Managing Multiple Breeding Groups

[Ridgerunner]

Thank you so much for your reply and such great information!

In terms of the behaviour problems, if I let this year's chicks breed next year and then again the following year, would there be less behaviour problems the second year since they would be more mature then? Or would they continue to have behavioural problems every year afterwards because I let them start breeding too young?

I should have been clearer. The behavioral problems I'm mostly talking about are when you have immature cockerels with immature pullets. The boys hormones are running wild and the pullets aren't mature enough to handle that well. Even mature hens can sometimes have problems with the cockerels, either being terrorized by them or beating the crap out of them. It's possible you can have problems with bare backed hens or overmated hens with older birds but usually not. It's usually the immature that give the problems.

The girls tend to reach a decent maturity level a little after they start to lay. There is no set time with the boys. Often seven months is old enough but I had one that took 11 months and he was never great.

Starting breeding young is not going to have a long term effect. What often happens on this forum is that people see the behavior when they are immature cockerels and kill or rehome them without giving them a chance to mature. Your first year may be fairly calm but if it is hard to watch using older birds the nest year should be a lot better.

We would want to hatch maybe 30 or so La Bresse per year to raise for meat. With the other breeds, we would only want to hatch enough to replace older birds and generally keep the flock going. I know La Bresse are not known for being broody so my thought was to spread their eggs between the other breeds when they go broody and then let the broody hens hatch a couple of their own eggs as well. The timing wouldn't be critical, other than my concerns about how to manage putting the roosters back together at one time.

A lot of this will be trial and error. Not all hens of any breed go broody. Even if you have breeds that often go broody you are only planning on a mall handful. There will be luck involved in getting enough to hatch what you want.

If you hatch eggs from hens that go broody and keep them as replacements you can improve how often your hens go broody. I did that, including keeping a rooster from those eggs. In a few generations I had a flock where every hen tended to go broody at least once every year, many several times. It still did not work for me. I had limited room in the freezer for meat so I'd have to hatch with the incubator in February to avoid running out of meat in June or July. My hens would not go broody that early in the year.

It may take you a couple of years to work out the system that works for you.

I just bought my incubator this year and have done two hatches. To be honest, I found it very stressful. I have had my peahens hatch and raise their own peachicks and it was a much more enjoyable experience watching things happen naturally. At least I have the incubator as a back up in case I get no broody or in case the broody hens let me down, so I'm hoping to just use it that way if I have to. That's the theory but I suppose, like everything else, I'll have to wait and see what happens in reality!

I can't argue, an incubator can be stressful. Broody hens can too sometimes, but I prefer broody hens when they are an option.

I think the biggest thing I've learned so far is that I should start smaller than my original ambitions until I actually get some experience breeding.

I totally agree with this. There will be a learning curve. Starting small and learning the basics could really help out before you spend a lot on building facilities. No matter how much you research and plan these things never go exactly as you expect. You'll see how hard it is to add cockerels to the bachelor pad. Things like that. Plus you may find your goals change. Mine did.

 

[sdm111]

I'm trying to figure out the best way to keep a small flock of multiple breeds including roosters for each breed so I can keep breeding them myself. I don't want lots of birds because I have no interest in selling eggs, chicks or anything else so I only want enough to fill our family's needs.

I have La Bresse that I want to breed for meat and I'd like to keep three or four other breeds as well for a variety of eggs and because I just like the breeds. I'm thinking maybe 3-4 hens and a rooster for each breed and maybe also a backup rooster for each and then there will also be the growers to manage as well. I have plenty of space with several acres and two portable electric fences so they will be moved around, pastured style.

I have searched and read the other threads about this topic but can't decide what's best. So my questions are:

1. I've been reading about possibly keeping the roosters together in a bachelor flock and separating out the desired breeding group(s) at the desired time. Can anyone who does it this way or has tried it advise what the pros and cons are in practice? I'm wondering how it affects their social pecking order and if it's stressful to them? Is there anything else about it I need to consider?

