Messin' with the Chickens

[_Keith]

(putu enjula @ Feb. 11 2008,21:17)

QUOTE

I guess since they're not going anywhere I should name them....   I was thinking "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle DUMB"

The red one would be tweedle dee.  Does anyone have any suggestions for names??

Cel and I named our turkeys, Ozzie and Harriet.

Or maybe Archonto and Phoenix  

[gsn]

(putu enjula @ Feb. 11 2008,22:17)

QUOTE

I guess since they're not going anywhere I should name them....  

Well if you  were cooking and feeding me gourmet meals I probably wouldn't leave either! Especially if I was a wild (freerange) chicken! :laugh:

[Alicehunter2000]

What was the name of that Loony Tunes chicken?

Nice looking birds, my brother and folks have chickens....Rhode Island Reds and Dominiques.

[paulgila]

"foghorn leghorn" was his name,i believe.

[amazondk]

In Israel they have bred the featherless chicken.  Now it would be different to have a flock of these running around.  They are especially good for hot climates.  In fact we have a lot of range chickens here that have bald heads and necks.

[iwan]

The perfect companion pet for the hairless cat!

[fastfeat]

(keiththibodeaux @ Feb. 11 2008,22:24)

QUOTE

(putu enjula @ Feb. 11 2008,21:17)

QUOTE

I guess since they're not going anywhere I should name them....   I was thinking "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle DUMB"

The red one would be tweedle dee.  Does anyone have any suggestions for names??

Cel and I named our turkeys, Ozzie and Harriet.

Or maybe Archonto and Phoenix  

When I lived in CA a few years ago, got my ex a couple of baby ducks at a feed store ($1 each, no tax, since they were a food item!) for her young kids to give her for Mother's Day.

After the first few minutes of joy, my ex asks, "Well, what should we name 'em?" Noticing one was slightly larger than the other, I say, "That one's Thanksgiving, and the smaller one is Christmas." The kids, fortunately, were too young to understand...

Those ducks may still reside in Mason Park in Irvine...

[Jeff Searle]

(PiousPalms @ Feb. 08 2008,22:27)

QUOTE

Will they taste better on pasta diet?

And no, sorry... MattyB's thread, who has the biggest cranium, still wins the most useless thread award!  :laugh:

:laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh: .....my belly hurts!

[putu enjula]

(amazondk @ Feb. 12 2008,15:55)

QUOTE

In Israel they have bred the featherless chicken.  Now it would be different to have a flock of these running around.  They are especially good for hot climates.  In fact we have a lot of range chickens here that have bald heads and necks.

But, won't they get sunburned??    Maybe you could pour coconut juice over them (while they're alive) and start pre-marinating them! :laugh:  :laugh:

[putu enjula]

Hmmm...  the longer I look at that featherless chicken the more I lose my appetite! That's one UGLY bird...  I don't think anyone would feel guilty about eating that one.

[amazondk]

Angela,

This time the little fellow is in a more natural environment.  The article about them does mention the problem with sunburn.  So, I guess you would have to keep them in the shade.  A rooster without his plumage is sure one ugly critter.  But, they look that way when they are ready to hit the pot anyway.

[putu enjula]

(amazondk @ Feb. 12 2008,23:04)

QUOTE

Angela,

This time the little fellow is in a more natural environment.  The article about them does mention the problem with sunburn.  So, I guess you would have to keep them in the shade.  A rooster without his plumage is sure one ugly critter.  But, they look that way when they are ready to hit the pot anyway.

Yeah they're all READY to GO!

[putu enjula]

Lol, do you think if he was around some chickens with their plumage, he'd be embarrassed??  I bet chicken have nightmares about that...  walking around in public without their feathers!

[bgl]

Aren't you people supposed to be out planting palms???

[amazondk]

(putu enjula @ Feb. 13 2008,16:39)

QUOTE

Lol, do you think if he was around some chickens with their plumage, he'd be embarrassed??  I bet chicken have nightmares about that...  walking around in public without their feathers!

I think that would make a great social experiment.  It really would be interesting to know if chickens, especially roosters realize that they have plumage and purposely show it off.  

Bo,

At least I use chicken manure for the garden.  I do try to compost it though.  I normally pay attention to these sort of subjects in the middle of the night and researching subjects like featherless chickens for some reason helps me get back to sleep.

dk

[Carlo Morici]

Beautiful pictures, Lovely birds. Chickens are the best beasts one can keep in a large garden.

Are they staying? How many are they? They can eat possibly anything we eat and breed a lot as long as space and food is provided.

I have LOTS of them free ranging at my place. They are semi-wild and I seldom find eggs. They do whatever they want, different shapes, different colours, some can even fly quite a distance. Some males have unbelievable vibrant colours, like the best tropical birds. They divide in groups, the largest groups with the best males sleep up on the mango and avocado trees. Other groups cross the road and nest in the shrubbery or in the surrounding rocky slopes.

