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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Supplemental lights for chicken?

Well then, here are my thoughts and considerations on adding supplemental light to the coop - to keep the egg laying up :)

For those who wonder why: When the days get short and the dark period increases, hens ovaries take a break. Increasing the light duration to over 14 hours per day stimulates the chicken system to lay more eggs in the winter months, when the days are shorter. Or rather, not seeing such a long dark time - the hen's ovaries don't go "dormant". So some folks will start the day early by turning on the lights in the morning when it is still dark outside.

There is always the question: will it hurt the hens to keep laying all year? Will it shorten their life span? Does she have enough eggs? And, for the animal welfare folks: is it abusive?

Hm - professional folks will tell you: it does not shorten their life span. At least, I suppose it has not been studied so therefore I would not expect to see any evidence. Of course, most all professional layer farmers get rid of their hens after 18 months - so really, how do we know?

But then, would you mind if the hens died earlier if they stopped laying, or greatly reduced the number of eggs they lay?

Will the hen run out of eggs by continuing to lay through the winter: no.

Is it healthy for her to keep laying so much all the time - no - and in fact, artificial light is only recommended as long as you allow the hens to molt and take a break from laying to recharge every year as well as have high quality and adequate nutrition.

So this year - looking at my feed cost and the fact that I don't eat meat or eat grains: I would LIKE more eggs ...hm ...

I could put electric in the coop via a card and I could get a timer to start their day early, checking the total sunlight perior and then adjust the time. After their molt - I'd enjoy more eggs .... enough to sell some too, which does help with the feed cost (organic feed cost especially)

But I am thinking: I don't know that it does not hurt them ...who is to say what it really feels for them to "have to" lay an egg a day, more or less. all year - being tricked into perceiving that it is really "springtime". There is no place on this planet where sunlight is over 14 hours every day all year long - not a single place.

And even if there were - hen would lay and brood (take a break from laying) lay and brood.

I am quite undecided about it - for this year, I welcome the break they are getting - including from the roosters, who can mingle with the flock without anyone getting too much attention, fighting or bare backs ...and that is a good thing.

I am still getting enough eggs to eat for myself - and i can tell you, p ay a premium for them - and they are worth it :)

I LOVE they they are getting all their feathers back - they needed to molt - and needed the break.
Hopefully the pullets will take over soon ....

It is always a balance game and what your priorities or preferences are.

If you DO decide to supplemental light in your coop: fluorescent is really bad for chickens.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Chicks and their mamas

We have chicks this year, 3 of my "non-broody" breed layers went broody  and after having a plan for the males of the hatch, and there will be some, I let them have some eggs. Even the phrase "breaking a broody" sounded very violent. It was a great experience, lots of learning about this being broody and hen raising chick thing and there are many pictures and some of the adventures on facebook and if you have questions about broody hens and their chicks, check out this page MAMAS and BABIES and the many sub-pages.

I like the blogspot format, but after the "government spies on everything" on facebook and blogger etc  revelation, I am attempting to move what I have to share onto the chicksandweeds website and some of it onto QuanYinGardens from now on.

You are invited to come over and I'd be delighted to see you there.

Blessings and Happy Chickens to you


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Should I give treats to my baby chicks

What should I feed my baby chicken - and can I give them treats?  are questions I have come across often enough I decided to post it:

Investigating "green" stuff
Leaving aside the issue of organic-no GMO  and non-organic feeds = genetically modified foods, you can't go wrong with chick starter. So get a bag of it to start with. When using chick starter only, you don't need grit. If you feed other things, you will need grit too- small stones that chickens need to grind up the food in the gizzard.

This is all assuming you got chicks in the mail or have hatched them yourself.
The answer to - Should I give my chicks treats? or Should I give my chicks anything other than chick starter? - depends on your philosophy: If you consider a mother hen - weather permitting, she'd take out her chicks on day 1 - foraging and offering all kinds of found foods. I tried to imitate that the best I could.

Mother nature does know what it is doing when it comes to feeding chicks, so my answer is - yes, give variety - taste and texture, starting after the stress of getting there (chicks in the mail) is subsided. Consider however that if you allowed them to be raised on fully foraged food - they'd be getting 50% vegetarian, the rest bugs, worms and such. So if your treats are low protein and you give too many ...you'll skew the  total nutrition too much.

So keep the treats few enough not to be too low on the protein.

Why would you want to give "treats" 

One of the reasons you might want to give treats  is to get the chicks used to you and your hand. Gently and often handled chicks will be more trusting and friendly with you later.
Another reason to give "interesting" foods is:  decrease boredom - one of the 2 main  reasons for stress pecking, next to not enough space.
Get them used to a variety of food taste and texture, including those you might want to feed in case they ever got sick. If they are sick, they will be less likely to try out new foods, so if they already learned to love watery zuccini and kefir ...you got a way to give them liquids too.

I used a plant dish and put some of their chick starter on it as well as a clump of earth with grass on it. ...plus some of the veggies & the bugs. Chicks love to scratch and find things to peck.

