Ok it's official...

[Violet1966]

My husband has completely lost his mind. He was on our local craig's listing for free items and found someone in the next town giving away 3 roosters and a hen, complete with coop, food and wood shavings. So last night, without even knowing about it, he pulls in after leaving to go talk to a friend, and this guy pulls in after him with a coop on the back of his truck and these birds!

We've all wanted to get a dog for a while now, but until things settle down money wise after husband just back to work after a lay off, I've been avoiding the dog issue like the plague. I don't want to own a dog until we can afford to fit it into the budget. In the meanwhile, he's managed to get a free fish tank with beautiful stand and all accessories from one neighbor, and now these birds!

We're letting them roam free during the day so they can eat all the bugs. I'm still spinning here though. It's really freaky to walk outside and see chickens in the flower beds. They're almost mature enough to do the cocka doodle doo too. This is gonna be a lot of fun with 3 of them being roosters. OMG my head! :nut:

[Biker]

Tell your hubby he's an idiot... 3 roosters? Shoulda got some extra hens so you could have fresh eggs every day. Sheesh!

[ethics]

Since this is in Pets section and I hope Vio doesn't mind me taking this further?

I grew up with chickens, roosters (rabbits as well) and when I get in to retirement (or sooner) I would love to buy a house and a few chickens. What does one need to successfully raise them, get the eggs and maybe even slaughter them for food?

[Violet1966]

He's planning on it Biker. This was just the start, what he got last night! The 3 roosters and 1 hen were the package that was free, and he took it. Now, we're going to get more hens. My problem is that this coop is like really small. It fit in the bed of a pickup. It has an enclosed area, and a chicken wired open area. It gets pretty cold up here in the winter. I asked him how he thought he was going to keep these birds from becoming popsicles and he said all you need to do is run a couple of lightbulbs to the coop. This coop is going to have to be bigger, and not be terribly far from the house if we're running power to it. I'm not looking foward to all this. It's looking like a very noisy situation to me.

[tke711]

Good luck Vi...you're going to need it! :)

[ethics]

Ok one thing I DO know is that in order to keep your chickens alive in the cold they require a bit more than a few light bulbs. Someone needs to hit your hubby with a 4x4 clue stick. :)

[Swamp Fox]

I know nothing of these issues, but what's he planning to do with three male chickens? And they're going to share ONE female chicken???

[ethics]

You are such a perverted pig, Stanley. Always fantasizing about chicken sex.

[Swamp Fox]

You are such a perverted pig, Stanley. Always fantasizing about chicken sex.

A pig fantasizing about chicken sex??? Now that's a new one! :haha:

[Violet1966]

Since this is in Pets section and I hope Vio doesn't mind me taking this further?

I grew up with chickens, roosters (rabbits as well) and when I get in to retirement (or sooner) I would love to buy a house and a few chickens. What does one need to successfully raise them, get the eggs and maybe even slaughter them for food?

I don't know, but I'm about to find out! LOL We talked about this before, but just never expected it would happen so soon.

The kids are loving having them around so far. They even named them. The hen makes me laugh. Daughter keeps calling it 'Beautiful Skies', and I keep calling it 'Popcorn' as in bite sized white meat batter fried. LMAO

The guy gave us this chicken catalogue you can order from with all things that you need for chickens/roosters. It's called EggCartons.com catalogue.

[mikeky]

Really only need one rooster, so don't waste the others, train them to fight! ;)

[Biker]

Chickens will pretty much take care of themselves. Just need an enclosed area that they can get out of the weather. Light bulbs actually create enough heat in a small area to keep 'em warm in the winter. For the really COLD days, a small space radiator works wonders. Not sure what feed costs these days, but a 50 pound bag should last for a few weeks with just a few birds.

Eggs are collected each day. Do not forget to do this, otherwise you start getting surprises in the skillet. Spots aren't too bad, but man, having a half baked chick drop into the skillet can quickly turn you off your breakfast for the day.

As for the occasional fryer, ya lop off the head, yank all the feathers out, gut 'em good, and freeze 'em. Mighty tasty for dinner. :biggrin:

[ethics]

Chickens will pretty much take care of themselves. Just need an enclosed area that they can get out of the weather. Light bulbs actually create enough heat in a small area to keep 'em warm in the winter. For the really COLD days, a small space radiator works wonders. Not sure what feed costs these days, but a 50 pound bag should last for a few weeks with just a few birds.
AH HA! Keep in mind my only exposure to this was in Ukraine (Ukraine winters are no joke).

Eggs are collected each day. Do not forget to do this, otherwise you start getting surprises in the skillet. Spots aren't too bad, but man, having a half baked chick drop into the skillet can quickly turn you off your breakfast for the day.


