first time chicken owners

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oscar 1102

oscar 1102

In the Brooder
6 Years
Apr 30, 2013
43
0
32
We just brought home eight one and a half month old chickens, some are roosters, we also have an adult ruble rooster and his "mate" laying hen. We brought them home last night. should we keep the rooster and laying hen together in their pen? We were told that the rooster would kill the babies . We obviously have them apart. Next question, what should we feed the babies, we have "lay mesh" I think that is how its called , for all of them, but we were not expecting to get small chicks. What should we feed them? Thank you
 
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I've kept roosters together with hens and chicks and the roosters were fine with the chicks. Some of them even "helped" the hens look after them. The chicks will need "chick starter" feed until they are a few weeks old after which you can switch to "grower". They should not eat layer mash/pellets until they are near laying age though, as the high calcium content harms their internal organs. The broody hen can eat chick food though.
 
Thank you so much. We had to go back and pick up her eggs that she was laying on. One whole day had gone by before we could get them, because it was far. I put them in a nice pile of pine straw, doesn't look like she is sitting on them unless she does at night. anyway, should we just bring them in and use them? or are they bad now? When a hen lays eggs and you want to use them for personal use, do you have to keep them in fridge or room temperature for a certain time, before they would spoil? Please forgive my lack of knowledge on these matters. We love animals,always had them around. So far we are just loving these little guys!
 

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