Brooding

[Annarchy]

My rooster, Roasted, has been roasted. He spurred me 3 times when I changed their water, each time immobilizing my hand for a couple of days, where he punctured it. We scheduled the 'kill' with a couple of friends who wanted to watch and learn. HA! Mmmmmm, cajon rubbed BBQ was great. However, except for the breast, all his meat was tough. I pressure cooked the left overs and made jambalaya. Mmmmmm.

 

Fried, the smaller hen, laid large eggs, while Fricasseed, the larger hen, laid medium sized eggs. Fired quit laying a week before the Roasted left their pen. He was being mean to them, picking on them, and not letting them in the nesting box at night. Now that he is gone, the hens seem more content.

 

I marked a couple of the eggs and let them stay in the nest - March 31-April 3 - taking only the new one each day. This past week, she has been coming down later and going back up to the nesting box earlier. Yesterday, she only came down once and today she has not come down at all, yet. Maybe she is making sure I don't take any more of her eggs.

 

I am hopeful we might have 4 baby chicks in about 2 weeks.

 

[Mt_Rider]

FUN! Yeah, cull mean roosters. They are not all mean. Don't waste blood on the rotten ones. OW!

 

MtRider ......baby chickies!

[Momo]

When I saw the topic "Brooding" I was concerned that you had been brooding about a problem. I am relieved it was about your rooster!

 

Once DH got rid of a mean rooster and he regretted it. Apparently he was so mean that he had prevented the fox from getting to the girls. After he was dinner we lost a few hens.

[CrabGrassAcres]

I grind up the meat from tough birds and make chicken burgers. Real tasty!

 

BTW, my geese have a nest of eggs (3 girls one gander) and two of the girls are taking turns setting it. They woke me up last night though, yelling about whose turn it was. LOL I suspect there are eggs at multiple stages but the geese will normally keep setting till all the viable eggs have hatched while the others in their group look after the goslings. They frequently group parent.

Edited April 13, 2015 by CrabGrassAcres

[Annarchy]

LOL, Momo, I thought of that when I titled this thread 'Brooding', but figured it was appropriate anyway. Sorry you lost some of your girls. Roasted would kick at me when I walked too close to their coop and growl at me too. I don't know if I was allergic to what ever is in his spur, but my diaphragm ached so bad for 2 days after each attack. Even breathing was painful, Mt_Rider, a definite "OW"

The hens do not seem to be taking turns, Fricasseed comes down for food, water, and a roll in the dirt, then goes back up. Today, she is staying down a little longer, I assume it is because it is 89* outside. However, when I open the nesting box to see if she laid another egg, Fried runs up the ladder cackling at me.

[Jeepers]

LOL @ Momo. I thought she was being pouty too.