What can you give as treats? - I went slow - At first, you can start with some cooked vegetable as treats - like a little broccoli, chard, zuccini. Interestingly, my chicks only went for the green stuff, never wanted carrots. After a couple of weeks, since there were so many bugs in the roses - I dumped them into a cup and gave it to them in their forage dish ....they had no trouble with those. High protein treats would be a crushed up hard-boiled egg, tiny bits of cooked meat off bones, if you do eat meat. If you got some small larvae in kitchen compost, those will work. Mine loved - and still do love scrambled eggs. I did also give them strawberries since they were in season - be careful with too much sugary liquid though ..diarrhea possible.

I also took some crumbles and mixed it with home-made kefir (live cultures) - they loved that too.

And then, at 3 weeks - they had their first "outing" - can't keep them from scratching and pecking then ....they loved it.

So - main nutrition, unless you have a foraging mother hen - is chick starter - enjoy the rest - and keep it interesting for them - it's fun for both of you. Remember - chicks need to scratch and peck - it is inborn - a boring small space with nothing to do will lead to pecking each other.











Thursday, March 21, 2013

DIY simple Garden Egg Recipe

It is spring, my September chicks also have come into lay and  I am having some for egg recipe experiments.

I do lunch 3 times a week for anywhere between 8-12 people, mostly nice salads and bean soup.
Given the mixed dietary requirements - some no beans, some no milk, some no cheese, some no tomato, almost all no wheat -> that leaves me with a certain cooking limitation.

I went online to look up some vegetarian egg dishes - and the ingredients across the board really were not suitable.

So I went simple, pretty much with what we have - mind you ...only the eggs and pasta are really mandatory. Experiment!!!!!

  •  8 oz un-enriched spelt pasta (a little less than 1/2 pound for the European readers)
  • 7 Beyond Organic Garden eggs :)))))))))))))))))))) from my happy chickens.
  • 2 or 3 handfuls of baby spinach
  • 2 grated carrots
  • 1/2 - 1 cup of almond milk
  • 1  small package of organic mushrooms
  • about 4 oz of grated organic cheese
  • parsley
  • salt
  • olive oil



spices: none used


Put on salted water to precook the pasta, cut the mushrooms, saute and add the carrots and spinach ...saute then cover, preheat oven at 325 F
beat the eggs and add the milk after

drain pasta, make sure not overcooked (give it a minute or 2 or 3 less than the instructions say)
put pasta in oiled baking pan
add the sauteed vegetables, including liquid - mix gently with pasta
add the egg almond milk mixture as evenly as you can.
(add spices you might like)
cover with the grated cheese
bake for 30 minutes

makes 4 - 8 servings


garnish as desired, parsley works well

It was meant to go with the salad - but I misscalulated the prep time - give it 30 minutes, plus the 30 minutes in the oven

It tasted GREAT, was well received and is a keeper :)


Since I don't really care for a lot of spicing, just salt will do fine for me.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Just a chicken ?

Just a chicken - well ..

Golden Polish
The other day I was happy that one of my roos found a home. He had been scheduled for culling but the Universe cancelled his date by sending bad weather. ..and he got adopted 2 days before the next cull date. Now he'll be roo for 10 hens and have a large coop and pretty much free range...and then he was put in a wire crate, open in a pick-up truck and off he went. I had a question I asked via e-mail but never heard back - and so I wish him the best rooster life, and also realize: for many, even as they may love chickens, chickens are still "just a chicken" - and he'll be fine...in the open truck and cage.




He had a sweet elegance








And so here is a picture of another young roo - he went off this morning with some of his brothers to where they are being "harvested". Granted, the place there is so peaceful ... I'd want it during my passnig - but their life ended. Sometimes you read: we "don't get attached to those" to the ones due for "freezer camp". Folks joke, find another way, some way to not actually have to face the killing of a beautiful being. I am not saying that for us who are giving them and their flock life, that we don't have to manage it ...just saying - I never see pictures of those that went to that infamous "freezer camp" as if they were not beautiful amazing young birds, deserving to be seen and loved. Is this really some morbid fascination, dwelling in some sentimental guilt pain, or is it simply this:

These guys are beautiful and full of rooster-life. I love them. They get their pictures taken as the others. They get exposed to the crates and being touched and taken off the roost so they are not so afraid when the time comes. They get a few extra treats on their last day. And I pray for all the roosters (using the Karma Wash and Clear Light Orb) - all of them ...and best I can tell, the ones given a life...got helped by that - and the ones that are culled, have had a peaceful passing. In any case, I like this way of "Play to Pray".

I understand about "just a chicken". I understand that actually a peaceful passing now might be better than a bad life for a few more months with a horrible death. We just never know when sending out a bird what fate actually awaits them, unless we really know the people and check on the birds, because, to many - no matter what, they are still "just a chicken".

Each and every one of my chickens, hens or roos, are loved. Things are not perfect, flocks need to be balanced.
May the love stay with them, the part of them that is essential and everlasting, and there is comfort in that they actually had a chance at a chicken-worthy life on earth.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Toxic foods for chickens

Got treats ?
Generally, you’d think birds know what is good for them and what is not – except maybe not -> chickens have been known to eat styrofoam pellets and plastic. Most toxic foods also don’t leave the bird dead the next day but cause organ damage and illness. In any case, here are some foods to avoid feeding your chickens that might find their way onto your kitchen scraps:
  • Raw green potato peels    -> Toxic substance called Solanine.
  • Anything real salty     -> Can cause salt poisoning in small bodies such as chickens.
  • Dried or undercooked Beans     -> Raw, or dry beans, contain a poison called hemaglutin which is toxic to birds.
  • Avocado Skin and Pit    -> Skin and pit toxic to birds.
  • Chocolate  -  chocolate can be poisonous to most pets.
There is a question about apple seeds – and yes, there is cyanide in them but you don’t have to go as far as taking out all the apple cores in your orchards apples ;)

Q - How much does it cost to ship a chicken?