What do you mean by "spots". I know that if you don't collect the eggs start "developing". And that is some nasty shat... ;)

As for the occasional fryer, ya lop off the head, yank all the feathers out, gut 'em good, and freeze 'em. Mighty tasty for dinner. :biggrin:


When do you do this? At what age is the best?

[Biker]

Spots are the beginnings of the embryo. Not that big of a thing. As far as what age is best, first year or so. Get 'em too old and you might as well boil 'em for chicken soup/stew. Although that's pretty tasty, too. :)

[Violet1966]

Ok one thing I DO know is that in order to keep your chickens alive in the cold they require a bit more than a few light bulbs. Someone needs to hit your hubby with a 4x4 clue stick. :)

He's telling me that's all it takes. I know he knows it's gonna need more, but he's not gonna tell me because he knows I'm gonna get pissed. I'm expecting in the near future that he's going to bring home some more hens, and some wood and chicken wire. Oh and another breaker and pvc, wire, outlet, etc., to run a dedicated line to this monstrosity that he'll build to keep these birds in. I am about to get even more pissed off about this I know it. Two lightbulbs my ass. I am always trying to keep the electric bill down and he knows he's got to ease me into what's going to need to be done, for me to not freak out.

He told me he the guy said if we wanted this deal, it was all or nothing. He took the 3 roosters and said that he was going to give one to one of our neighbors, but I bet it's not going to happen. Instead, he'll bring home a whole tray of baby hens. He was like a kid last night...telling me "You don't have to do a thing. I'll take care of them I promise". We'll see. LOL I see one of these damn birds on my Volvo and I'm gonna pull out the axe and show the others what will happen if they choose to sit on my car! LOL

[Biker]

The one problem with having livestock.. You are now tied to home with no hope of ever taking a decent vacation without having someone lined up to take care of the critters while you're gone. I'm not sure your hubby has thought this through.

[Violet1966]

Chickens will pretty much take care of themselves. Just need an enclosed area that they can get out of the weather. Light bulbs actually create enough heat in a small area to keep 'em warm in the winter. For the really COLD days, a small space radiator works wonders. Not sure what feed costs these days, but a 50 pound bag should last for a few weeks with just a few birds.

Eggs are collected each day. Do not forget to do this, otherwise you start getting surprises in the skillet. Spots aren't too bad, but man, having a half baked chick drop into the skillet can quickly turn you off your breakfast for the day.

As for the occasional fryer, ya lop off the head, yank all the feathers out, gut 'em good, and freeze 'em. Mighty tasty for dinner. :biggrin:

Ok so his light bulbs talk was real. Whew I was trying to imagine how much our electric bill was going to go up and getting pissed thinking about it. Our winters are pretty bad up here sometimes. People we know on the next main road have chickens and roosters and they always made it through the winter with the light bulbs, husband said. The worst that happened was a bit of frostbite on the one rooster's gaggle thingie one winter. It was fine though and lived no problems.

I've always had an aversion to eggs because of the paranoia that I'll break one open and a baby chick will come out. I really hope that never happens, or I might really never eat an egg again!

[Violet1966]

The one problem with having livestock.. You are now tied to home with no hope of ever taking a decent vacation without having someone lined up to take care of the critters while you're gone. I'm not sure your hubby has thought this through.

Our neighbors would do it for us without a problem. That's the least of my worries. I care for one neighbors pets when they go away, and they would do the same for us no problem. My problem is that these things are almost to cocka doodle dooing. They were attempting it this morning. I am not all that pleasant in the morning. The last thing I need is to hear that shit at 4 am! What triggers them to do that really? Is it the sun rise that makes them do it?

[mikeky]

He'll probably use a heat bulb (something like this (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=181165-3-14952&lpage=none)). Shouldn't add too much to electricity costs.

[Piobaireachd]

Wow, way too many roosters. The guide we used as a kid was 1:20 for egg production and 1:5 if we were trying for eggs for the incubator.

Chickens are neat to have. I love the fresh eggs.

[Biker]

My problem is that these things are almost to cocka doodle dooing. They were attempting it this morning. I am not all that pleasant in the morning. The last thing I need is to hear that shit at 4 am! What triggers them to do that really? Is it the sun rise that makes them do it?

Get used to it. They'll do it all the time. Why do you think most chicken coops are AWAY from the house?

