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MICRZY2

MICRZY2

In the Brooder
6 Years
Mar 4, 2013
10
0
29
Wisconsin
Hello All~
First I'd like to thank all who posted pics of their coops as well as do's & don't. It helped me A LOT!
We've (my husband & I) have been talking about having chickens for a few years now.
One day it was decided.
4 weekends later the 'portable' coop was finished.
Birds have been ordered (Holy cow there are alot of varieties!)
I picked, docile, winter hardy (Wisconsin) egg layers
Six different girls!
Excited.
Then I was told I needed a Rooster...I debated & debated
I caved last night & added to my order
Now I'm not sure
I'm so new its between excitement & panic! LOL
I've learned a lot from this website & I wanted to Thank you all !
Am I crazy ???

Its a Good Possibility ! :)
 
Greetings from Kansas, MICRZY2, and
welcome-byc.gif
! Pleased you joined our community! You may be indeed by crazy but there's a lot of that going around! Good luck and enjoy your birds!!
 
Hello and welcome to BYC
frow.gif
I think most of us here are a little crazy! Glad you joined us!
 
MICRZY2 said:
Hello All~
First I'd like to thank all who posted pics of their coops as well as do's & don't. It helped me A LOT!
We've (my husband & I) have been talking about having chickens for a few years now.
One day it was decided.
4 weekends later the 'portable' coop was finished.
Birds have been ordered (Holy cow there are alot of varieties!)
I picked, docile, winter hardy (Wisconsin) egg layers
Six different girls!
Excited.
Then I was told I needed a Rooster...I debated & debated
I caved last night & added to my order
Now I'm not sure
I'm so new its between excitement & panic! LOL
I've learned a lot from this website & I wanted to Thank you all !
Am I crazy ???

Its a Good Possibility ! :)
Click to expand...
Welcome to BYC!

As far as a rooster, you only need one of you want fertile eggs. A rooster can be a good thing, they can also be a royal pain in the backside. There are nice roosters out there, there are a whole lot more who turn nasty when the hormones hit. So you need to be confident you can deal with possible or probable behavior issues from a roo until he gets a little older and settles down. Some never learn to behave and trust me, getting spurred by a rooster is a very painful thing! If there are any young children in the equation I would definitely not have a rooster.
 
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Thank You Cafarmgirl,
No children I'm 50, but 2 grand kids will be visiting. From what I am reading, its a crap shoot with attitude. I will, as some have posted cuddle the bejesus out of him to attempt to 'firendly' him up, but I get the hormone part (raised 3 kids...)
I also read something about trimming the spurs? Is this like trimming the dogs nails?

Oh, I haven't begun & I'm worried already! LOL!

I do live in the country 5 acre yard surrounded by woods (Hawks, Vultures, Eagles, Harriers, Wild Turkeys, Sandhill Cranes, Coyotes & the ferrell farm cats)
So, I was told a Rooster would help with protection, warning & watching.
 
Truth be told, I've had much better success in the attitude department with roo's that I did NOT cuddle/coddle/hand raise etc. Actually those ones turned out the worst! They had no natural fear or respect. The ones that I simply raised up with minimal handling were much better. They may still cop an attitude with you around 6 months or so but I have found them easier to "train" to stay out of my space.

Yes, you can trim their spurs. There are a few ways to go about it, we just clip them back and then file them smooth and rounded. They can still deliver some nasty scratches though with their toe nails alone. Often roosters tend to go after small children, especially if they don't see them on a daily basis, because they are smaller and their activity often makes a rooster nervous. And since kids are close to the ground it's easy for them to get a face full of rooster in a split second. I would just suggest having a place to pen him up when the grandkids visit, just to be on the safe side.

Don't worry! It'll all work out one way or another and there's always plenty of people here with answers or suggestions when problems pop up. Have fun with your new birds!
 
Hello and welcome from Ohio....so glad you joined BYC

Crossing my fingers that your rooster turns out to be great! I have 2 roosters. One I handled A LOT since the day he hatched and he is the biggest sweetheart. The other one I havent handled quite as much (hatched him myselft too) and he is also a sweetheart.

Best of luck to you raising your new chicks
 
Thank All of you for the Advice & well wishes! I am hoping all goes well. I do feel like a kid waiting for Christmas though !
wee.gif
 

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