They tend to stay where you feed them. If they are not too many they should not do much damage but, watch them as they can do unexpected strikes, all at once. They can decide to demolish your orchids because they are mounted on woodchips and these host larvae. During a drought they will dig beneath any dripper, looking for "life". They mess on the compost pile (I have a compost pit). They check and clean newly planted areas, (so move the soil, let them work for a few hours, and then come back and plant! ) Sometimes one single bird may decide to do one single thing obsessively and it can uproot one of your small palms in the ground to get one single worm.

[paulgila]

why did they cross the road???

[BS Man about Palms]

(keiththibodeaux @ Feb. 11 2008,19:24)

QUOTE

Or maybe Archonto and Phoenix  

I REALLY like those names!!  Works on a couple of levels!

[amazondk]

(pohonkelapa @ Feb. 13 2008,20:14)

QUOTE

why did they cross the road???

To get to the other side of course.

dk

[Carlo Morici]

They cross the road because the main males do not allow them lesser males to live on the rich side, where trees are grown and maize is spread around. Lesser males with their few chciks come to the "rich" side of the road to feed when food is spread and then leave to live in the dry bush for the rest of the day.

The featherless guy is horrible.

I have a picture of cats and cocks eating (cat food)from the same tray. I can't find it now.

[Carlo Morici]

(amazondk @ Feb. 13 2008,23:24)

QUOTE

(putu enjula @ Feb. 13 2008,16:39)

QUOTE

Lol, do you think if he was around some chickens with their plumage, he'd be embarrassed??  I bet chicken have nightmares about that...  walking around in public without their feathers!

I think that would make a great social experiment.  !

Normal males would kill him during the welcome fight. With no feathers it would die on the very first day.  

(amazondk @ Feb. 13 2008,23:24)

QUOTE

...At least I use chicken manure for the garden.  I do try to compost it though.  dk

Don, I am trying to compost it too, with old leaves, but I don't see the fresh one is burning my plants. They wildly pooped over my Pinanga javana, Trachycarpusm martianus, Neoveitchia, Chambeyronia, cymbidiums, bromeliads and nothing happened. The Neoveitchia and the Pinanga were just below their sleeping area so they became grey for a month, coated by droppings, with the pots loaded. I just cleaned them with the hose and they were just perfect ?!?!

[putu enjula]

(Carlo Morici @ Feb. 13 2008,16:22)

QUOTE

Beautiful pictures, Lovely birds. Chickens are the best beasts one can keep in a large garden.

Are they staying? How many are they? They can eat possibly anything we eat and breed a lot as long as space and food is provided.

I have LOTS of them free ranging at my place. They are semi-wild and I seldom find eggs. They do whatever they want, different shapes, different colours, some can even fly quite a distance. Some males have unbelievable vibrant colours, like the best tropical birds. They divide in groups, the largest groups with the best males sleep up on the mango and avocado trees. Other groups cross the road and nest in the shrubbery or in the surrounding rocky slopes.

They tend to stay where you feed them. If they are not too many they should not do much damage but, watch them as they can do unexpected strikes, all at once. They can decide to demolish your orchids because they are mounted on woodchips and these host larvae. During a drought they will dig beneath any dripper, looking for "life". They mess on the compost pile (I have a compost pit). They check and clean newly planted areas, (so move the soil, let them work for a few hours, and then come back and plant! ) Sometimes one single bird may decide to do one single thing obsessively and it can uproot one of your small palms in the ground to get one single worm.

I thought we were down to two... but all four have been accounted for.  The neighbor borrowed a riffle because everyone on our road can't stand the noise, so I thought maybe he "offed some of them.  I guess they are young roosters because they never used to fight. Yesterday they were all going at it....

http://s36.photobucket.com/albums....111.flv

http://s36.photobucket.com/albums....114.flv

[Carlo Morici]

Bad, bad neighbour! Too many males (noise + fights) Keep one male and have a peaceful silent harem. A few occasional fights are a great pleasant show, it is only if you keep too many males/females that you get continuous fights with lots of blood and feathers, not for the faint hearthed.

[Gileno Machado]

This whole thread made me hungry...

Why don't we have Kentucky fried chicken in Brazil...sigh     Ohhhh....12 piece, extra crispy pleeeeeeease.......

[palmmermaid]

Chickens are great for the soil.  The best thing is to have a portable pen that you move around every day.  I keep trying to get my husband to let me have a few to help with the horse manure.  But no luck so far.  I'll keep working on it.  I could have fresh eggs and the manure would be all broken down.  They are wonderful for the garden - eat lots of insects.  Don't feed them chicken.  Overcrowding is the reason they turn into cannibals in the huge houses.  And be cautious of the words "free range".  It may not be true.

We had chickens when I was growing up and we never fed them.  They just grazed and scratched all day and we would lock them up at night.  Always had eggs and fresh chicken.

