Do Mama hens kick out the boys earlier than girls?

[Currawong Farm]

This is the "iffy" boy/girl. Definitely the largest of the 5 and comb is starting to show, but the chicks did hatch over a full 7 day window and this was the first one, so is the oldest.

 

[Currawong Farm]

This was Dad to them all - he was magnificent but sadly the foxes took him a few months back. I am thankful that he left a legacy of chicks

 

[theoldchick]

It's a behavior response to living in such close quarters.

 

[NatJ]

This is the one I am certain is a boy. He's actually the 4th smallest of the 5, but his colouring, stance, beginning tail feathers and comb development says "boy" to me.View attachment 3765604

I agree, that's a male. I am going mostly by the comb and wattles, and ignoring tail feathers at that age.

This is the "iffy" boy/girl. Definitely the largest of the 5 and comb is starting to show, but the chicks did hatch over a full 7 day window and this was the first one, so is the oldest.

View attachment 3765603

That one also looks male to me, again going by the comb and wattles.

In the group photo, I can see the comb of that one and two of the pullets: look at the difference in size and coloring! (I zoomed in a bit on the photo to get a better look, but then it was really obvious.)

 

[NatJ]

It's a behavior response to living in such close quarters.

Cramped quarters? That's not what I would call it.

Well Mum & babies have been in a separate coop (about 4m x 4m) from when Mum was brooding, so they couldn't really get far away from each other.

A pen 4 meters by 4 meters is about 13 feet each way (for those of us in America who are less comfortable with metric measurements.)

For a hen and 5 chicks, or even for 6 adult chickens, that sounds to me like it certainly should be big enough. It is much larger than the usual "minimum sizes" recommended on here (4 square feet of coop, 10 square feet of run per bird is the common advice: but OP's pen provides about 28 square feet per bird. That is almost triple the "run"recommendations, let alone the "coop" recommendations!)

 

[Currawong Farm]

I agree, that's a male. I am going mostly by the comb and wattles, and ignoring tail feathers at that age.


That one also looks male to me, again going by the comb and wattles.

In the group photo, I can see the comb of that one and two of the pullets: look at the difference in size and coloring! (I zoomed in a bit on the photo to get a better look, but then it was really obvious.)

Thank you. I had this one pegged as a boy for a long time. It was only when Mama kicked out the little black but was happy to accept the light grey that I started to question it, hence my initial question: "Do the mamas kick the boys out earlier than the girls?" He/she does have a much larger comb/wattle but he/she is also older than the other chicks by a good 5 days, so I've been kind of justifying the size and comb development based on its age. By 9-10 weeks though, I don't think the differences should be that noticeable. I am leaning strongly towards the idea that my initial thoughts (and yours) were probably correct and this is a boy, but it will become obvious in the next few weeks.

 

[Currawong Farm]

Cramped quarters? That's not what I would call it.



A pen 4 meters by 4 meters is about 13 feet each way (for those of us in America who are less comfortable with metric measurements.)

For a hen and 5 chicks, or even for 6 adult chickens, that sounds to me like it certainly should be big enough. It is much larger than the usual "minimum sizes" recommended on here (4 square feet of coop, 10 square feet of run per bird is t

Cramped quarters? That's not what I would call it.



A pen 4 meters by 4 meters is about 13 feet each way (for those of us in America who are less comfortable with metric measurements.)

For a hen and 5 chicks, or even for 6 adult chickens, that sounds to me like it certainly should be big enough. It is much larger than the usual "minimum sizes" recommended on here (4 square feet of coop, 10 square feet of run per bird is the common advice: but OP's pen provides about 28 square feet per bird. That is almost triple the "run"recommendations, let alone the "coop" recommendations!)

he common advice: but OP's pen provides about 28 square feet per bird. That is almost triple the "run"recommendations, let alone the "coop" recommendations!)

Cramped quarters? That's not what I would call it.