A - A LOT for most people's budget.

Economy Nests - fit 2 of the roos each box
First of all, contact UPS or Fed Ex to ensure that you will be allowed to ship the animal you want.

USPS  ONLY ships birds by express mail and might require you to prearrange with the expediting shipping office and get a number. So you are way better off to check with them before you show up at the post office. Also, make sure to alert the receiving post office.

USPS will ONLY ship in approved boxes. I used Horizons and for small numbers of boxes, I got my boxes here: Matthews Oak Ridge Farm Boxes For Shipping Gamebirds, Waterfowl, Poultry, Chickens, & Pigeons 

I wanted to ship 9 month old roosters. The trip was from California to Texas.

BOXES: I paid 64 dollars plus change for 2 economy boxes ( Economy nests $16.95 each plus S&H) and 2 single boxes ($ 1 to 14- $6.10 each plus S&H). That included the cheapest available shipping rate.

The economy boxes are said to weigh about  2.5 lbs each and 1.5 lbs the single, plus 1/2 - 1 lbs for straw and a few apple slices.

Don't get fooled by the "weight does not matter up to 70 lbs" FLAT rate express shipping. The dimensions of the boxes DO NOT qualify for that rate.

These here are the single bird boxes. The roosters were able to turn in them, but 2 would NOT have fit - and the box would have been too heavy.  The single boxes have a 10 lb limit written on the outside of the box.

Shipping cost at the post office in January and March of 2013:

economy box with 2 birds 13 lbs 9 oz -> $ 97.40 at the post office plus $16.95 for the box and what it cost to get the box shipped

economy box with 2 birds 11 lbs 14 oz -> $ 89.85  plus $ 16.95 for the box and what it cost to get the box shipped.

single bird total weight - 6 lbs 10.9 oz -> $ 66.05 at the post office plus $ 6.10 for the box and what it cost to get the box shipped.

single bird total weight - 5 lbs 15 oz -> $ 60.45 at the post office plus $ 6.10 for the box and what it cost to get the box shipped.


As you can see, it seems to be a little cheaper to ship more than one bird at once. If I did this regularly - I would be crazy or rich....and if i were rich, I'd have a property where I could keep the roos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOW DID EXPRESS MAIL DO?

They guaranteed delivery within 48 hours - though it is supposed to be overnight. For best chances, I was told to get there early enough to get the birds out with the first pick-up. The receiving party contacted the regional post office and drove over an hour to pick up the birds THE NEXT DAY .... so that went really well. If they had not done that, it might have taken the other day ...don't know.


What about NPIP - the national poultry improvement program certification?

I did without, but I did include the NPIP from the facility I originally got the birds from, and the date on that was April 2012, so that was within the year.  Some states (3 I read) have very strict criteria, the one I was shipping to was not on that list. Apparently the USPS and the states are not at this time enforcing the "you must have a health certificate or NPIP certificate with your birds" coming into the state or else all that strictly.
As I said, I included a copy of their original NPIP and added a statement as to their health, just in case.

If you sell & ship birds professionally or cross state lines for show regularly ...get informed or certified. One cautionary note though: Just because someone is NPIP certified does not mean they have healthy birds in terms of lice or mites or coccidiosis etc. Also, the certificate is only valid for 1 year.

I was just trying to re-home my beautiful roosters to a home where they potentially may live a good rooster life.

I shipped 6 and as you can see, for the price I could have gotten materials to build a dividable coop with it for them....and I was willing to build one or 2. Alas, that would not have handled the crowing and the intolerant neighbor in this agriculturally zoned area. I really think they should move into a retirement community, where surly no one is allowed to make a peep to disturb the peace.

But I don't own the property....and I am happy that some of my best and most precious, beautiful  and loved roos found a home and that I could pay to send them there. The one on the right: that is "Big Boy" - the sweetness of my flock. He was allowed to bring the Splash Blue Andalusian - who would otherwise have been culled.  But I do miss him ....

The recipient was willing to pay a (smaller) part of the cost, paying for the boxes basically, but connecting over the internet and not knowing folks it helps to feel that they didn't just want free birds for their dinner table and they sent some pictures of them in their new home. I thank them for that - and I feel that they will do good with the birds and wish them the very best with all those roos :)

Now you want to know the real price of eggs? - PRICELESS

3 of "my" roos in their new coop-home. Thanks to the folks in Texas - I hope it all works out.



Why Natural Chicken Keeping is an oxymoron - and still a good thing to do

I got chickens - and I wanted to raise them naturally, allowing them their chickenness - doing what chickens do - and without man-made chemicals or GMO seeds in their food - for their optimal health and chicken happiness.

And then I found out: there is no way of natural chicken keeping, not in the true meaning of the word "natural".

"Natural" and "Keeping" are essentially not compatible - if you consider natural being a state where is bird is free to be a bird the way nature intended.