[Violet1966]

Yeah the thing is sitting now on the side of the house where the former owner dropped it off. It's supposedly not going to stay there. Husband thinks he's keeping them this side of the creek, he's got another thing comin. We have an old stable made of cynder blocks actually, out on the other side of the creek. One of the walls is buckling out though so I've declared it unsafe. He pretty much agrees, but has been looking into how to fix the one wall. I'm suspecting they're going to wind up in there if he gets motivated enough to clean all this shit out of it, I've been dumping in it that we've found on the land. Pieces of furniture, old tires, pieces of old cars, and tons of glass bottles I just didn't want to deal with and just chucked them in when I went mental cleaning the immediate area when we first moved in. All I'm seeing is $$$$$$ in my head. LOL

If he does manage to fix this wall on the cheap through his friends in the construction field, it would be nice. I'd even consider getting a cow or two for milk and trade in my atv for a horse. That's really what I want more then anything in the world. A horse. We have like 67 acres here and many trails. Beyond the land we live on is even more land that's up in the mountains with tons of trails. No homes or roads, just trails. Would love to get a horse one day. F these chickens. LOL

edit: They're doing their cocka doodle thing right now. OMG I'm in the twilight zone I swear.

[Piobaireachd]

Yeah the thing is sitting now on the side of the house where the former owner dropped it off. It's supposedly not going to stay there. Husband thinks he's keeping them this side of the creek, he's got another thing comin. We have an old stable made of cynder blocks actually, out on the other side of the creek. One of the walls is buckling out though so I've declared it unsafe. He pretty much agrees, but has been looking into how to fix the one wall. I'm suspecting they're going to wind up in there if he gets motivated enough to clean all this shit out of it, I've been dumping in it that we've found on the land. Pieces of furniture, old tires, pieces of old cars, and tons of glass bottles I just didn't want to deal with and just chucked them in when I went mental cleaning the immediate area when we first moved in. All I'm seeing is $$$$$$ in my head. LOL

If he does manage to fix this wall on the cheap through his friends in the construction field, it would be nice. I'd even consider getting a cow or two for milk and trade in my atv for a horse. That's really what I want more then anything in the world. A horse. We have like 67 acres here and many trails. Beyond the land we live on is even more land that's up in the mountains with tons of trails. No homes or roads, just trails. Would love to get a horse one day. F these chickens. LOL

edit: They're doing their cocka doodle thing right now. OMG I'm in the twilight zone I swear.

Wherever the coop ends up, it has to be "varmint" proof. Skunks, raccoons, fox, weasels/ferrets all say "hmmmm, chicken...it tastes just like chicken!"

[Lovehound]

This has been an interesting and informative thread. I'm with Leon on this, it sounds like it might be fun to raise chickens, although as has been pointed out you need Plan B for a vacation. A couple thoughts:

You probably need a plan for the "output" of used food. It probably makes good fertilizer?

No problem with the excess of roosters, and this will reduce the sound level too. Just kill the extras. :) Slaughter them and cook them, and make stock or stew if they're over-aged. Keep them for a while and let some of the eggs hatch so you get some hens, then liquidate excess birds.

I strongly advise you put the coop on the other side of the house from your bedrooms, and even better if it's on the other side of another out-building.

As far as the spots in the eggs (or embryos), do what they said. You have to collect eggs every day. I presume refrigeration kills the embryos so that shouldn't be a problem.

My grandparents had a cotton farm in central California and they had chickens and cows. It was a fun place, very different from city houses. I was a kid then.

I think seeing the chicks hatch would be great! :) Walking food! :) (Dead food walking?) ;)

[Fiona]

Well you've got plenty of advice, all sound, so i'll just chime in with the COOL!

Get more hens, eat the roosters ;)

I had chickens, ducks, and rabbits, (geese, dogs, cats, birds) and a goat, when I was little. I was the only child around until sis came along, so I was very close to my little animals.
They are fun. Good luck!

[Lovehound]

It would be fun to raise rabbits too. :) So sweet and cuddly, and particularly good when cooked with onions and wine! :)

[ethics]

As for vacations? With so little why not slaughter them, eat them (or store them), go on vacation and get more?

[Lovehound]

Good point, Leon! After all, chickens are food. Would a live chicken cost all that much more than a dead one? (i.e. from the supermarket)

Actually that's a good question. What does it cost to buy a yearling rooster, or laying hen? (Or one that will lay when it gets old enough.)

[Biker]

As for vacations? With so little why not slaughter them, eat them (or store them), go on vacation and get more?

Loosing proposition all the way around, especially if you get young hens. You aren't going to get eggs at that point, which is really one of the reasons you want 'em around.

[ethics]

ou aren't going to get eggs at that point, which is really one of the reasons you want 'em around.

School me on this, please. I am completely ignorant on that. Why won't you get eggs from newly acquired young hens?