2. I'm also wondering if it's possible or a terrible idea to just separate out the breeding groups for a couple of hours each day for a couple of weeks while I collect hatching eggs and then put them back in their same sex flocks for the rest of the day and overnight? That way I wouldn't have to build multiple breeding coops and pens that would only be used for a small amount of time. Is this a viable option or is it crazy?

3. I would like the hens to sit and raise the chicks. Does having them separated by sex interfere with broodiness etc? Will it make it more difficult because I'd have to get the timing right for when to start breeding them? For example, I don't want broody hens sitting on infertile eggs and I don't want lots of fertile eggs with no broody hens!

4. The only alternative I can think of is to keep each breed in separate coops and either subdivide the area within the electric fences or build a small run for each coop and give them turns in the larger area. I'm not really keen on doing it this way because I think they'd be confined more than I want and it involves a lot of extra hassle, cost and infrastructure. I also don't see how it would be possible to keep a spare rooster for each breed this way anyway. So is there any other option that I haven't thought of? I'm open to any ideas!

Research how breeders raise gamefowl. I believe that will help you most. Those folks have been single mating a long time and very valuable information can be found

 

[Waterfaery]

I should have been clearer. The behavioral problems I'm mostly talking about are when you have immature cockerels with immature pullets. The boys hormones are running wild and the pullets aren't mature enough to handle that well. Even mature hens can sometimes have problems with the cockerels, either being terrorized by them or beating the crap out of them. It's possible you can have problems with bare backed hens or overmated hens with older birds but usually not. It's usually the immature that give the problems.

The girls tend to reach a decent maturity level a little after they start to lay. There is no set time with the boys. Often seven months is old enough but I had one that took 11 months and he was never great.

Starting breeding young is not going to have a long term effect. What often happens on this forum is that people see the behavior when they are immature cockerels and kill or rehome them without giving them a chance to mature. Your first year may be fairly calm but if it is hard to watch using older birds the nest year should be a lot better.


A lot of this will be trial and error. Not all hens of any breed go broody. Even if you have breeds that often go broody you are only planning on a mall handful. There will be luck involved in getting enough to hatch what you want.

If you hatch eggs from hens that go broody and keep them as replacements you can improve how often your hens go broody. I did that, including keeping a rooster from those eggs. In a few generations I had a flock where every hen tended to go broody at least once every year, many several times. It still did not work for me. I had limited room in the freezer for meat so I'd have to hatch with the incubator in February to avoid running out of meat in June or July. My hens would not go broody that early in the year.

It may take you a couple of years to work out the system that works for you.


I can't argue, an incubator can be stressful. Broody hens can too sometimes, but I prefer broody hens when they are an option.


I totally agree with this. There will be a learning curve. Starting small and learning the basics could really help out before you spend a lot on building facilities. No matter how much you research and plan these things never go exactly as you expect. You'll see how hard it is to add cockerels to the bachelor pad. Things like that. Plus you may find your goals change. Mine did.

Thank you. You've given me a lot of valuable information.

And you're right about the goals changing. Who knows what I will discover along the way and change my mind about. It will be an exciting venture anyway!

 

[Silexian]

I manage a few different breeds. I have small breeder/grow out coops. Starting in December, I separate out my breeder groups. Into their own separate coops. I start setting eggs in February and continue hatching through June. If a hen goes broody during that time and stays sitting. After being moved to a broody coop. I will let her hatch some chicks. Otherwise I use incubators. In June I start turning the breeder groups out and encourage them to return to my main coop. There is usually some squabbling and fighting to establish a new pecking order. When they are reintroduced to each other again. I also have a bachelor coop where I keep back up roosters.

 

[Waterfaery]

I manage a few different breeds. I have small breeder/grow out coops. Starting in December, I separate out my breeder groups. Into their own separate coops. I start setting eggs in February and continue hatching through June. If a hen goes broody during that time and stays sitting. After being moved to a broody coop. I will let her hatch some chicks. Otherwise I use incubators. In June I start turning the breeder groups out and encourage them to return to my main coop. There is usually some squabbling and fighting to establish a new pecking order. When they are reintroduced to each other again. I also have a bachelor coop where I keep back up roosters.

Thank you, that sounds like a great set up.