[amazondk]

Angela,

Taking Carlo's suggestion of thinning your flock leaving only one rooster you could convert the other roosters into Kapons.  I did not even know about kapons until last year when I was up north of here and the lady at the hotel sold me a freshly killed and cleaned one.  If you are not familiar with them the kapon is a rooster who has been neutered and then left to fatten up.  They have very tender meat as opposed to most roosters.  The trick is to have someone who knows how to neuter a rooster.  My mother and father knew all about this as they used to have them when thery were small.  But, that was back in the Great Depression when a lot of things were different from now.

Gileno there is a KFC on Avenida Brandeirantes in Sao Paulo.  At least it was there last time I was there.

dk

[Tess]

(amazondk @ Feb. 13 2008,00:04)

QUOTE

Angela,

This time the little fellow is in a more natural environment.  The article about them does mention the problem with sunburn.  So, I guess you would have to keep them in the shade.  A rooster without his plumage is sure one ugly critter.  But, they look that way when they are ready to hit the pot anyway.

I think this chicken's "nature environment" is a laboratory.  

This is science gone horribly wrong.  Looks like some of Mefisto's work from South Park.   :laugh:

[Carlo Morici]

Inspired by this thread, today I spread an expresso-coffe cup of their thing on each of my potted winter growing palms (Paraj., Trachy and Rhapis spp. in 25 cm pots). It was 0-90 days old, and I mixed it with some fine cinder and leaf debris. Let's see what happens.

Carlo

[amazondk]

Carlo,

I made some chicken manure tea.  It seems to work pretty good.  I put a sack of chicken manure in a barrel for a week or so.  Sort of like a tea bag.  And, then I took it out.  I have been using it by diluting the tea by about 4 to 1 and have had no problems.  The plants seem to like it.  It does not have the best smell though.

dk

[Carlo Morici]

What did you do then with the content of the used "tea bag"?

Teas... good idea. I should do it and also do tea with coffee grounds. But I need a fertigation machine first to inject this in the pipes, because I don't see me walking up and down on these steep slopes with buckets of stinky teas.

[amazondk]

Carlo,

I mixed it in with leaves and other organic matter like grass and composted it.  

dk

[putu enjula]

I knew this thread would somehow be relevant!

[putu enjula]

This dumb hen is trying to get to my bird feeder...

Maybe she was trying to impress the boys...

After this pic the red rooster got into BIG trouble...   they all started fighting...  you can see some of the fight in post 62.  I followed a trail of blood to where they were fighting and they wouldn't stop...  I thought they were going to fight to the death...  since then I have only seen two roosters

[putu enjula]

My experiment was a flop with the caffeinated food...  I couldn't tell if their behavior changed- they always seem "edgy"

Here are "our" Kalij.

[putu enjula]

AWWW!!  Isn't he cute???

[amazondk]

Angela,

Maybe you should get a couple of peacocks to add to the flock.  They would make the neighbors real happy.

dk

[Carlo Morici]

Fights can be hard, but they seldom get to death. You possibly lost that male because it was kicked away from this territory. I have once seen a cock killing another one, I was ready to dig the hole. But after some minutes, the dead bird jumped up and runned away.

Just searched Kalij ... from Wikipedia

"The Kalij Pheasant, Lophura leucomelanos is a pheasant found all along the foothills of the Himalaya in a number of local populations with variations. They are also found (though somewhat rare) in the Islands of Hawaii."

How do Gallus and Lophura get along?

[putu enjula]

(amazondk @ Feb. 17 2008,16:36)

QUOTE

Angela,

Maybe you should get a couple of peacocks to add to the flock.  They would make the neighbors real happy.

dk

Ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to have a peacock!!!  I know, I know, they're really noisey!  A few years ago, I was looking online to order some peachicks but then I found out it was illegal to keep any type of fowl in your yard in San Diego city limits so I gave up on that dream.     Here in Hawaii it would annoy too many neighbors.

[putu enjula]

(Carlo Morici @ Feb. 17 2008,16:39)

QUOTE

Fights can be hard, but they seldom get to death. You possibly lost that male because it was kicked away from this territory. I have once seen a cock killing another one, I was ready to dig the hole. But after some minutes, the dead bird jumped up and runned away.

Just searched Kalij ... from Wikipedia

"The Kalij Pheasant, Lophura leucomelanos is a pheasant found all along the foothills of the Himalaya in a number of local populations with variations. They are also found (though somewhat rare) in the Islands of Hawaii."

How do Gallus and Lophura get along?

Carlo,

Post #18 kind of illustrates how they get along!

There used to be two flocks consisting of 8 Kalij that would visit...  then the jungle fowl moved in and chased them away. They rarely come through now.  But there are two Kalij who have actually taken up residency in the garden and use it as a home base.  We feed them chicken scratch.  I'll throw some out to them and they're get as close as a meter from me.  The roosters will be waiting and watching in the distance....   as soon as I go back into the house they bully the Kalij into leaving.

[DoomsDave]

Peafowl have adapted happily to the Palos Verdes peninsula, where the locals are pissed at the noise they make, the poop they leave and their aggressive behavior to small dogs, cats and little children.

AaaaaaacccccckkkkkkK!