Omnivorous natural chickens foraging for food do not depend on supplemental high protein feed because they were not bred as layers to lay eggs all year long. They raise a clutch of chicks a year in the spring.
Roosters are expressing their territorial nature without having been bred for extra aggressiveness for used in cock fighting.  They are not killed for any reason other than natural.
Nature does the culling through providing the weak and old as well as a certain number of young as food to predators.

So - already, even in the most "natural" of circumstances, any "keeping" of chickens is already removed from natural. - it is an oxymoron.

So what is the potential chicken enthusiast to do?


The reason natural chicken keeping is nonetheless something  to promote is because it is leading to healthy happy chicken lives as close to natural as possible. The extremes of abuse and suffering chickens are dealt at the hands of man in the commercial slavery they are being kept...for money and greed - is horrible.  But that is another blog post.

The vegans have a certain stance: it is never ethically ok to enslave a sentient being for one's own purpose. The question: Is it EVER ok to keep captive a chicken or any other animal captive for one's own purpose, whether for one's pleasure, entertainment, research, food or garden help? Their answer is NO.

But hey - what if the chickens as a species felt it was a good deal - because look at the way they got around to spread all over the world - for the price of  providing food for those who keep them...and how many more of them got to experience life on earth than would otherwise never had a chance to.

Was there really never a chicken that would have chosen human's company for some extra free food and shelter from predators? 

I can't know for sure - but I DO make this stand here:

IF you decide to keep chickens - don't close your eyes  and heart to the fact that if you order female chicks from a sexed run so you can enjoy healthy eggs from happy chickens - the male brothers of your beloved birds got chopped up alive or suffocated to death.

IF you keep chickens, give them a good life in a natural environment, which means enough space, outside foraging time so they can scratch and peck and dust bathe and keep themselves and the flock healthy. When it comes time to cull any roosters of your straight run, have a beautiful space prepared and learn to do it humanely.
You'll have healthy happy birds, a peaceful transition for any you need to kill - and you'll be able to sleep better if you have a conscience.

Don't get fooled or lulled by words like "culling" or "harvesting", it is the taking of a life, no matter what you call it.It might get easier - but it may never be easy.

Be aware that "extra roosters" don't have ANY rights in human society anywhere. In some cases ANY rooster is "extra".

We are taught to accept car horns, boombox music, sirens at all hours of the night and blasting advertisement as background noise, but the "natural" rooster song is dealt the blow of death as it stands today.

Commercial chicken keeping as was developed in the last century is not worthy being called anything other than than barbaric,  and is harmful on many many levels. ...but such is many man's greed and immorality.

And I do understand that there are "humans" who don't think anything of it to torture and abuse chickens in that way, who see nothing wrong with it their entire lives.. - and I do wonder also if they do have an individual soul...or what section of the universe they come from - or rather - where I come from that is bothers me that much.





Wednesday, March 6, 2013

How to deal with roosters

This is a bit lengthy and originated from a conversation over the internet. It does contain examples for certain behaviors of some of my roosters. If you plan to raise roosters - you might find it helpful.

When dealing with roosters, a lot has been written about rooster to rooster aggression and rooster to human aggression. This post is more focused on  the rooster to human relationship. I wanted my roosters friendly towards me at all times - at the very least, I did not want to look over my shoulder walking in chickenland.
Given my current experience, if you have enough space and females, and tolerant neighbors, you can keep a LOT of roosters without much if any trouble.

Rooster behavior varies with breed/genetics, age, season, absence or presence of females, food supply, living space and conditions, time of day,  flock dynamic and how they are treated.

I tip ahead of time: figure 1 rooster per 7-12 hens - if you have several more roosters, you might want to consider a rooster pen with a separate pop door to a rooster area - no later that 3 1/2 months. Some roos mature early, some only a few months later. It is not that the roosters are a problem with you or each other - it is difficult on the hens to have so many on them, especially as the pullets don't mature all on the same day and the few that mature early have to bear them all.

I think roosters are killed for space, noise and because they do not lay eggs and cost money to feed and not all of them are needed to raise chicks or for flock protection, so they can be food. They need not be killed for aggression, but that takes a certain way to raise them.

Jumping ahead:

There are 2 ways to see ourselves with roosters that I find acceptable to me and work with because it means never to fight with them or hurt them:

Both ways do require flock/rooster awareness and observation.

1 – we are humans and not chickens, let alone  roosters that need to fight and they learn to see us as a benign presence. We don't need to fight them because we don't antagonize them or treat them as roosters competitors – but give them the respect and space that a rooster needs - and walking in "chicken Tai-Chi".

2 – we need to be like top roosters to them – but – we don't have to accomplish that by fighting them...but at the first sign of them trying to assert dominance, we are either steady, ie just stay put - or ward them off with a step or two towards them. Some folks use a stick as an extended arm. We keep them at a distance and don't try to make them pets. Also, isolation can be tried. They tend to be much more demure upon re-rentering a flock after a day or 2 in a cage or crate. Picking them up and releasing them when calm is another way to getting them used to us not being a threat.

Since I also wanted friendly roosters who also come to me for treats …. this was going to be a balance game.


In  9 months I raised 32 roos of 6 different breeds (Sicilian buttercups, Egyptian Fayoumi, Blue Andalusian, Buff Catalana and Buff Minorca, Golden Polish) and 21 hens in a pretty small area - ...and here are some things regarding behavior I have learned so far (no experience yet with broody hens, I hear they get pretty feisty and their peck hurts a lot).