[Lovehound]

Hens have to reach an age of sufficient maturity before they can lay eggs (stating the obvious).

[Biker]

Not old enough.. Forget how old they have to be, but from the time you hatch 'em to the time you start getting eggs is a few months if I recall.

[ethics]

Ok I am still thick here. Why not buy an egg laying hen already?

[Biker]

More expensive than purchasing a juvenile. And that isn't the point. Once you have the operation set up, you raise your own, thereby eleminating the need to purchase new stock.

[Lovehound]

And thereby create the vacation problem. Some people don't mind paying a bit extra to get the result they want. But yes of course the ideal from a raising point of view would be to buy only feed.

It would help if somebody posted approximate costs for chicken livestock. Duh. (Looks in mirror, googles a local seller...)

Brown chickens $8.75 (rooster or hen, 4 months age)

White chickens $1.59/lb. (same, same)

Old chickens $5.50

50# chicken feed $25.35


Chickens start laying at 19 weeks (http://www.enc-online.org/trivia.htm), so my city boy logic tells me the $8.75 jobbers would be good to go after they settle into their new home.

How about this? As your vacation nears, you have a few nice chicken dinners and freeze the rest, then when you return you just buy a new flock at $8.75 per unit. Of course you couldn't go on vacation every few months or you'd get tired of eating chicken. ;) (Not!)

[Violet1966]

Pio the coop is off the ground. It's like on long legs and is a good 2 feet plus off the ground. The side of the house they're on right now is the side that's opposite our bedroom. Our son is on that side of the house upstairs, so we'll see if it bothers him at all for now.

We have 1 white hen and she's not in the egg laying stage yet. The 4 of these birds were a school project or something, from the people we got them from. All the birds are the same age and look very young. They have a clear shape now that looks adult, but they have some growing left still. One of them was born abnormal with toes or claws whatever you call them, pointing weird and it's tail feathers kind of go to the one side. They're all like brownish reddist with white tail feathers. The one is really more beautiful then the other two. Fluffy tail feathers and more perfect looking, but the same exact coloring. I'll take some pictures and post them tomorrow.

They were out and about all day and were fine. We were out in the back in the pool and they didn't even really come over near us. They stayed on the side where the coop was and went under our front porch, and stayed far away from the street. I was nervous wondering if they would go near the the street at all while they wandered, but they never seemed to have any interest in doing so.

I want to put them behind the cement stable out back, but don't want any animals to bother them even when they're in the coop all nice and safe. We really wanted these to eat the ticks and bugs. I'd rather see some chicken poop, then ticks and beetles that eat my lillies. They were going to town in the flower beds today pecking away. Damn beetles. I refuse to use pesticides because we have ground water here. So, I hope the beetle population that comes this time of year thins now with the chickens loose.

I've had rabbits before. Had one when I was living home with parents. Boyfriend bought it for me for Easter. I went to school one day and it got really hot out of no where. After school went to a friend's house to swim. Went home and the rabbit was dead. :( It had heat stroke people said to me. I still feel guilty for putting it's cage right on the dresser in front of the window. :(

Then got married and got another one. Nice rabbit cage this time. I had the rabbit potty trained and all. it went to the bathroom in a cat litter box no problem. Then one day came home from work and the thing ate some wires so we had to keep it penned. Felt guilty got it a friend. Big giant duh. Now I had two rabbits in an apartment no less, and to my surprise, they got freaking huge. Bigger then you would think they would in the 6 foot long cage I had for them. They wouldn't stop growing, then another duh. Realized one was a boy and one was a girl. We found our local 4h and called them and they took them off our hands.

Would be fun to get rabbits again one day. Daughter wants one badly. I couldn't eat one though. :(

[Biker]

Quite tasty they are. Peel 'em like a banana and toss 'em into an electric skillet with some cream of mushroom soup. YUMMY! :drool:

[Copzilla]

Marinade them in Burgundy wine for a day and slow roast them in the oven, mmmmmm...

[Lovehound]

Drench the skinned rabbit pieces in flour, salt and pepper, and brown them in a skillet. Chop an onion and mushrooms and toss them in, pour in some white wine and cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, turning the pieces once or twice. Mmmmmmm! :)

You can do the same with chicken. Just remember to remove the feathers. ;)

[Violet1966]

LMAO if I'm ever starving to death and rabbits are the only meat to eat, then I'll eat one. Until then I'll take your word on it. ;)

I was attacked today by the roosters. They watch the chicken like a hawk and if you try and go near her, they will try and intimidate you and block you. I did their water and they did it, but I managed to get the water and replace it without contact. Then, my son asked for a pen to scribble with, and I remember he dropped it near the coop so I went over to get the pen from the ground. They all came at me and the crippled one pecked my foot. I naturally screamed like I was being mauled or something because it freaked me out. I looked down and the other two were coming to peck me too, so I stamped my feet at them and they didn't move and then, they chased me back to the house. I wouldn't have even flinched but I had flip flops on and shorts and was afraid they could break the skin. Little buggers.

