Chickenology

[SovereignGrace]

I had English Mastiffs at the time and would let my chickens out of the coop to free range but suddenly one day I found just the feet of one chicken, a half eaten chicken and a dead one. So I locked my chicken in their coop but the next night the dogs broke through the wire and finished them off.


Buff Orpingtons are very similar looking to the Buff Rocks I ordered. I actually read a thread comparing these breeds but came away thinking the BRs were more calm... I can't believe how far I've come in "chickenology" to actually be able to discuss this subject.

We call them yellow buffs. But they're another good breed. Cross them with Plymouth Rocks and they make pretty chickens. Some will have the checkered pattern of the PR, but will be yellow like the Buffs.

 

[SovereignGrace]

Thanks @Benjamin for this thread. This takes me back to my childhood of seeing dad raising chickens. Oh how I miss him and mom.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

I have white racing homer pigeons that have a lot of freedom out of the coop and their worst predator are these small hawks a little smaller than them that come and hunt them in packs time to time. Although over the years they have learned pretty well to escape them and seem to pass the trait down. These pigeons fly much faster (fastest bird in the world actually) so the hawks must dive on them when they aren't looking but they've learned to keep a watch out and will fly up high.

I'm thinking of building a 12' wide, 8' deep and 8' high run with a roof (maybe shade instead of wire) right in front of their coop within the fenced pasture area where the chickens will range so they can escape. I hear the cockerels will keep watch and warn the hens of danger and they say this is good reason to have cockerels because they also will fight.

BTW, the place I bought my chickens also carries game birds. Stromberg's Chicks | Live Birds for Sale, Hatching Eggs, Poultry Supplies

Yea my chickens free range so they learn to be watchful. I’m having a problem right now with a raccoon who scares the chickens to death.... my dog needs to be more present. And thanks for the tip with Strindberg... will look for the English Gamecocks

 

[kyredneck]

We call them yellow buffs.

What we call yellow buffs are Buff Orpington. Got one that has raised three clutches of store bought chicks for us over the years (and gave us many eggs).

 

[Benjamin]

What we call yellow buffs are Buff Orpington. Got one that has raised three clutches of store bought chicks for us over the years (and gave us many eggs).

Want to sell her?

 

[SovereignGrace]

What we call yellow buffs are Buff Orpington. Got one that has raised three clutches of store bought chicks for us over the years (and gave us many eggs).

Exactly. Good laying hens, too. If you can get a yellow Plymouth Rock, what I mean, one that looks just like a PR, but yellow, they’re the prettiest chicken I have ever seen.

 

[Benjamin]

Exactly. Good laying hens, too. If you can get a yellow Plymouth Rock, what I mean, one that looks just like a PR, but yellow, they’re the prettiest chicken I have ever seen.

So, I found out the best way to tell the Buff Rock from the Buff Orpington is the BR has yellow legs where the BO has white. Apparently these breeds are so often confused that people even get the wrong birds or a combination from some hatcheries.

If you can get a yellow Plymouth Rock, what I mean, one that looks just like a PR, but yellow, they’re the prettiest chicken I have ever seen.

That sounds like an awesome mix, I love to crossbreed and invent but then I'd end up with like 100s of chickens.

 

[Benjamin]

. And thanks for the tip with Strindberg (Stromberg's) ... will look for the English Gamecocks

The other time I had chickens was shortly after I bought my land and was still working out of this guy's barn. One of his neighbors was a Mexican family that raised fighting cocks and there were typically baby chicks running around so one day I picked up a group of them outside my shop door and put them in a box and took them home thinking I'd make them into egg layers. Well, once they started laying eggs they started eating each other's eggs, THEN they started pecking a chicken on it's bottom and once it stated to bleed they all started pecking it until they made a hole and ripped out it's intestines and eat them! Then they started on the next victim!

This chicken cannibalism went on until all I had left was one rooster. He was the meanest rooster you ever saw. I would go in the coop to feed him and he would attack me to where I got into the habit of literally knocking him out - sometimes he would wake up before I left and would go right back to attacking me.