 

General things to remember about chickens and roosters - based on observation and experience and because it has worked very well. All my roosters turned out friendly and all come for treats.


0 – chickens are amazing and can open your heart - AND – always remember, they are chickens and will act according to their programming and depending on genetics, season, temperament, hormones and circumstances ...there can be surprises....never take it personally.

1 – beaks and feet - as weather gets warm, I like to wear just tank tops and sandals ...but ...when in the chicken world...that does not work for my skin because their little feet are no longer soft baby feet. Even them innocently flying on my bare shoulders I have gotten scratched bloody and still have the scars from that. Also, I wear a cap when I spend time with them at all, especially if I sit or crouch ...because them landing on my head ...hurts like hell since they got bigger than the little peeps they were. -> be aware of their feet on your skin. Chickens have a lot of sharpness in their beaks ..your eyes are NOT safe around them ...be aware. Gums are not as critical, but it DOES hurt when they go for your teeth.

2 - bending down, sitting or being in a crouched position appears to be an invitation to fly on you ...no matter what the intention.

3 – better to not show bare skin on lower legs unless you can say you know all your roosters so well that they would NEVER try to hit you ….I don't think I can ever be that sure …..mating season is just starting and who knows what will happen this year and with this combination of birds.

4 – talking to the rooster now: no matter how friendly things get, you are a chicken – and/or rooster and hormones can make you act weird and a little out of control. I shall never forget that. (see stories below). Talking to some pullets:  If you are hungry and looking for treats – your peck can draw blood (they have not yet with me ...but I have no doubt they could) Seeing teeth seems to be a MAJOR invitation to try to go for them with results in my lips or gums experiencing some searing pain ….that I have experienced.

5 - treats will go a LOOOONG way to friendly relations (which is what I want) with hens and roos. To a point. And treats do not have to be hand-fed. You can throw them.

6 – I am unwilling to have to look over my shoulder when entering any area that is inhabited by chickens.
If there is a problem, you (chicken) have about 2 - 3 weeks to change before I make arrangements for you to be someone's dinner, and I tell you so. I give you time because I know hormones seem to spike and you have seem trouble with your behavior.
Me, I will do whatever I know so the behavior that is unacceptable stops....I won't antagonize you and give you more space, might pick you up or chase you back a few steps.
If we can't live together and if I can't find a home – I will arrange for you a death that is as humane as possible. (cone, bleeding out without cutting windpipe in our case)

7 – I want my roos to come for treats – and I want them to respect me at all times. - so i offered treats from day 1, I always move in what I now call "Chicken tai-chi" Chickens see twice as fast compared to us. Even walking normally is fast to them. Slow down!!!!!!!!.

8 – When I see you (roo of any age) doing that "shoulder- wing thing", I know it is not a dance for me - I might give you more space, stay put or sometimes I will back away, but I will never get angry. I know giving you treats in your face at that time works for some of you, but not all of you all the time. So if you don't stop ...I will move towards you if you start following me with intent to chase or worse after I give you some space ...and might point my finger at you, say eh-eh-eh e - in a low growly voice...and might keep going towards you until you back off. If needed, you will be chased.

9 – to the roos: if you come AT me as if you owned the place a second time ...I stand my ground, be tall and point my arm and finger in your direction. I am prepared with my bamboo stick and, wearing proper footwear, step towards you ...and if you actually jump me a second time ….I will start chasing you ...one step at a time but across the field if needed. If I need to, I will touch your fluffy butt ...and I know you will jump each time and back of because you don't like that.
I use a stick as my extended arm.

10 – to the roos: I will never feed you treats before I have thrown some to the hens. (unless of course there are only roos around)

11 – if I catch you treating others in a way not acceptable, I will pick you up from them and put you in a holding place – that help you cool you down.

12 - I do break up some fights or mounting of hens when it is happening right where I am. At times I just pick them off and carry them elsewhere. If I am worried about really damage to another chicken, I separate them. But no matter what, they will work things out.

13 - It seems that whoever is lowest on pecking order ….is looking for someone lower if they can.... you don't want that to be you.

Generally: roosters are better to keep a little distance with. It is good for them to know who is in charge (you) – at the same time, when you throw treats, they can offer them to the hens and finally eat some too. Pick them up from the roost periodically and set them back down.

I think Big Boy (the sweetest rooster I will ever know in this life) is really different – but then ...he too is only 9 months old and he was SOOOO friendly from day 1. I am not sure what the deal is with him.