Only going to keep one. Trying to get rid of the other two. I was mistaken in the colors. There's two brownish red roosters and one white rooster, and the hen is white too. I'm going to keep the brownish rooster, unless there's any reason to keep the white one over the brownish one? LOL

[Elspeth]

Ah roosters. Hated the bastrads. We had black and white ones that would go for your face. My Mom knocked one out once. Also stay away from white geese. Those suckers are mean.

[Lovehound]

Well let's kill the gimpy rooster first and find out if they are good to eat. Kick the other ones and see if they learn from the experience. Maybe you should let the remaining roosters see you slaughtering the gimp. ;) Maybe it may be an instructive lesson...

Any rooster psychs here? I'm just guessing on my rooster psych... :)

I know if Vi kicked me for my less desired posts I'd probably learn to post better... ;)

[Violet1966]

LMAO I'm afraid to eat the crippled one. He's got these really f'd up toes and I'm not kidding, his whole ass end goes to one side. I was freaked out when he pecked my foot because he's kind of freaky looking. Psycho crippled rooster. LOL I was really busy today and totally forgot about taking some pictures. I'll try to remember tomorrow.

Unless someone tells me there's some reason to keep the white rooster over the brownish one, I'm gonna keep the brownish one. My husband hit all the neighbors up tonight asking if they wanted a rooster. Not one taker. LOL

Do people usually eat roosters? I mean, I don't think I've eaten one. Do they taste like chicken does or is it different texture or taste?

[Lovehound]

No, people prefer to eat younger birds, and roosters are probably more stringy than tender, particularly older ones. Nothing however will prevent you from making stew or stock from him.

There is no need for more than one rooster. You want more roosters if you intend to raise live stock, but probably one rooster to 20 hens is good enough for egg laying. (Maybe one in five for breeding more stock.)

IMO you should kill the first rooster in plain sight of the others. Teach them an object lesson. Remember, they are not pets. They are food. If you're going to kill them anyway you might as well use the killing to make your point. Maybe the little f---ers will learn to fear you instead of peck at you.

If it works out poorly, kill them all and start over.

[Violet1966]

I can't kill it. I can't see being able to do it. I could kill it with a gun, but to actually take a knife or cleaver and chop it's head off? I don't have that in me. And gutting it forget it. I'd wind up puking or passing out. I'm weak that way. Can't really handle blood and internal stuff showing. I get sick. I gotta ask my husband if he'd be able to do it. I don't know if he could do it either. I know he likes to put lobsters in the boiling water. He even does it slowly to see if it screams, which even disturbs me greatly. I can't even drop a lobster in a pot. I know it's silly, but I'd feel like I caused a living thing pain. Almost like a murderer. If there was a way to do it where they didn't feel it, I'd probably be able to do it. I'm a big wuss. :(

[Elspeth]

You are not a wuss. And Lovehound, to some people these are pets. We had a chicken live to about 10 or so. They laid eggs until they got old and live a happy life. We ate chicken, just not our chickens. We had a couple of grey geese, sweetest things. We stopped after the bastrad raccoons got them. Never heard a thing. Not everything is food.

[Lovehound]

I can't kill it.
I wish I lived near your locale. I'd kill it for you, and help you cook and eat it. :)

My mom and dad taught me to put worms on hooks, catch fish, and then gut my fish for cooking. I was small then and got used to it no big thing.

I've been thinking of taking up hunting if I find some friends who are into it. However, I have reservations about gutting deer and rabbits. I don't know if I'll ever get past that, or ever have the occasion. Birds don't seem like no big deal to me however...

I don't know that I like birds that much anyway, except on the stove. :)

[Allene]

We have had chickens for two years. This was my husband's idea. He built a full-sized building, small but definitely nothing you could put on the back of a pickup. He then went out and bought 48 chickens (we share them with a neighbor). Twenty-four were hens and 24 were roosters. Yikes! They arrived at the post office in Moscow, Idaho, from Walla Walla, Washington. When the roosters got larger, I had to make soup out of them, but now we have 18 hens and one rooster named Hector. He's quite a character! He's also very noisy. We live on the eastern edge of the Pacific Time Zone, so in late spring and early summer it's broad daylight at 4 a.m. I leave the rest to your imagination. Ed built something for them to perch on inside the building, plus some nest boxes to lay eggs in. They do okay in our winters because they generate a lot of heat when they are gathered together. It's the summer heat that bothers them. We lost one of them last summer when it hit 102 here.

