Update on my boys .... They both crow like 100 times a day .... at least! And they both are tapping the hens :D
Sounds like they are starting to compete. Keep an eye on the hens. They'll probably start losing feathers off of their backs and, if your boys are competing in that area too and likely they are, the hens will lose a lot of feathers and may start showing some injury on their necks too. If it is bad you may want to consider having only one rooster just too make it easier on the hens. Now you may get to see some of the "dark side" to chickens .
I have seen some of the dark side with.the integration of the young ones a few weeks ago and the last few weeks.watching the big boy pulling feathers out hens that weren't ready to mate ... they pull away screaming leaving him with a mouth.full of feathers .... They grew up from babies together , so they might be OK? They have 21 hens between them as well .... that should help?
No and No. They may be OK with each other, as in not fighting, but that is probably more due to one accepting his lesser position. What won't be OK is the hens. They will compete int he sense of who can mount the most hens, most often. Now imagine what you saw already with the mouthful of feathers and screaming and increase it. Also, some roosters are just very hard on the hens and some aren't. That is part of what we look for when picking a rooster, how he treats his girls. I have had one rooster and 19 hens and some of them (his favorites) still get tore up. I have also had one rooster (same one) and 13 hens and about 11 of them ended up with bare backs. We had to get "saddles" for them so he wouldn't tear up their skin and he was a good rooster as far as treating the girls nicely.
I won't be able to deal with that if it happens .... I will eat them first... and Vito will get their feathers ...
Bruce, my Dorking Rooster ....something is wrong with him ... he sits down alot ... the hens are picking off his saddle feathers.... they are almost gone .... he just sits there most of the time ... this just started today .... he is eating and drinking ... any thoughts?
How does his comb look? Should be a good red color and firm. Does he keep his eyes open when he is sitting there? Is he pooping? Can you separate him from the others until you can determine what's going on? Listen to him breathing and see if it sounds congested. See if it is raspy.
I'm not Bruce, nor do I play him on tv.... but I'm going to answer anyway. Go pick up your rooster and really look him over. Under the wings, near the vent, push back feathers. Look for injuries and mites or lice. You might want to move him into his own area for a bit too (dog crate or something). Chickens can go cannibalistic pretty fast not to mention your other rooster might take him out in his weakened state.
Everything looks good with his comb .. eyes stay open, no funny breathing .... I just checked him and he is up on the roost for the night like usual .... he actually seemed better the last few hours than at 4 this afternoon .... I may have exaggerated the feathers ... he isn't bald on his back, but it is definitely not as full as yesterday ....
Yes ... he would sit there and they would walk over to him and start pulling them out ... it didn't look lime it hurt him .... mites, maybe?
OK, wifey and I just got back in ... what a sweetheart he is! He was very calm as I held him and Jan checked him out .. no site of mites, but there are skin patches when you pull back the feathers on his back above his tail. He is VERY meaty, which I thought he would be the way he was tearing after the scratch grains I gave everyone for a treat about 5pm.... So missing feathers, but not to the point of exposed skin yet ... there were a few black dots in spots ... not sure if that was a scab or feather that was going to come in .. I couldnt feel it ... nothing under the wings .... thoughts?
In looking around I found some great links for chicken health. https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart#bird_medicines_resources http://happyhenhouse.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sickly&action=display&thread=9966 http://happyhenhouse.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sickly&action=display&thread=9965 http://happyhenhouse.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=meds&action=display&thread=9959
Ignoring Muzzy's cold hearted comments .... I bought flock raiser, which is high in protein ... that seems to be the general consensus from all the eggsperts.....
Chickens love chicken.... and pretty much anything made of meat that won't eat them first. That flock-raiser, is it the 'no animal products' stuff? I know purina makes several vegetarian feeds. Chickens are not and should not be raised as vegetarians. They need certain amino acids to function correctly.... and those amino acids either come from animal sources or they are made in laboratories in China. I trust animal sources more than I trust some lab in China.