Regarding Gully, the feisty Egyptian Fayoumi:

Gully, an Egyptian Fayoumi,  was originally with the orchard roos at 4 months when I separated my first straight run (17 roos was just too much for the 9 pullets) but kept traveling around to the mixed flock field. I never had a problems with him and thought he was the best. He was a curious smart little guy, greeting me when I came into the garden. He eventually self integrated into that mixed flock and I let him, even though they did not need any more males there. One day ..i think he was almost 6 months, I walked into the mixed flock field and I felt a thud against my leg from behind. I didn't even know what it was, but when I looked around, there he was, Gully looking at me …...( a little shocked & disappointed was I) ...but then nothing else happened for a couple of days but then I say he was following me kind of with his chest out ...I used treats and that worked but he was still following me …. then he did that thing again where he hit my lower legs ...well, that is when I started turning around earlier and stepped towards him, I never had to use the stick on him, ...only chased him halfway across the field a couple of times and that was it. After that, he behaved like a charm the rest of the time here. But mating season had not yet started and it was too cold to sit about in the field or do weeding.

i remembered 1 thing that i don't know how it plays into how he is is acting. At the end of september 2012, the folks here got 2 young aussies that were not very socialized. i was helping them to handle the dogs.  the property at the time was not fenced and the only "dog" yard were they could run was next to the chicken-gardenfield.
gully had figured out how he could squeeze through the fence opening in the fence that separates the chicken and the general/dog area (i had used some old horse fencing prior to getting chickens not realizing that some of the chickens would be small enough to be able to get though it ...and in fact wanted to go through it.) anyway ..that fence didn't keep gully from making his rounds.

sometime in october, one of the dogs almost got him (only by the wingtip, and no physical injury, but it was still scary) when he was in the dog yard.

so a couple of weeks later when i took the other dog there. i made sure gully was not in the dog yard. he was on the other side of the fence....before i let the dog  loose i noticed gully had gone through the fence and was charging the dog ...who was as surprised as me...i did not let them fight but left with the dog. i seemed like gully would have won ....meaning the dog was stopped from advancing and might have retreated.

gully didn't do his jumping on my leg until after that. i don't know if or how it played a role in setting something up in a confrontational way though. even when i stand my ground with other roos if i need to, i try to never let it come to a real confrontation.  anyway, just a little piece of info.


Orchard roos adolescent behavior:

several of them, maybe all – did that wing thing with me, it is not a dance, it is trying to see who is higher in the pecking order - and is is a sign saying: hey, you are too close ...I live here. If you can - give them space, back up a little and go around to where you were headed. If I had to change the water, I stand my ground and wing them right back, if needed, using my arms, make myself look big and confident, these days not waiting till it gets worse. .. If they actually follow me and come at me, which only happened twice,  I will pretend to chase them off if need be. One of them I had to chase and do the "touch your butt with the stick thing" with because he was coming at me. He jumped a few times. He was some punk, but it worked. What also works is picking them up and holding them till calm. The problem is: I'd have had to chase them for that and that sort of was beside the point then. The picking up and holding them and putting them back down works best off and onto the roost.

Misbehaving roos: 
Roosters misbehaving with the pullets or each other: I pick them up and carry them off, break up any fights happening right in front of me. Several of them spend a day in what used to be the brooder box. I would also isolate them for a day and then let them back with the flock. Usually their behavior is much better, though you can't really keep them from working out the pecking order. This is when it helps to just not be there for a while ...and also provide enough food that fighting over food need not to be the case.

The Buff Catalana roo territorial phase:

The buff catalanas, bigger than any of my other roos, where hitting adolescence at 4 months recently. Soon after, the main dude with all the roos, started going after me trying to prevent me from going into their area to feed them. He only tried that twice because I chased him right back which only took a couple of steps towards him a couple of times at which point he kept his distance...and I had to work with treats to even have him come close again – that took about 2 weeks, but he never gave me any problem again.

One of them, (I have 3 there) in the mixed flock, tried to chase me out of the coop one evening about 2 weeks ago ...well, I didn't go for that and chased him out instead ...no more problems since then. Again, it does not take more than a couple of steps. They all come for treats, but generally, I do not mind them staying a bit away, be respectful of me without being fearful and they are always the last to get treats, but they do get them and come for them. They are more cautious of the other roo in their group than me.

Roosters are males and they are gonna do what roosters do.

Another thing I do is to go into the coop and touch them while roosting, mostly because most of them some day I need to pick up and put into a crate to get brought to they place of culling and I don't want them to get all freaked out. I have only recently started to pick the chickens up (other than when they were babies) just in case I need to treat them for some medical thing some day.

My current head roo of the flock also tried to “wing” me once, a while back – a couple of steps towards him was all he needed. Of course,, houdini as he is, iI plucked him off the roost a bunch of times to carry him to the rooster only roost, until one day I just let him stay...he has been behaving perfectly.

Secret is – always stay calm, and don't wait for it to get worse. Either modfy your behavior to give them more space, or stand your ground, and  chase them a couple of steps or touch their butt with your little stick. I have never had to yell, really run-chase or actually hit a rooster - and I don't ever want to. I do not want to have an actual fight, and remember, do not take it personally when your sweet roo suddenly remembers his protective duties and starts coming after you marching into "his" territory. He is just wanting to protect his flock.

Their claws really hurt bare skin, even if they just want to sit on you. Their beaks can cause pain in no time just from pecking curiosity.

Just as an example on what hormones can do:

one almost 3 months old roo was chasing a hen relentlessly one evening ….finally stopped when he was roosting. Then, the next day ...whenever his feet hit the ground he hysterically ran around ...he literally could not stop until went hiding under something all out of breath and freaked out, then it started all over. I finally put him in the coop on a roost ...this went on for 3 days ….i even did one of those online vet things...(waste of money) to see if he had some kind of disease.
I had to hand feed him and give him water in a syringe for 3 days. Then, after 3 days, he would still run around as soon as his feet touched the ground but could make himself stop when there were other chickens pecking around....he still spent a lot of time on the roost. It took a few more days till he was all back to normal ….no problem since.
Incidentally, that night before he had this problem there also was a thunderstorm. So it might have added to his "flighty" behavior.