One of our hens is a head case. We have some golf balls in the nests. Apparently, this is supposed to induce laying. We really don't need them because we are drowning in eggs and give them to everyone we can get hold of, but this hen is sitting on the golf balls 24/7 trying to hatch them. Another thing: you have to put wire fences around all of your flowers or the hens will mow them down to ground level. We keep the hens in a large, fenced area, but let them out in afternoon. They go "home" at dusk, and we go out and shut them up in their building for the night. If we don't do that the coyotes or the raccoons will kill them.

Good luck with your brood.

[Allene]

It would be fun to raise rabbits too. :) So sweet and cuddly, and particularly good when cooked with onions and wine! :)

We had rabbits when we lived in North Carolina back in the late 70s and early 80s. I got attached to all of them, and it was hard for me to cook them later. I'd sit at the table and say, "I suppose this is the cute black and white fellow." Also, my husband was using my clothesline to hang them while he skinned them. I wasn't too thrilled with that. They were good to eat.

[Lovehound]

Heh, heh. I don't know. I love my dog (and couldn't cook him) but I sometimes wonder if I could raise then cook rabbits. I honestly don't know.

I'm pretty sure I could slaughter chickens, but truthfully I've never been there, done that. I do clean my own trout and it doesn't bother me, nor does all manner of knifing store meats such as pig, chicken, lamb, beef, etc.

[Violet1966]

Wow that's a big coop Allene! I'll have to get a few golfballs and try that thanks! LOL

We got rid of two of the roosters. Now we just have one hen and one rooster. This is gonna sound crazy, but I never knew they actually had sex! The rooster is all over the hen the past few days. I thought that the chicken laid an egg, then the rooster sat on it and made it fertilized. I know I know and shut up Biker!!! God I can hear him already! ;)

[Biker]

:banghead:

[Allene]

:rofl: Violet, you are too funny! That'll be the day when a rooster sits on eggs! You might want to get some oyster meal or whatever it is called. It's crushed oyster shell, I think. Mix a little of it into their feed to keep them from eating their own eggs. I think it works better if you give it to them while they are still little chicks. We also save the shells of the eggs we eat, let them air dry, then crush them up and put in their feed. We have a waterer that our neighbor gave us. It's a round metal drum with a circular trough. You pour water into the drum and it flows out into the trough. I think you can get them at feed places. I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to where this stuff comes from. It's my husband's project.

[Violet1966]

I knew the the hen was the one who would sit on the eggs till they hatched, but thought they were fertilized by the rooster sitting on them once then leaving it to the hen to keep warm. LOL

Will tell husband about the oyster meal thing thanks Allene! We have a water thing that has a reservoir on top that you fill, and it comes out into a trough like thing on the bottom but it's not that big. Big enough for two birds but if we get more we'll need bigger. The feed one is the same kind of thing.

[ethics]

Just in case you didn't know how babies are made, I can show you. Pming you my phone number.

[Violet1966]

LMAO I'm sure you would! ;) I think I know though. I mean I had 4 children...I should know by now? ;)

Now I have to figure out how to talk to the kids about why the rooster does that if they see it and ask. LMAO At least now I know why!!!

[Allene]

My first cousin (a guy) grew up on a farm. When he was a little kid, he just loved the chickens, but there was one chicken he couldn't stand. He thought it was a real bully because it was chasing the others around and jumping on them, so he set out to teach it a lesson. He somehow got hold of it and dunked it's head in the cattle trough. Didn't do any good. He repeated this treatment at various intervals for several days before he finally had to give up. It's a wonder he didn't drown the rooster! Good luck explaining that to the kids. :)

[Lovehound]

I knew the the hen was the one who would sit on the eggs till they hatched, but thought they were fertilized by the rooster sitting on them once then leaving it to the hen to keep warm. LOL
Just stating the obvious, the rooster sits on the hen, not the eggs. :) I'm trying to imagine his little rooster thingie penetrating the eggs after they're hatched. :)

You said you got rid of two of the roosters. I'm curious did you mean "rid" with extreme prejudice? :) If so, perhaps you'll relate your experiences in terminating them and de-feathering them. That last part sounds difficult to me but I've never done it. I would be tempted to just gut and skin them, producing a skinless bird and probably more healthful to not eat the skin anyway.

