2 Roosters, 5 hens, 7 pullets

[rosemarythyme]

Sorry. Didn’t mean to. I’m new to this site.

All good! And just FYI, even if you have similar problems to an existing one, it's always best to start a new thread instead of tacking to an existing one to avoid confusion.

 

[birdlady11]

I have only one comment and it concerns your meat hen. I started out with 2 purebred Partridge Rocks decades ago. I THOUGHT I would use their young for my freezer. That of course never happened. One ended up being an good mother ("Brown Mom". Yes, I know - not very original). She took a long time to become broody but she was gentle to and protective of her babies, and whenever I loaded her with nonrelated chicks on hatch day she accepted as many as I could fit under her. Subsequently I kept one of her daughters and she was also an okay mom but kicked the kids off to college much earlier than I wanted. I kept one of her daughters (now on third generation) and she was an excellent mom. Always broody on time, sweet tempered and raised sweet tempered kids, played mom for as long as they needed her to.

So I agree with you when you find it appealing to keep a meat bird without the intention of using her as a food source. Not every animal fits the mold of what we expect of them. Sometimes they just surprise the heck out of you when they find their niche.

 

[McChooky]

My goal is to free range a flock of 20 hens with geese and a couple roosters in a fenced open yard . I expect some will fly over the fence during the day and I'm okay with that as long as they return to the coop at night. I don't let my chickens roost in trees.They have a secure coop and run ( predator proof) Roosters won't always get along but the more you have the safer your chickens will be.