Many hens few eggs

[Lazy Gardener]

I'm averaging 18 eggs/day with 32 layers. Half pullets, half hens. Supplemental light since Nov.

No worries about it being too warm here!!!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Love that last pic. Belongs on a post card or calendar.

 

[Rammy]

Your lucky. I dont have one chicken that likes to be handled. And its good your rooster is so gentle with your grandaughter.

 

[Rammy]

Ive had two BO roosters. Both have ended up in someones stewpot because they had an attitude. I now have a SLW rooster that isnt an idiot. He gets to stay.

 

[CrealCritter]

Depends on the animal. Some owners do it in case they fight between selves and cause damage to another (or them). Many have spurs which just grow out almost straight. This one - wow - they curved up and were heading into the flesh at the point of his knee...One had penetrated the skin on that leg as there was a tiny bit of blood when I cut it. Generally you gently twist them off from where they begin at the leg. His were too hard.

GD lessons are for her to learn how to be confident to enter the pen with him. They'll need to collect eggs

She's way bigger than me but, not involved with reading an animals body language. Elvis is not a huggy roo! So, she's a little scared of how to handle his aggression. Some is created by their being uncomfortable. Me, I barge in and he knows I'll take him out. But, I know what to do to catch them, handle them, etc. She needs "chickens 101".

Gotcha - thanks MH. Both of my roos I have now don't fight, I guess there are plenty of hens for both of them. Both also have long straight spurs, so I'll just leave them for now.

The heritage RIR roo I had before had dual spurs, two long straight on each leg, one right on top of the other. He looked wicked with those dual spurs but he was calm and gentle, thankfully. He still was tasty either way though.

 

[Rammy]

Im doing my roosters spurs this weekend. I found a video on youtube on how to do it. I take a pair of pliers and grip it close to the leg, then gently start rocking it back and forth. You will feel it detach. I take it off, then trim the shaft back then apply bloodstop powder to it. I normally do it at night when the chickens are roosting. Been doing it that way for years and never had a problem.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Ouch . I've never touched a spur, though DH may have been happier if we had before he got attacked by our old roo. I guess I'll stick with butchering the mean ones!

 

[CrealCritter]

I picked up a rooster to move him to another pen a few years back and felt a huge lump on his chest. I turned him over, pushed some feathers aside and saw a dark, hard "thing" in the middle of the huge lump - thought it was a scab. I investigated it a bit and decided that the thing had to come off - kind of like lancing a boil. DH held him and I started to gently squeeze it but nothing really happened. The scab wouldn't move and at that point it really didn't seem to be a scab. I got some forceps and grabbed both sides of it and pulled. BARFOLA! It was a spur suck deep in his breast muscle and about an inch and a half long. Craziest thing I ever saw. Sure enough I looked around and saw that another roo was missing a spur. He healed up and went on to father a bunch of chicks.

Just this past summer I was out in the barnyard and heard the telltale rustle of feathers. I turned around just in time to see two roosters who I had never seen fight just take one little jab at each other. In a split second one of the roosters was on the ground dead. He had been spurred in the side of his head and died pretty much instantly.

That's why I'm not fond of spurs on roosters - not to mention the time I had blood running down my leg from a stupid rooster. I didn't bother to trim his spurs - it was quicker to lop off his head and feed him to the pigs.

By chance, you happen to live by a nuclear power plant or nuclear waste dump would you?

 

[CrealCritter]

Why? Not that unusual for rooster's to fight.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Guess I missed the punchline - but glad you got a giggle!