[Violet1966]

Allene that's a good one about your cousin!!! Gotta tell the husband that one! LMAO :rofl:

LH we didn't kill them. We took them to a friend and he took them off our hands. I'd be afraid to have eaten the crippled one anyway, because then I'd have to take a closer look at why his ass end was bent like that! LOL

I thought the rooster like, well did his thing onto the egg and it got inside it through the shell, which I assumed was very soft. LOL

[Lovehound]

Well please tell us when you finally slaughter one. I'm curious what your experience is like. I've killed trout and eaten them (you whack the back of their head on a rock, or hit it with the hilt of your knife) but I don't know if I could kill a chicken or not. I think I could...

[joseftu]

Violet, that story of the rooster attacking you was the funniest thing I've read here in a long time!

Don't mean to laugh at what must have been a harrowing experience, but the picture of you screaming and running, while the other roosters wait their chance for a peck...it cracked me up!

Couldn't your husband have picked out a nice goldfish? :)

[Violet1966]

I'm sure if you were there, you'd have literally fallen over from laughing so hard. It was all very freaky for me. When I did the water, by husband assured me they wouldn't hurt me so I was cautious. Then getting the pen, I walked right over and didn't even really notice them at all. Then, I felt something on my foot and looked down and it was the freaky looking one and I realized I was like trapped. I was backing up backwards looking at them stamping my feet towards them, then when I saw all three weren't backing down, made my run for the stairs. Goin "ahhhhhh go away" the whole time. Damn birds!!! LMAO

Few days ago I had to go across the street with the kids to a neighbor who's a hairdresser, to get my daughter's hair trimmed. We went down the stairs and there's the damn rooster, the one that's left, coming out from under our porch. I had to get the broom to shoo it so the kids could come off the stairs and go to the street. Then I put the broom down and we crossed, and the damn thing came with us!!! So now all three of us are running to the neighbors house. They thought we were nuts...we arrived at the door all out of breath. Then we leave and cross back, and the rooster was there at the foot of the steps blocking them. I had to creatively grab the broom to shoo it again so the kids could go inside.

They thankfully don't come near the pool when we swim, or we might be trapped in the pool all day! LMAO Gotta take the broom wherever I go from now on on that side of the house where they roam.

[Lovehound]

Get some shoes on and blue jeans, and then kick the SOB rooster next time he comes close, teach him a little respect for Homo sapiens. :)

[Piobaireachd]

My grandfather had chickens (Bantams). One of the roosters would fly at my face talons first whenever I entered the pen to feed them.

One day I brought a shovel with me. It flew, I swung, and the rooster was a beautiful line drive along the third base line.

The rooster has left the gene pool...thank you Memphis, goodnight!

[Violet1966]

Husband told us to just kick it if it keeps on doing this to us. My daughter did it yesterday. Thing got close to her so she kicked it. LOL

I'm actually very scared of the flying at face kind of thing. I sit in the backyard on my lounge chair when not swimming, to watch the kids while they swim. I constantly wonder if one day it's gonna dive bomb me. I guess my fears weren't far off from what could happen. Thanks for the story Pio. Now I know I'm not paranoid thinking that. LOL ;)

[Piobaireachd]

Husband told us to just kick it if it keeps on doing this to us. My daughter did it yesterday. Thing got close to her so she kicked it. LOL

I'm actually very scared of the flying at face kind of thing. I sit in the backyard on my lounge chair when not swimming, to watch the kids while they swim. I constantly wonder if one day it's gonna dive bomb me. I guess my fears weren't far off from what could happen. Thanks for the story Pio. Now I know I'm not paranoid thinking that. LOL ;)

No, you're not paranoid. Roosters can be mean and nasty and can really hurt you if you let them. Those spurs can inflict a nasty wound.

[Lovehound]

Can roosters get a spur-ectomy? :) (Obviously an involuntary one.)

[Piobaireachd]

Can roosters get a spur-ectomy? :) (Obviously an involuntary one.)

Yes they can! I would suggest having an experienced poultry person do it or show you how it should be done.

[Violet1966]

OMFG I'm in rooster f'in trauma here.

This afternoon we put the coop on the atv trailer and took it cross the creek. Husband set up an area to pen them in with this plastic fencing stuff he found laying around. So we move the coop and duh, he let's them wander while he puts the stakes in and sets the fencing up. Now, it's getting to dusk and they need to go back in their coop. I wander outside and see the rooster standing right outside the basement door. I take a good look at him and he saw me and was eying me up. I yelled to my husband that I was gonna play the bait and lead him over to the coop. Oh boy was that some experience. As soon as you show fear, this thing can tell. He can see it by the way you move or something. So I taunted him and ran and didn't realize I was running around the front instead of the back of the pool, and he dive bombed my leg. I fell over the damn pool filter and into the wall of the pool. Got my orientation back and ran to the other side and to the creek. He dive bombed me again. Then I get him to right in front of the coop and he dives me again. At this point I'm huffing and puffing and all freaked out, but I got him there, screaming for my husband the whole way!!! LMAO Ahhhh Bri!!!! The kids were on their atv's in the field and they saw me being chased and stopped and couldn't stop laughing. My daughter was yelling, "kick it momma". My husband tried to grab it and it goes into and up the creek.

