they need to be before they start showing their "real personality" vs. just being "stupid teenagers" who don't know how to behave themselves?


As of this morning, I'm close to deciding to remove the aggressive one (and one pullet with an aggressive to ME personality) and make soup. Seriously not kidding. But I don't want to "jump the gun" and do that too soon if I shouldn't.