Chickens 2023/2024

Well Friday night my wife went out to lock Il the chickens as it was raining out and they usually go back in the coop on their own. She didn’t count heads to make sure they were all there. Got up Saturday and come to find out 7 were locked out and missing. Found 3-4 areas of feathers outside of our fenced in backyard area. Didn’t look like a lot of feathers as they must have got rained on pretty dog afterwards. What pisses me off the most is that of the 7 hens 3 we’re going to start laying around august. Out of the other 4, 2 were 3+ year old golden comets ( still laying but not daily) and 2 were 2year old golden comets. I don’t know if I want to replace them at this point in the year. Yesterday we got a whopping 2 eggs. That is from a combination of 2 and 3+ year old comets and we have a 3 yr old Easter egged and a 2 year old Easter egged and 4 silver Wyandotte that should start next month. Wife learned a lesson for sure as she feels horrible about it. She treated them like pets.
 
My 5 year old goes out every morning to let the chickens out and collect the eggs. One of my leghorns is getting a little ornery in her old age and has been pecking him which freaks him out. I looked out this morning and saw him and a stand-off with her. He knows not to turn his back on them but was too scared to chase her off. He called to our converted meat bird rooster who came over and chased the hen off. I have never seen anything like it. That rooster is incredible.
 
Boarder700 said:
My 5 year old goes out every morning to let the chickens out and collect the eggs. One of my leghorns is getting a little ornery in her old age and has been pecking him which freaks him out. I looked out this morning and saw him and a stand-off with her. He knows not to turn his back on them but was too scared to chase her off. He called to our converted meat bird rooster who came over and chased the hen off. I have never seen anything like it. That rooster is incredible.
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So do roosters come one that you call them or is this something special about yours? Haha I don't have a rooster
 
kman said:
So do roosters come one that you call them or is this something special about yours? Haha I don't have a rooster
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They are all different. You need to keep changing them until you get one that you like. They are all so different and basically the same as well. Some are just dicks, rough with the hens, they attack the egg theif (you), attack your dog and any strangers. They will single out people they like or dislike. Some do nothing but crow all day. The good is that they will always try their best to protect the girls.
Right now we have 2 Isabel Cuckoo Orphington roosters. The older one takes his job very seriously he sounds an alarm is he sees any sky birds, he finds food for the hens, and called them in 1/2 hr before sunset like clock work. He is very respectful of us egg thieves. He even lets us handle him when necessary. He is a big boy. The other is his son. He was raised alone by us because we found him on the floor of the coupe and no one would adopt him, he would have died. Birds can be so cruel and awesome at the same time. It took a long time to integrate him into the flock. He is very submissive and still responds to his name (Opie). He got a thing for ducks, he's a bit kinky if you ask me, but no judgment here. His dad cock blocks him every time he gets on top of a hen.

This is Cornholio, he's the Alpha Roo.
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This is Opie. His comb got frostbite because his dad wouldn't let him get on the roosting bar one night when It was below 0. My wife considers him a better specimen for breeding.
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kman said:
So do roosters come one that you call them or is this something special about yours? Haha I don't have a rooster
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I have had three other roosters, two were mean as f. The third was just skittish but he was a small breed and the #2 rooster. Those three didn’t seem to have much smarts. This one doesn’t exactly come when he’s called - I asked my son that and he specifically said he only comes when there is a hen trying to attack my son. This rooster just seems to want everyone to get along. He isn’t submissive at all to other birds - I had another younger rooster who would always attack this guy. This guy would literally just push him away with his wing down. He never backed down. He also isn’t afraid of people at all, but he has never attacked anyone. He is a red ranger meat bird so he is huge and not very athletic. He’s just a massive super chill guy who keeps the peace.
 
Roosters are awesome. My big dope of a yard pimp is pretty great, leaves my dog and kids alone but bows up on just about everything else. He used to have the real long iridescent green tail feather bundle but he lost it in a fight with something.
 
Down to two hens after a Coyote attack this spring. Ordered some pullets from a local grain store but their supplier never came thru. Looking for some in SE Mass.
 
Knob Creek said:
Down to two hens after a Coyote attack this spring. Ordered some pullets from a local grain store but their supplier never came thru. Looking for some in SE Mass.
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If you have facebook check them out, I think it called Mass Backyard chicken or something like that. My wife is on there and people are "rehoming" from time to time as well as there are some sellers on there too. We still didn't find out what got our 7 birds. The only problem is now the remaining 5 older ones barely lay any eggs. We went from 7-9 a day down to 0-3. (that was out of 9 egg laying age hens)
 
71montess said:
Does anyone keep more than one rooster for an 11 bird flock ? If not are they roasters now ?
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We have two. One is definitely the Alpha roo. They don't fight but the younger one is not living his best life. He does get to do some rooster stuff when the boss isn't looking.
The wife likes to have a backup roo.
 
pxl_20230826_204609732-jpg.789532
PXL_20230826_205122038.jpg im thinking of 11 brooded chicks I've got 5 or 6 roosters.😞😞
 
71montess said:
pxl_20230826_204609732-jpg.789532
View attachment 789533im thinking of 11 brooded chicks I've got 5 or 6 roosters.😞😞
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We had 7 one year. They were hilarious until they matured. One would start to crow, and a microsecond after one would start the other 6 would join in. You had to listen carefully to hear it. The 7 crowing together would actually resonate. It sounded like they were harmonizing. The neighbors were not amused. F' those people anyway.
 
Depressed Maine man, 25, who was born without eyes and his heart on the wrong side of his body, wins months-long fight to keep his flock of emotional support chickens -
A man in Maine, who was born without eyes and his heart on the wrong side of his body, has won a months-long fight to keep his flock of emotional support chickens.
C-Jay Martin, 25, found companionship and comfort in his animals - but the family was faced with a problem because Bangor, Maine, does not let residents keep chickens in their backyards.
The pandemic was particularly tough for Martin, who was isolated and became recluse. His mother Amy was determined to help, and found out through research that support chickens would be a great option.
cwas born completely blind, and a bilateral cleft palate and lip. He is also missing one-third of his brain, half of his right lung, and his heart is on the right side of his chest rather than his left....
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