Help my chicken

[Dr.Pecker]

At one point I had about 100 chickens. One day they kept making a shit ton of noise. You would hear them all cackle then it would stop for a minute and then start back up again, this went on for weeks. one day I watched them for a bit. I had rooster that would corral the hens in the corner of the fence. sneak up and snatch a feather out of a hen and eat it. they all went berserk and would run around and throw a fit. The rooster would eat the feather and immediately do it again. All day long! He was dinner

 

[Dr.Pecker]

 

[KLITE]

It don't calm them down. In fact, if you have a rooster it will rip up all your hens and they will all have bare backs. Some roosters are very mean and will attack you. They crow all the time. TBO, I think they draw in coyotes. If you want chicks you need a rooster to fertilize the eggs and you need sitting and broody hens. Each breed is a little different some hens wont sit on eggs at all.

Man some chicken like being shagged more than others and the reason why they get bare backs is cause the roosters have to hold on to something or they can lose balance and have a reproductive injury and become infertile. Anyone i know who has chiken has told me that some like it more than others. I just spoke to a few neighbours and they told me theres always one chicken that gets treated like shit and that if she doesnt look frail and weak shes not ill and if she was shed have died by now.
Im just gonna let her be, planning on getting those genetics when im done with work next few days hopefully...
Im planning on sharing a rooster with a neighbour, anyone here do that? rooster sharing?

 

[Dr.Pecker]

Stay away from the bearded ones.

For some reason if a bearded rooster breads with a bearded hen the egg wont hatch. The chick will get fully developed but wont hatch.

 

[curious2garden]

Stay away from the bearded ones. View attachment 3286832View attachment 3286833View attachment 3286834

For some reason if a bearded rooster breads with a bearded hen the egg wont hatch. The chick will get fully developed but wont hatch.

 

[KLITE]

@Dr.Pecker YTou fucking rule man 100 chickens wow. I hold you in a higher regard than i did before man. big up yourself! Were you getting like 4 dozen eggs on bad days?!
Im getting arooster on friday and a couple of new chicken of that biblue breed and maybe another breed and maybe create my own line down the way. Itd be kinda cool to have a kind of stable line of chicken going on, i wont inbreed though.

 

[Dr.Pecker]

It takes about six months for a chicken to start laying. A light in the coop makes a big difference. They need about 15 hours of light a day to be really productive. They only lay real good for about two years. If you want to breed chickens you need a brooding box and have to take the chicks away from the sitters because they wont let them eat. You should also separate the sitters from the rest of the flock. Don't introduce baby chick to the flock until the have full real feathers. Don't use a rooster with a beard because all the offspring will have beards and their eggs wont hatch. I found that out the hard way. I had a shit ton of eggs but all the chickens were different ages so they all weren't laying at the same time. You don't need a rooster to have eggs just to fertilize. I say one rooster can mate with ten to fifteen hens. Although they may favor some over others. Do your research on what breeds work best for you and your purpose. Google the chicken tractor.

 

[butterbudface]

I didn't read everything.

My father is a bird expert, I asked him and he said that when birds have a low protein diet they tend to pick on one and pluck its feathers for the small amount of protein at the tip of the feather where it's attached to the chicken.

Crush a pack of peanuts every now and then and it should stop them from picking on one bird.

 

[KLITE]

@Dr.Pecker Man i dont think im gonna be doing all that separating and shit. Ye ill separate the baby chicks and make good place for the chicken to brood. im not too fussed if i dont get many chicks, as long as i get 4 new chicken a year im happy, the rest ill give sell or feed to cats if i get the courage to kamikaze them. So getting a couple of lights in the chicken house would be a smart thing?
Dont worry i wont get those bearded fucks, im looking mainly for rusticity and egg laing abilities not mneat production.
In your experience how long after they hatch do they need to stay with their mums to be breast fed and the like? or do they just get separated str8 after?

 

[KLITE]

I didn't read everything.
My father is a bird expert, I asked him and he said that when birds have a low protein diet they tend to pick on one and pluck its feathers for the small amount of protein at the tip of the feather where it's attached to the chicken.

Crush a pack of peanuts every now and then and it should stop them from picking on one bird.

I find that weird cause i give them a feed with 4 or 5 different grains plus i mix in hemp seeds, theyre out all day eating bugs and the like. Pretty sure shes just the bitch of the group

 

[LIBERTYCHICKEN]

The feather eating thing is mostly a issue for birds in a pen , freerange usualy have all the protien they need thru foraging, But not always long frozen periods can take a toll


Me and my neighbor bolth share my rooster, not intentionally but he fly's right over the fence with eaze , It's not a issue for either of us

 

[fumble]

after observing my son's chickens for the last three weeks, it appears that a hen is the favorite of the roosters' and has quite a loss of feathers on her back. The other hens aren't pecking at her. Poor thing, always running from on cock or another

 

[leftyguitar]

Hi all

I have 4 hens that i keep wild style in my farm, i dont even lock em in at night. Up until now theyve always gone in pairs and seemed pretty cool with eachother. However now one of them i think has been singled out by the others. Shes all fucked up with half broken feathers and bits of skin showing and the like while the others are all fat and lush, pretty sure they dont let her eat too much.
I feel kinda sad for that chicken shes always chilling alone now and looks marginalized. Any suggestions? Get a rooster to get them in order? Get another couple of chickens see if they make a different gang?

Thanks

I agree with a previous comment... dinner.

 

[Dr.Pecker]

@Dr.Pecker Man i dont think im gonna be doing all that separating and shit. Ye ill separate the baby chicks and make good place for the chicken to brood. im not too fussed if i dont get many chicks, as long as i get 4 new chicken a year im happy, the rest ill give sell or feed to cats if i get the courage to kamikaze them. So getting a couple of lights in the chicken house would be a smart thing?
Dont worry i wont get those bearded fucks, im looking mainly for rusticity and egg laing abilities not mneat production.
In your experience how long after they hatch do they need to stay with their mums to be breast fed and the like? or do they just get separated str8 after?

One reason I say to separate the sitters from all the other chickens is, if they think they have a bad egg they will kick it out and then you will pick it up and make breakfast with a chicken fetus. Lights would be good if you want productive layers. make sure to Have a cage around them because the birds can bump the light and break it (eat the glass). Also if they knock it down it can start a fire. I used a little butterfly net to scoop out the chicks as soon as they hatch and get fluffy down feathers. Usually a couple hours after they hatch. setting up a brooding box just right is the trick. If the light is too hot the chicks will get as far away as they can from it. if its not hot enough they will all be huddling together in groups. You want them all running around being active and not grouping together. If you cant separate the chicks right away its not a big deal because they have a yolk sack that will last them a few days. Always dip the chicks beak in the water dish and make sure it drinks the drop of water, I do it twice. If you don't do it, they might not know how to drink it. I put marbles in the water dish, they like shinny so they peck at it and end up with a drink. I almost forgot a trick I did to get the chickens to lay eggs. put a golf ball in the nest They think its an egg and lay right next to it.

 

[Skuxx]

this is a chicken sneezing. thought this was the right place for it.

 

[Dr.Pecker]

When you make your brooding box make it bigger than you really need so the chicks can get away from the heat source. You need a thermometer 99.6 f is your target temp.

 

[Dr.Pecker]