I worry more about air attacks with open air~and once a hawk gets a bite of chicken, they come back. 4 of my 14 can fly~I suppose 8' high, the other's don't even look up.
IF you were a hen, you would introduce EVERYTHING that's eatable. My 'secret' is egg yolk cooked almost daily for them and I clean the poop every other day. My babies follow mom around and munch everything outside for a few hours daily at 1 week. I do keep separate from flock about 2-3 weeks...
2 Iowa blue roosters (out of 6 Iowa blue chicks ALL 4 that survived were boys!. 1 bielefelder, 2 fabulous frizzle, 2 lav. orpingtons, 1 laced Wyandotte. I wanted to have Iowa blues because I am originally from Iowa......gonna have to find some pullets again I guess.
I started my flock over this year.....it is time they begin laying..... I heard the egg song the other day, ran outside, texted my partner we have our first egg. BUT there was no egg. false alarm. so I'll just wait I guess and I don't really know why they were singing.
My favorite roo was a buff.he was large, protective and nice- he’ld be my choice. I hated my mean roo that replaced him. Hated to swat him and always be on the lookout.
i incubate probably 60 a year. i get about 10 to adulthood. delicate little birds, and anything wrong at hatching seems to set them on course to dying later. if they are strong, they'll get out of the egg. open your eggs for the knowledge. i open all my eggs when they do not hatch. usually...