They actually do train chickens in agility. There are a few places around here that have shows where the chickens perform agility. Just saw one at Purina Farms. Entertaining to say the least.
Backyard Chickens?
- Thread starter Dragonborn
- Start date
I do all the time. It's really good for their gut.
@BG1 Just a small example of some of the herbs I give my flock
It's extremely hot right now so they get watermelon and cucumbers for hydration. There is also some mint because it is know for bringing body temperature down some. There is also parsley, dill. basil, thyme, oregano, calendula and more. I also threw in some blueberries and strawberries because those are favorites.
It's extremely hot right now so they get watermelon and cucumbers for hydration. There is also some mint because it is know for bringing body temperature down some. There is also parsley, dill. basil, thyme, oregano, calendula and more. I also threw in some blueberries and strawberries because those are favorites.
Brioddy
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I love how chickens pass out when laying in the sun. I am noticing some iridescent tail feathers on this silver guy, I really don't want to deal with roosters. There are two others that are looking a little cockerel-like. I've only had one Easter Egger before, and I know they are cross breeds with no way to predict feathering, but in most chickens the iridescent green on tail feathers is one of the first hints it's a male.
I don't find that true at all. I have several hens with iridescent feathers. How old are they now? Roosters usually start crowing at around 10-12 weeks so that's a dead give away most of the time. I have had a few hens that crowed over the years.
I find the best way to decipher what you have is size and behavior. Then there is the combs and wattles. Roos tend to have larger, darker ones.
Usually by 20 weeks or so it's VERY to tell a hen from a roo. They usually have all their adult feathers by then so it pretty easy.
10 weeks old today.
I was just thinking out load in my post. I've had roosters. One that was incurably mean and the next who was a perfect rooster. I understand that hatcheries just do their best and when you order all females they don't guarantee that's what you get. I won't make any decisions until I know for sure what I've got. The plan was to just keep 10 of the 16, and re-homing 6 (laying pullets) would be easy. It's hard to find homes for free roosters.
I was just thinking out load in my post. I've had roosters. One that was incurably mean and the next who was a perfect rooster. I understand that hatcheries just do their best and when you order all females they don't guarantee that's what you get. I won't make any decisions until I know for sure what I've got. The plan was to just keep 10 of the 16, and re-homing 6 (laying pullets) would be easy. It's hard to find homes for free roosters.
Wow I've never seen that and I grew up with chickens.
They didn't do as often as roosters but they definitely crowed.
Rits
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More likely to happen with all hens and no rooster.
I get all kinds of sizes and shapes. With 16 hens I can't really tell which hen laid which egg but it's fun to check them out.
I don't want to lose the bloom so I don't wash mine until I use them. My dogs have all enjoyed their raw egg treat.
Well I usually hold on to them for a couple of weeks after he gives them to me unwashed. But I don't know how long I can leave them unwashed and unrefrigerated so usually after a couple of weeks I wash them all and put them in the fridge.
I am down to 9 hens. My favorite golden Wyandotte just bucked over and died. I think maybe a heart attack for nothing was wrong with her and she was at the very top of the pecking order. I wrung another one’s neck for being asshat bully….just all the time on this one hen- wouldn’t stop. Saw it happen again, with about 6 beers in and just had enough.
They are all finishing a hard molt and all combs are pale. Added some higher protein pellets and ACV to water and hope I start getting more eggs. I get 1-2 a day.
They are all finishing a hard molt and all combs are pale. Added some higher protein pellets and ACV to water and hope I start getting more eggs. I get 1-2 a day.
I think the molt can be hard on all birds, even inside birds. Harold (our wild turkey) went through a heavy molt about a month ago but now he looks great again.
The flock dynamics and cruelty that chickens can dish out to each other is amazing. Mine are still fairly young, hopefully start laying in November. I will probably not keep them all, and will sort out who goes after they start laying. Lost one to a hawk a couple of weeks ago.
What I learned by observation and from advice from BYC forums, when you lose (by any way or means) a chicken at the bottom of the order, nothing much changes, but if you lose or cull one from the top, the order is disrupted and there will be bickering with the chickens trying to take a new leadership role. Hopefully the one you culled was 2nd to last, picking hard on the bottom chicken because she couldn't pick on anyone else. In that case the dynamics above won't change. It's pretty fascinating to watch - every time we lost a hen, if it was one from the top 2 or 3 there was squabbling for a week or two. If we lost one from the bottom, nobody had to fight for a new position. We had one poor hen named Bonnie Blue that was bullied by everyone, she roosted alone far away from the others and spent her days on the outskirts of the flock. We felt sorry for her and thought when one of the hens had raised young chicks & were old enough for the momma hen to stop protecting them, we were hoping Bonnie Blue would finally have some "friends". Nope. Bonnie Blue was the meanest hen to those chicks, finally getting to bully someone and put them in their place. The rest of the flock ignored them. She didn't want friends, she wanted to be a boss. She spent her days bossing those newcomers.
i have seen some pretty savage stuff over the years. I'm feeling pretty blessed with my current flock. They all just settle into their role pretty nicely. Of course having a rooster helped. When he heard bickering he came a running to put a stop to it. It was like he was saying "Hey girls, we are are family and we'll all be happier we if just get along! LOL!
Totally! We had 10 hens and a rooster, then 3 or 4 clutches of chicks that were hen-raised and introduced to the flock by the mother hen. I let them do their thing however they wanted. It all went pretty smoothly, except during a week or two as described above. Our rooster would do just as you noted - try to break up hen fights.
First Egg a few days ago, followed by another 2 days later. One of the Lakeside girls, not sure which one. First time I've had blue egg layers so it's kind of exciting to see! Looks kind of greenish here, but it really is more blue.
As first egg, it's tiny, but that usually changes as they mature.
As first egg, it's tiny, but that usually changes as they mature.
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