Finally, one day my neighbor asked me if I had any chickens and told him just one but that I was going to shoot him. He said, no, don't shoot him I'll take him, so I said okay and put him in box and took him over later that day. Then, a couple weeks I saw my neighbor and asked him how that chicken was doing, he said I SHOT THAT #&%***@& - he attacked my kids, my dogs, my wife and me and would run fly out of pen and run across the property to do it!!

 

[kyredneck]

Want to sell her?

Nah. She’s getting old. I’ll let her spend her last days at home. We tried joining a dozen more Isa Brown chicks back in March, not sure what happened, lost nine overnight, but three are alive and thriving now. She’s been an outstanding momma.

 

[SovereignGrace]

So, I found out the best way to tell the Buff Rock from the Buff Orpington is the BR has yellow legs where the BO has white. Apparently these breeds are so often confused that people even get the wrong birds or a combination from some hatcheries.



That sounds like an awesome mix, I love to crossbreed and invent but then I'd end up with like 100s of chickens.

I didn't know the BR and BO had different colored legs. I have been around chickens since I was born in 1971, but didn't know that. Hmmmm.

Getting back to the dommers a second. Apparently they are called barred Plymouth Rocks. I don't know if that is another entirely different breed of PR or just another name.

Picture this chicken being yellow. I can't find a pic of a yellow one. But sometimes you can get a barred Plymouth rock that looks yellow if you cross them with a BO.

 

[Reynolds]

Anyone raise chickens? How about from 1-3 day old chicks?

I have a batch of 26 coming next week and trying to prepare. I raised around 8 about 20 years ago but about all I remember is putting them in a box and using a heating pad when I saw they were cold. They did fine until my dogs killed them at a year old. But from what I'm hearing temperature is critical, especially keeping them at 90 degrees the first week and lowering no more than 5 degrees a week for next 4 weeks. I'm trying not to go overboard with specifics but I'd feel like a failure if they died.

At first I thought I'd just put them under their new coop in a wired off area with shade but it's getting 105 degrees out and will probably be steady 110s for the next couple weeks, then there is the monsoon storms that will be starting. Hardly anything is said about how warm they can be. Now I'm thinking to start them in my shop which has evaporative coolers but apparently now I need to buy thermometers to find out what is going on with the temps. I told a girl at the feed store I was thinking about putting them in the shop with the coolers but was concerned about the temp dropping at night. She seemed pretty confident saying just turn off the coolers at night and turn them on in the day I 'd be fine, but maybe I'm letting all these internet chicken opinions get into my head but I feel I should check it out.

Besides the temperature there are many other considerations. Whether or not to vaccinate, I decided to have them get the Marek vaccination.

There were 83 different breeds to choose from at the hatchery not counting the Bantams. Minimum order of 25, at least 5 of each breed, so keeping in mind the color of eggs, tameness of the birds, if they were flighty, calm, if they were broody, how big and what they looked like I finally narrowed it down to 5 breeds. One of my choices was not available but the 3rd generation owner of the hatchery was listening in on the phone call so I asked the secretary to ask him his favorite and replaced it with that one. Ordered all hens but they only guarantee 90% accuracy of sexing so I figured I'd probably get a couple Cockerels but the secretary told me that often they are 100% accurate so I threw in a cockerel making it 26.

The breeds I picked are:

BLUE ANDALUSIAN - white eggs

AMERAUCANA - blue and green eggs

BUFF ROCK - brown eggs

SALMON FAVEROLLE - cream eggs (The hatchery owner's favorite, they have an extra toe.)

WELSUMMER - dark chocolate eggs

I'm happy with my choices and should have some awesome looking chickens and great farm raised colorful eggs, if they live, but didn't really want 26 chickens. These chickens average over 200 eggs a year each. Doing the math, that comes to 5,000 eggs a year! If I manage to talk someone into taking of say 10 of my fine purebred chickens that's still 3,000 eggs a year or 8+ eggs a day, could easily be a dozen a day.

I bought a couple waterers but now hear they can easily drown and/or get wet then cold and die so I need to get a "no drown waterer".

Other than that I still need to finish my nesting boxes, perches, ventilation, ramps, and perhaps owl proof night doors on their chicken mansion...

