Good Morning, I have an existing flock of mixed breeds ( 2 silver lace, 2 wyandote, 1 brown pretty no idea, and 4 RI red..and 1 big bold leghorn roo) I have 12 buff Orp chicks, started in March that are in the run but the 2 groups don't mix. 3 weeks ago one of the silver lace went broody and we are expecting chicks today. There is tons of room in the run and for now the BO chicks have their own coop, everyone free ranges at least 4 hrs a day, some all day.
So, first question: Are the babies safe to hatch in this environment? I heard older chickens will sometimes kill chicks.
I can separate the yard if the threat is just the BO's but that makes another problem...
Of my 12 chicks, I am thinking as many as 8 are roosters. Don't think that's going to work much longer. the idea is to identify roos, faten and butcher...but I cant tell who is what. 4 hens have no comb...so I was thinking the ones with comb are roos...but they don't all look alike. I'll try to attach some photos and looking forward to your help. Happy Fathers Day !!