So I catch my breath and he's off chasing this damn rooster. We see the hen come out of the area they used to be kept near, near some thick sumac. Husband comes back and I tell him the hen is out. He goes over to her and gets her in one shot. Puts her in the coop and goes off to get the rooster again. A neighbor and his 2 children stops by our house to visit. So now we have 3 adults and one older child all trying to corner this rooster. We got the thing near the garbage cans and I picked up the lid and used the damn thing to corner it. The neighbor tried to get it and it flies out of there somehow. I'm chasing the thing with the trash can lid. We tried to lure the rooster by holding the hen and it wouldn't give. It was getting dark so the neighbor told us to just leave it and it will find the hen at the coop itself. Keep the fencing open but the coop closed. So we give up.

I go inside and feel like I just ran a marathon. Get a glass of iced tea and husband is on the front porch. All of a sudden he says my name and I go to the front door and omfg the strangest thing. The rooster got up on the porch which it never does and onto the rail about 4 feet from my husband, like it was looking for the hen in his hands still. I was afraid to breathe. LOL My husband makes his move and he grabs the rooster's legs and gets him!!!! Me and the kids cheering and husband has this thing hanging upside down. In the coop he went and I'm sitting here typing this still laughing.

The dive bomb thing is really scary. I watched as it was doing it to me as I was running. You think you're ahead of them, then they kind of stop and come at you like a missile. It was freaky to see.

I want to go back to the city!!!! LMFAO I can't take this anymore!!!! *going insane with this hick stuff*

[Copzilla]

Vio, you're freaking killing me here LMAO.

[Violet1966]

Yeah well this is gonna be even funnier tomorrow when the black and blues really start to show and I have to tell people how I got them. I'm pretty well tanned right now, so hopefully they won't look too bad. And this whole situation with all the running I was doing, was in flip flops. I guess I should be happy I didn't break anything! LOL ;)

*clicking heals closing eyes saying, "there's no place like home. there's no place like home. there's no place like home".*

[Lovehound]

I love your posts Vi! :) Just kick the son of a bitch. If he breaks, make chicken stock. They're food okay? not pets. Eat your mistakes.

[Violet1966]

Well hopefully I won't go through this ever again. We moved them into the area across the creek so they'd be out of the immediate yard where we have all our family yard stuff set up. If this thing has the nerve to ever do it again, I will kick it. Tonight I wanted him to chase me, and boy did he chase me! LOL I asked for it all right. ;)

I wouldn't want to hurt any living thing unless I really had to. If he ever gets the chance to do it again, I'm gonna kick it and kick it hard too. Make the freaking thing fly like a soccer ball, the little sob. LOL ;)

[Lovehound]

Make him fly like a soccer ball, and then kill him and eat him! Eating your enemy is the ultimate revenge! ;)

[Violet1966]

LMAO no we need him if we want this hen to lay any eggs. Gotta keep them both alive so we can get some more little ones to mature for eggs. Then once we have quite a few we'll go into the chopping the heads off thing. :)

[Lovehound]

You need a rooster, but you don't need him. :) You could always get a much younger rooster, one that grows up respecting you, to replace the sadly departed and eaten predecessor. :)

From the prices I glommed above I think you could replace him for less cost than two 6-packs. :)

[damonlab]

My grandparents raised chickens and also had a few roosters over the years. Instead of oyster shells and egg shells, I suggest a fine gravel. Chickens need this to help with their digestive system. There was one white rooster that had it in for me when I was little. One time it jumped on my back, dug its claws in, and started pecking at my neck. I had an immense satisfaction watching my grandfather lop its head off. My grandfather killed chickens either via axe or by twisting their necks. There is a reason for the 'chicken with its head cut off' saying. I remember thinkiing how cool it was to pull the tendon on a chicken foot and see the claw grab. To this day, I still prefer brown eggs over white.

[Violet1966]

Thanks for the additional advice damon. :)

My husband was ready to kill the thing when he saw how nasty he was going at me. I had to calm him down. The kids know to kick it and kick it hard if ever in a situation, but if that thing ever hurt the kids, I would gladly kill it myself after letting it know it's going to die for a while before I did it. LOL