Anyway - I hope this helped. It has worked well for me. Even the golden polish are sweet, but unfortunately they can't stop chasing the buttercups, especially one of them seems to be popular with EVERYONE. In any case, I am just gonna spoil them till they have to go - it is only a few more days.


More on rooster management

Since I found that isolating them seems to also help (tried that with the polish and way back once with who is now the top roos with the flock), if I were in your situation with him having jumped on me and he misbehaved towards me again and I didn't want to get into chasing or more confrontation to ward him off, I might pick Gully up from the roost or a pullet he is topping and carry him to a box or little coop to put him by himself, give him food and water there and keep him overnight and then let him out to join the others late morning...as I call them all over to throw out food.
Also – I generally don't let them hop on me uninvited. - and my flock – the pullets mostly though) sees a sitting position (I hand-feed treats that way) or extended/lifted arm as an invitation to fly on it or me.

As best as I can tell, there are 2 ways to see ourselves with roosters that I accept and work with because it means never to fight with them or hurt them.
Both ways do require flock/rooster awareness and observation.

1 – we are humans and not roosters and they learn to see us as a benign presence, we don't need to fight them because we don't antagonize them and treat them as roosters competitors – giving them the respect and space that a rooster needs - and walking in "chicken Tai-Chi"

2 – we need to be like top roosters to them – but – we don't have to accomplish that by fighting them...but at the first sign of them trying to assert dominance, we are either steady, ie just stay put - or ward them off with a step or two towards them. Some folks use a stick as an extended arm. We keep them at a distance and don't try to make them pets. Also, isolation can be tried. They tend to be much more demure upon re-rentering a flock after a day or 2 in a cage or crate. Picking them up and releasing them when calm is another way to getting them used to us not being a threat.

Since I also wanted friendly roosters who also come to me for treats …. this was going to be a balance game.
If the methods do not work and there is a rooster that becomes more and more aggressive – he needs to find another home, one way or another....Somehow I would take that to mean that whatever I do or did, was not working fior this particular rooster. I would not want to breed him with those characteristics - unless I had huge acreage where he was  truly needed  him to protect his flock.


Before I ever go any chickens, got my first impression on how to deal with roosters from reading Harvey Ussery's book: The Small Scale Poultry Flock. Best single book on chicken keeping I can imagine, though I have much to learn on culling if I really wanted to breed chickens. (I don't want to kill those beautiful birds, so …).

What I took from him in regards to rooster management was

1 – You are not a chicken. You are not a rooster. You have other options. You do not need to fight.

2 – Respect the birds and the space they live in and work with it - and with them, not against them.

3 – treats go a long way for amicable relations with your roosters. It confuses them ..no rooster would do that to another rooster that would threaten him.

4 – Don't have pet roosters

5 – Be aware of what your birds are doing.

This looked like this in my situation:

My orchard roos were hanging out in the back by the orchard (as opposed to the front of the coop garden field area. When I had to pass by the area to another part of the garden, I noticed a couple of them would start approaching and doing that “wing thing” – I would just give them a little more space and be on my way and all was well.

When I came in with the bag of kitchen scraps – they might start the same way, but then, hearing my chicky ckicky and seeing me emptying the bag ...they soon forgot about their territoriality and came closer looking for titbits.

The water station was in the middle of their space and I would have to enter it (because I usually didn't think of filling up the water before I let them out..:) i'd say my “it's okaaayyy chicky”… so when they came close to me doing “the wing thing”, I would stay put or do my chickchikchik ...and throw them or hand-feed them some choice treats and all was well. I just never had a problem and over time ...they didn't seem to mind my doing what I had to do there.
Maybe it was because they got used to it – maybe it really is a challenge for them when their hormones spike?? Maybe I saw be as a on threat?

On the coop side this meant: I get the eggs after the hens leave and the roosters are not around.
I wait to dump new leaves onto the coop floor when they are out in the field because big bags, especially the black ones, FREAKS THEM OUT, even if I walk very slowly, they are afraid. Once I showed up with a big black bag at the coop door and most of the buffs where still there ...they totally freaked and would not come near me for a day. So since the kitchen scraps usually show up in white bags...i now use white if I can or make sure they are elsewhere if I have a big black bag with leaves. This is what I mean by respect their space. I make some adjustment and all is well.



So the respect, giving them space & treats worked well in general.

But then there was Gully who hit my lower leg one day when I was walking into the garden field not paying any attention to them. Mind you, I had just gone onto the field not paying attention to them at all, just going where I wanted to go. One of the orchard roos made his territory in a walkway area that I needed to traverse to get to the buff roos, and later a couple of those buff cockerels who had thought they established their ruler-ship around their roost box/coop daring me and were not just doing the wing thing but were daring me a little more and the golden polish who started winging me.

I think eventually respect and treats might have worked, but I sort of might have inadvertently antagonized him with the dog incident. I did some more reading and a lot of folks said: make sure you are to top rooster ...hm. Those folks also were all recommending to leave space between you and any roosters and not have them be anything like pets. So I chased him back a couple of times, that worked.

