Thank you. I'm very familiar with Bee kissed's method. I have used it on my 21 week old cockerel and now he gives me plenty of room. Howard (cockerel) went psycho on my husband a few weeks ago, and has done it to me twice. he got a good lesson two nights ago and now stays as far away as...
Agreed! lol. i usually wear pants, but always socks and shoes. he gets me through my socks. maybe I need some hockey pads, lol.
it's amazing how painful their little needle like beaks feel against the back of calves, freckles, hairy legs, moles, sparkly toes, finger tips - they're...
I have a little EE cockerel who is 13 weeks old (1 of 3). Eventually 2 will go to freezer camp if they ever fatten up. they're currently integrating into my main flock (6 pullets/1 cockerel) for the past month. 1 EE stays on the roof of the coop 24x7 and has never come down (for 5 weeks)...
I have two groups of chickens.
21 week olds - have their own coop and the entire run (6 pullets + 1 cockerel)
12 week olds - have their own coop inside the same run. they've been brooded inside the run since they were 3 days old. it's always been look, but no touch.
The littles had a MHP for...
I have 7 Barred Rocks (1 cockerel and 6 pullets) that are about 18 weeks. I also have 6 EE's (2 pullets) who were brooded in the coop since they were 1 week old, they're now 9 weeks old. it's been look but no touch the whole time. I have two urban coop's setup inside an enclosed run. the...
I have one that started at 5 weeks. They all are 14 weeks now, and it ranges from one sounding like it's being strangles, to one who is a pro. I have 7 and they're all different.
I will let someone else answer on space. I have a similar situation to what you want to do. I have 6 Easter Eggers brooding in the run. I hoped to reserve one coop for the older birds and one for the Littles, but I think I'm not going to force the issue. As long as they get along, I'm not...
BTW, I have two coops also. I would put half in one, and half in the other. When they started going to bed on their own, sometimes 2 would go into one, and 11 in the other. Next night, it might be 4 and 7.
Finally, I just gave up. I figured as long as all birds were secure in a coop, I...
Mine didn't figure it out. They were sleeping under MHP. Moved MHP, and we had to teach them again. Take MHP away, they tried to sleep on the roosts, so we had to go out after dark and physically put them in the coop. Took about 9 nights total, but each night the birds that stayed outside was...
I tried to upload my pic, but it won't show up. Stupid phone. I run an extension cord. My heating pad has been sitting around the house for years. Any one will do as long as it stays on. Here is one of the big threads...
There are quite a few here who brood outside, even when it's cold. We use a mama heating pad (MHP) and some use a wooly hen.
The MHP is basically a heating pad (that doesn't have auto shut off) for the chick's to duck under when Chilly. Mine have been using it since they were 1 week old...
Yes! I had to quit wearing flip flops into the coop. My chick's are bigger now and their pecks HURT. It's not cute any more, lol. Mine can get my whole pinky tip into their beak if I'm not on top of my game.
Our first batch of straight run chick's are 11.5 weeks. 7 boys, 6 girls. 6 barred rock + 1 white rock boy. They still act like goofy little kids. None seem to have turned into hormone jerks yet. White rock is stand offish, but they all are still friendly enough to stay underfoot when I'm...
Could you maybe use some sort of cave? Or a wooly hen? I brood mine outside using the heating pad, and a cave made of rigid foam insulation. It retains their heat quite nicely, especially when there were 13 underneath.
I've also seen posts where they use a wooly hen. Think of a shoebox with...
Thanks for the tip! I only chose 20 weeks because it seemed like the time when most do it. I like the sound of grilling age... For the reasons you mention.
New date marked on calendar.
Thanks again.
My goal is to butcher my barred rock cockerel at 20 weeks. They're 9 weeks now and are starting to act a little like jerks and weigh about 2 lbs. I hope we don't end up butchering sooner just to keep the peace. I think a bachelor pad would help, but we don't have one at this point. I have no...
Mine are Perlo, Alfredo (white rocks), General Tsao, and Nugget. The rest are not named, because I can't really tell them apart (yet). Perlo has feathered legs and I figured she needed a fancy sounding name to go with her fancy legs.
My next favorite names are Noodle, Patty, Popcorn and...
There are ways tonsolve pretty much everything you mention. You can brood outdoors, or use deep litter. Or add PDZ or other things to help the smell. Mine are on grass, which means hardly any cleaning of poop. You can use nipple waterers. They have no spill feeders. Search the threads...