Read Online Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Gail Damerow
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if not downright inhumane.
To minimize crowing, let the chickens out only during reasonable hours. Overnight, either close shutters on coop windows to keep out passing lights, or leave a light on in the coop to reduce the disturbance caused by passing lights. Softly playing a radio helps keep roosters from crowing in response to sounds coming from outside the coop, and insulating the coop walls and surrounding the coop with shrubbery will muffle any crowing that does go on.
Since a cock stretches his neck to crow, putting him overnight in a ventilated box or cage small enough to prevent a good stretch will discourage crowing. Covering the container to keep out light also helps. I once visited a Cornish bantam breeder who brought his roosters into the house at night, putting them into cages stacked in an unused shower stall (a basement works well, too). The cocks still occasionally crowed, but his neighbors couldn’t hear it.
Of course, you have to let the roosters out during the day, and they’re going to crow no matter what. If neighbors still complain, you have only two remaining, but drastic, options. You could get rid of the rooster — thereby losing his functions of maintaining social cohesion and fertilizing eggs. Or you could move to a neighborhood where chickens are welcome.
Peck Order
By about 6 weeks of age, chicks spar to establish their place in the pecking order, which governs a flock’s social organization and thus reduces tension and stress. In a flock containing both sexes, the peck order involves a complex hierarchy on three levels: among all the males, among all the females, and between the males and the females.
In general the cocks are at the top of the peck order, then hens, then cockerels, and finally pullets, although cockerels will work their way through the hens as they mature, and similarly, maturing pullets will work their way up the ladder. A new bird added to the flock must also work its way up but won’t necessarily start at the bottom.
Challenges
Once the peck order is established, a bird of lower rank infringing on the space of one of higher rank will earn a glare from the higher-ranking bird — as if to say, “I can’t believe your impudence” — causing the lower-ranking bird to move on. Fighting is thus kept to a minimum and mainly involves challenges to the top cock. The older he is, the more often he’ll be challenged by younger upstarts.
Some of the interesting things you’ll learn by observing peck-order activities are that dominant cocks mate more often than lower-ranking cocks, but submissive hens mate more often than dominant hens because they are more easily intimidated and therefore crouch more readily. And among birds with various comb styles, single-comb birds are higher in rank than birds with other comb styles.
Keeping the Peace
You can reduce stress among your chickens by helping them maintain a stable peck order in the following ways:
Most fights to determine peck-order status end as soon as one cock backs down.
Give your chickens plenty of room to roam so the lowest-ranking birds have space to get away from those of higher rank.
Design your facilities with enough variety so your timid birds can find places to hide.
Provide enough feeders and drinkers for the number of chickens you keep; otherwise, higher-ranking birds will chase away lower-ranking birds.
If you have more than one cock, furnish one feeding station per cock and position feeders and waterers so no bird has to travel more than 10 feet (3 m) to eat or drink. Well-placed troughs allow each cock to set up his own territory and gather a group of hens around him; fighting is further minimized if no bird has to pass through another’s territory to reach feed and water.
When you move chickens, do not combine birds from different groups. Doing so adds to the stress of moving and increases peck-order fighting.
Avoid introducing new chickens into your flock, which causes a reshuffling of the
To minimize crowing, let the chickens out only during reasonable hours. Overnight, either close shutters on coop windows to keep out passing lights, or leave a light on in the coop to reduce the disturbance caused by passing lights. Softly playing a radio helps keep roosters from crowing in response to sounds coming from outside the coop, and insulating the coop walls and surrounding the coop with shrubbery will muffle any crowing that does go on.
Since a cock stretches his neck to crow, putting him overnight in a ventilated box or cage small enough to prevent a good stretch will discourage crowing. Covering the container to keep out light also helps. I once visited a Cornish bantam breeder who brought his roosters into the house at night, putting them into cages stacked in an unused shower stall (a basement works well, too). The cocks still occasionally crowed, but his neighbors couldn’t hear it.
Of course, you have to let the roosters out during the day, and they’re going to crow no matter what. If neighbors still complain, you have only two remaining, but drastic, options. You could get rid of the rooster — thereby losing his functions of maintaining social cohesion and fertilizing eggs. Or you could move to a neighborhood where chickens are welcome.
Peck Order
By about 6 weeks of age, chicks spar to establish their place in the pecking order, which governs a flock’s social organization and thus reduces tension and stress. In a flock containing both sexes, the peck order involves a complex hierarchy on three levels: among all the males, among all the females, and between the males and the females.
In general the cocks are at the top of the peck order, then hens, then cockerels, and finally pullets, although cockerels will work their way through the hens as they mature, and similarly, maturing pullets will work their way up the ladder. A new bird added to the flock must also work its way up but won’t necessarily start at the bottom.
Challenges
Once the peck order is established, a bird of lower rank infringing on the space of one of higher rank will earn a glare from the higher-ranking bird — as if to say, “I can’t believe your impudence” — causing the lower-ranking bird to move on. Fighting is thus kept to a minimum and mainly involves challenges to the top cock. The older he is, the more often he’ll be challenged by younger upstarts.
Some of the interesting things you’ll learn by observing peck-order activities are that dominant cocks mate more often than lower-ranking cocks, but submissive hens mate more often than dominant hens because they are more easily intimidated and therefore crouch more readily. And among birds with various comb styles, single-comb birds are higher in rank than birds with other comb styles.
Keeping the Peace
You can reduce stress among your chickens by helping them maintain a stable peck order in the following ways:
Most fights to determine peck-order status end as soon as one cock backs down.
Give your chickens plenty of room to roam so the lowest-ranking birds have space to get away from those of higher rank.
Design your facilities with enough variety so your timid birds can find places to hide.
Provide enough feeders and drinkers for the number of chickens you keep; otherwise, higher-ranking birds will chase away lower-ranking birds.
If you have more than one cock, furnish one feeding station per cock and position feeders and waterers so no bird has to travel more than 10 feet (3 m) to eat or drink. Well-placed troughs allow each cock to set up his own territory and gather a group of hens around him; fighting is further minimized if no bird has to pass through another’s territory to reach feed and water.
When you move chickens, do not combine birds from different groups. Doing so adds to the stress of moving and increases peck-order fighting.
Avoid introducing new chickens into your flock, which causes a reshuffling of the
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