Of the other methods I chose to  – get a stick as the arm extension to pat their fluffy butt and don't be a pushover....chase them If needed.
Again, doing that, there is no need to fight them ....and – always be vigilant.

So that is what I did without being angry, aggressive and very controlled just to make it clear that some behavior would not be tolerated.
That worked.

Afterwards I will call the flock over and trow some treats.

PICKING THEM UP - without hurting them. I also got into the habit of picking them up off hens that complained if I was right there. One of them, who got himself into the coop over and over from the rooster side  – I picked him up and carried him back to his own roost area until one day I just just let him be with the flock ...and he NEVER gave me any problem since he is with the hens and he is the head roo now. While I can't prove anything ...it seems to help with the respect thing from their side.

I also continued (and never stopped) to call the flock over and give the best treats when approaching and entering their space. It worked really well and I did not have problems.

The flock absolutely loves it when I come with a spade and start digging around in their field ...in fact, they sometimes hop on the shovels (2 pullets) – they are loving the insects/worms

Keep in mind that my cockerels are now 5 – 9 months old and do not yet have spurs to speak of and mating season was yet to come.

Well, mating season is here and they are a lot more active with the pullets, but I still don't have any problems with them. I still had 5 roos with 21 pullets, the 2 Golden Polish and 12 bachelors.

The bachelor roosters are not giving me a problem. The 2 golden polish are also not a problem ...they approach me only to see if I have treats for them....but in the past, when one of them would “wing” me ...I just stepped towards him till he walked away and after a few moments called him with the “chikchik” sound gave him some treats or threw them in the direction I wanted him to go.

My philosophy is to do the best for them ….even if that means they are doing the rooster thing and are not like pets. Remember, Gully went against a dog that had come into “his” area ….. and I thought: he'd give his life to defend the flock. At the same time, I did have to assert myself by catching him in his approach and not letting him jump on me. It is a fine balance because you don't want to antagonize them and set up a rooster/rooster type situation between you and them.

I'm sure there is more to learn as they get older - or rather, there would be - because I have to get rid of them in the next couple of weeks - all but maybe 1 or 2. But that is another story.
All I can say is: the more land you have the better and if you own it,  you have a say in what happens, and just because you are zoned fully agricultural does not mean the neighbors won't call animal control for rooster noise...even though there was not a neighbor problem before.

Some were meant to be culled by someone who eats them, but in the end, that is not the reason they will be killed.

They will be killed because of noise complaints even in a fully agriculturally zoned area, NOT because any of them were aggressive.

I was able to re-home a total of  8 of my roosters to far - and time is running out for the rest of them. The re-homed roos adjusted very quickly and well to they new surroundings. One of my re-homed roos was the sweetness of my flock - he was always different - my buttercup Big Boy.
If you are thinking of re-homing roosters via shipping roosters - here is a blog on what it does cost etc.

Big Boy - a Sicilian Buttercup - sweetness of my flock

My sweet "Big Boy" buttercup. He is so special - I decided to make him his own page, in part to deal with having to send him off. For those who follow my page on facebook, you know he arrived in Texas March 5, 2013. I miss his presence - but it was the best solution.

In May of 2012, I got my first chickens, a straight run of assorted light chickens from Sandhill preservation. The reason for the assorted was - fun surprise and the Buff Catalanas I had ordered were not available then and only got sent after the heat wave - in September. With an assorted run, you don't now what they will send you beforehand, but I loved what I got:
11 Blue Andalusians, 6 Sicilian Buttercups, 6 Egyptian Fayoumis and 4 Golden Polish. I lost 1 after pasting, and the rest turned out to be: 17 males, 9 females, not exactly the ratio of 50/50, and the person who said they were going to take my males (since they eat them) backed out...so I had to deal with all the roosters.

The pro side of raising that many roosters was: I got to know a lot of roosters and fell in love with them. One of them was especially sweet - a Sicilian Buttercup who I named "Big Boy" as he was the first of the  Buttercups to mature.





From day 1 he would want to sit on my shoulder, he was never aggressive to me or other chickens, he never even showed me the "wing thing".  He came running when he saw me, he was good with the baby buff catalanas, he got along. So so docile - iI was saying: he does not have much "roostesterone". He was in charge for a while, but then one day his brother took over and that was the phase he got so relentlessly chased that I held him back with the 3 buttercup pullets, who liked him but no other roo.



9 months old







The mixed flock on the hugelkultur

Big Boy and his Blue Andalusian buddy a roosting time


He remained so sweet always ...and on his last day here with me, before going in to roost the last time, I sat in the field and he hopped on my arm and we sat head to head for a while - me telling him a few things, preening him and him clucking. I will never forget it. It was amazing.

Big Boy - going to roost here the last time - he was never far for
 too long from the black pullet there -BeeBee
He liked the buttercup pullets, but his best girl was a black Blue Andalusian, and he was never far from her for long.

Why did I give him up: because the property owners were afraid of a complaining neighbor, even though we are in a fully agricultural neighborhood. I may keep 1 or 2 roosters, so since Big Boy had a welcoming home in Texas - I let him go so another can live.  His brother was already there. He went to the post office Monday, March 4 and gotto his new home the next day.

He was THE BIG sweetness of my flock

May he live a long happy rooster life.

In general: all the Sicilian Buttercups turned out VERY sweet. The pullets also are extremely sweet.

I would get buttercups again anytime.