I have or have had many, many breeds. America has are good birds. Fun to watch free range. Real smart.
Buff Rocks are real docile, not real good free rangers, make good pets.
Welsummer hens are crazy. They are very flighty, very aggressive, and just plain dumb in a lot of ways. They do lay a very dark egg.

My favorite white laying breed is California. Favorite brown is the Buff Orpington. Most of my flock now are mutts. Mixed offspring of Americana, California, Buff Orpington, Plymouth Rocks, Welsummer, Buff Orpington,Game birds, Jersey Giants, brown leghorn, are all in the genetic pool. I have a few polish just for entertainment.
A good rooster is key to having a good flock. Hens all fight when no rooster is around. Rooster keeps them all in line.

 

[Reynolds]

I didn't know the BR and BO had different colored legs. I have been around chickens since I was born in 1971, but didn't know that. Hmmmm.

Getting back to the dommers a second. Apparently they are called barred Plymouth Rocks. I don't know if that is another entirely different breed of PR or just another name.

Picture this chicken being yellow. I can't find a pic of a yellow one. But sometimes you can get a barred Plymouth rock that looks yellow if you cross them with a BO.

A Dominicker and A Barred rock are not the same bird. B.R. lays a lot more eggs than a Dominicker.

 

[SovereignGrace]

A Dominicker and A Barred rock are not the same bird. B.R. lays a lot more eggs than a Dominicker.

I've not heard of Dominickers, or at least that term. I know there is a chicken called Dominiques, that have the a checked pattern like Dommers.

 

[SovereignGrace]

I have or have had many, many breeds. America has are good birds. Fun to watch free range. Real smart.
Buff Rocks are real docile, not real good free rangers, make good pets.
Welsummer hens are crazy. They are very flighty, very aggressive, and just plain dumb in a lot of ways. They do lay a very dark egg.

My favorite white laying breed is California. Favorite brown is the Buff Orpington. Most of my flock now are mutts. Mixed offspring of Americana, California, Buff Orpington, Plymouth Rocks, Welsummer, Buff Orpington,Game birds, Jersey Giants, brown leghorn, are all in the genetic pool. I have a few polish just for entertainment.
A good rooster is key to having a good flock. Hens all fight when no rooster is around. Rooster keeps them all in line.

Over the years we have had many breeds. Dommers(Barred Plymouth Rock), Branhams(a white chicken with black streaks down the neck and feather legged), White Leghorns, R.I. Reds, various game breeds(their hens are the best if you want a setting hen), Silkies, BO, BR, Wyandotte, Araucana, New Hampshire, etc.

This is what we always called Dommers(pronounced Dom-ers)...

I guess these are the Barred PR, or also called PR.

Here are Dominiques...

They tend to be lighter in color and their tail feathers seem to be a little different. Plus, IIRC, Dommers have straight combs and Dominiques have rose combs. But I could be wrong on this.

 

[Benjamin]

Picture this chicken being yellow. I can't find a pic of a yellow one. But sometimes you can get a barred Plymouth rock that looks yellow if you cross them with a BO.

Anything like these?

 

[Benjamin]

Now, I'm wondering if I only have one rooster is going to be fertilizing all 25 hens? Or if he is even capable of it? Now, THAT might be something to crow about!

 

[kyredneck]

tried joining a dozen more Isa Brown chicks back in March, not sure what happened, lost nine overnight,

Wife had heard that Rural King (where we purchased the chicks) had sold some diseased chicks along about that time, but I've doubts, they were very spunky. My suspicion is they were a little too old to accept being adopted (the adoption process works both ways) and I misjudged the night we introduced the chicks. It appeared the adoption was successful and I turned the heat lamp off to spare the hen from overheating and most of the chicks left the hen during the night and got chilled.

 

[Reynolds]

Now, I'm wondering if I only have one rooster is going to be fertilizing all 25 hens? Or if he is even capable of it? Now, THAT might be something to crow about!

A good rooster will take care of 50 hens. Right now, my game rooster has about 30 hens and he keeps the feathers torn off all their backs.

 

[SovereignGrace]

I’ve seen them like this before...

 

[Reynolds]

I’ve seen them like this before...

What breed is that. Looks kind of like an ISA Brown and kind of like a Buff Orpington. More like a Buff.