A pen 4 meters by 4 meters is about 13 feet each way (for those of us in America who are less comfortable with metric measurements.)

For a hen and 5 chicks, or even for 6 adult chickens, that sounds to me like it certainly should be big enough. It is much larger than the usual "minimum sizes" recommended on here (4 square feet of coop, 10 square feet of run per bird is the common advice: but OP's pen provides about 28 square feet per bird. That is almost triple the "run"recommendations, let alone the "coop" recommendations!)

Thank you! I think it is quite a big pen for a mum to raise the chicks. I use it because it was an old bird aviary and has very fine mesh walls, whereas my main chook run has "normal" chicken wire, with much larger mesh holes that the chicks can easily get through when they are very little. My main coop is approx 5m x 10m (16.4ft x 32.8ft) and I have had up to 25 birds in there. I thought it was a bit crowded but your figures say I could have had more than 50! Anyway, I am going to move them all back into the main pen tomorrow, as there is no real reason to have to keep maintaining 2 separate coops right now.

 

[Currawong Farm]

It's a behavior response to living in such close quarters.

Close quarters? Do you think 4m x 4m (13ft x 13ft) is too small for one hen and 5 chicks? I have been giving them free range time for the last week or so, as they are now quite big, but was reluctant to do that when they were smaller.

 

[NatJ]

I thought it was a bit crowded but your figures say I could have had more than 50! Anyway, I am going to move them all back into the main pen tomorrow, as there is no real reason to have to keep maintaining 2 separate coops right now.

The figures I gave are pretty common as a recommended "minimum" size. I think they were developed based on a combination of when chickens start badly picking each other or killing each other, and how much manure the chickens produce (the more space you spread it over, the less it stinks and the less often you need to do anything about it.) I have seen them in books about 50 years old, and I think they were fairly common for raising commercial chickens at that time. Commercial chickens now are given less space, but that is partly because of mechanical ventilation with big fans (take away the smells to keep them from getting bad enough to kill the chickens) and partly because of changes in breeding & management (for example, breed from the chickens that don't kill each other, or cut the end off each hen's beak so they can't peck as effectively.)

But those figures are still common as guidelines for backyard chicken-keepers, because they are handy numbers that work in many cases, and they give people a starting point for size, before they have enough experience to watch the chickens and adjust based on what they see.

The "coop" is usually a building with solid walls, where the chickens sleep and lay eggs, and they also spend their days inside it during bad weather (which matters a lot more in cold climates than in warm ones!) The common recommendation for that is 4 square feet per chicken (that would mean about 2.5 chickens per square meter.)

The "run" is an outdoor area with a fence, and sometimes a roof, where the chickens can spend time during the daytime, but it is not as weatherproof as the coop, and often it is not as thoroughly predator-proof either. The common recommendation for that is 10 square feet per chicken (which is about 1 square meter.)

All of those recommendations look pretty tiny if you try to size it for just one or two chickens, and they work better as you get into larger flock sizes. That is because the chickens don't spread themselves evenly, so there will be some clumps and that leaves more open area for others at any given time.

The chickens never mind having more space, and some individual chickens or some particular flocks do need a lot more space than those minimums, while some can get by with a bit less.

I think those guidelines were developed for flocks that are all one breed, and all one age. Having adult chickens and little ones, or introducing new chickens, are two situations that often need more space. The natural way for chickens to handle that is for the the little ones or the new ones to just stay away from the other ones, to give them lots of personal space, which is not really possible in coops & runs sized by the common recommended minimums. Having a mix of different breeds will sometimes require more space, sometimes not, depending on how the chickens interact. They may form into clumps and pick on each other, or they may all function as one peaceful flock, and it can be hard to predict in advance which way it will go.

 

[Rene4205]

This was Dad to them all - he was magnificent but sadly the foxes took him a few months back. I am thankful that he left a legacy of chicks

View attachment 3765605

So beautiful l. So good he left that amazing legacy. Love those white ones!