6 weeks old - Newbie with questions

[Jehri]

I finally got my flock of 11 out into the outside world and I’ve been observing them as they interact out here and get their hierarchy established. Through previous posts it looks like I will be having to find homes for most of my flock as I can’t keep roosters and I really did not anticipate hatching such a lopsided brood. I’m hoping you all can help with my naivety and don’t mind my questions so here go

1) Are cockerel the only ones that will flare out their neck feathers and charge one another with their chests out?

3)Are all cockerel loud? Is there any chance of a rooster that would be quiet enough to keep? The ordinance doesn’t specify no roosters here it discusses noise, smell and sale of eggs only.

4) Are silkies a normal sized chicken breed ? I got a few surprises in my eggs as silkies we’re not mentioned in the ad I got them from and neither were bantams but I’m pretty sure one too is a bantam he’s half the size of the others.

5) When do I switch to layer feed?

6) Does early use of a layer feed bring about earlier eggs?

7) What kinda of kitchen scraps are safe to give your chickens?

8) what age can you begin giving scraps and other foods to your chickens besides their crumbles?

9) Is there a number of hens that is too few to ideally keep egg production and to stay warm through the winter?

10)Is there a Chicken hardy grass that will hold up to them in their run or is it inevitable that they will take out all the vegetation in there?

I think I’ll stick to the game of 10 questions and maybe play a second round if there are those of you long time chicken farmers willing to help out there. I appreciate your guidance ~J

 

[RyderTheChicken]

3. It depends on the rooster. Crow collars work pretty well
4. Silkies are a bantam breed so they are miniature
5. 18 weeks
6. No.
7. I give them almost any leftovers but nothing super old or moldy.
8. 4 months
9. depends on the coop for warmth and it depends on how many eggs you want and what breeds you have.
10. From my experience they tear up everything. I like to have them rotate where there run will go so it lets the other grass take a break to regrow.

I hope this helped!

 

[mmmchicken]

I'll chime in.. I'm on my 3rd flock but there may be others with even more great info for you.

1. At 6 weeks (I am at that stage myself) I think that though it may still be hard to tell with some breeds, I certainly can tell I have for sure 2 roos in my batch and yes, they flare up a bit more. The sure fire way of knowing is when they make their feeble but oh so funny attempt at crowing. Still, I also see some of what I believe are pullets still sparing though. Sorry to know you got so many roosters. I paid extra to have one breed of mine sexed and even that didn't prove flawless.

3. (we'll just skip #2 ha!) No. Unless as noted above, you use a collar, but I myself have never.

4. I happen to have 7 silkies in my mix and all of them are small and yes, they are a bantam breed. One is super small as opposed to the others. I understand they are awfully friendly once mature.

5. As stated, 18 weeks is fine. If one happens to plop an egg any earlier, I'd switch right away and no, it won't make them lay any earlier, but at that stage it won't harm them either.

7. I give them pretty much anything, less green potato skins & no avocado. I pulled this from just typing it in Google, which is standard rule of thought:

What Not to Feed Chickens: 7 Things to Avoid

• Avocadoes (mainly the pit and peel) As with most of the things on this list, I was able to find several people who report feeding avocado to their flock without problem. ...
• Chocolate or Candy. ...
• Citrus. ...
• Green Potato Skins. ...
• Dry Beans. ...
• Junk Food. ...
• Moldy or Rotten Food.

8. Now. I literally have been letting my chicks sample simple things from 3 weeks forward. Now? Watermelon (perfect for the heat), cabbage head, broccoli heads, califlower, strawberries... you name it, less anything that I think they won't be able to handle like big chunks of meat fat or something like that. HOWEVER, I should also state that they do get all they need from their starter/grower honestly. I also do rip out some clover/grass/dandelions to throw to them. I also supplement with chick grit, and have medium sized grit in there as well as they really are getting bigger. They'll know what they need.

9. I had one EE hen in a coop designed for 25 throughout this last cold wis winter, but used deep litter method and had a heating pad for her water. She did fine. Probably not ideal, but she was fine. Head's up on the "laying eggs" bit though... depending on the breed, you may not get any eggs. Like mine. She didn't give me anything from I believe Nov. until early spring.

10. Inevitable in my experience. Get straw. They love to tear that up and it makes for easier clean up. Or, better yet let them free range if you can.

 

[Jehri]

I'll chime in.. I'm on my 3rd flock but there may be others with even more great info for you.

1. At 6 weeks (I am at that stage myself) I think that though it may still be hard to tell with some breeds, I certainly can tell I have for sure 2 roos in my batch and yes, they flare up a bit more. The sure fire way of knowing is when they make their feeble but oh so funny attempt at crowing. Still, I also see some of what I believe are pullets still sparing though. Sorry to know you got so many roosters. I paid extra to have one breed of mine sexed and even that didn't prove flawless.

3. (we'll just skip #2 ha!) No. Unless as noted above, you use a collar, but I myself have never.

4. I happen to have 7 silkies in my mix and all of them are small and yes, they are a bantam breed. One is super small as opposed to the others. I understand they are awfully friendly once mature.

5. As stated, 18 weeks is fine. If one happens to plop an egg any earlier, I'd switch right away and no, it won't make them lay any earlier, but at that stage it won't harm them either.

7. I give them pretty much anything, less green potato skins & no avocado. I pulled this from just typing it in Google, which is standard rule of thought:

What Not to Feed Chickens: 7 Things to Avoid

• Avocadoes (mainly the pit and peel) As with most of the things on this list, I was able to find several people who report feeding avocado to their flock without problem. ...
• Chocolate or Candy. ...
• Citrus. ...
• Green Potato Skins. ...
• Dry Beans. ...
• Junk Food. ...
• Moldy or Rotten Food.

8. Now. I literally have been letting my chicks sample simple things from 3 weeks forward. Now? Watermelon (perfect for the heat), cabbage head, broccoli heads, califlower, strawberries... you name it, less anything that I think they won't be able to handle like big chunks of meat fat or something like that. HOWEVER, I should also state that they do get all they need from their starter/grower honestly. I also do rip out some clover/grass/dandelions to throw to them. I also supplement with chick grit, and have medium sized grit in there as well as they really are getting bigger. They'll know what they need.

9. I had one EE hen in a coop designed for 25 throughout this last cold wis winter, but used deep litter method and had a heating pad for her water. She did fine. Probably not ideal, but she was fine. Head's up on the "laying eggs" bit though... depending on the breed, you may not get any eggs. Like mine. She didn't give me anything from I believe Nov. until early spring.

10. Inevitable in my experience. Get straw. They love to tear that up and it makes for easier clean up. Or, better yet let them free range if you can.

Lol I totally didn’t realize I missed 2 until AFTER you said that...chronic migraine...my brain is broken... I was wanting to toss out the husks from our strawberries and the tops from the green peppers but wasn’t sure if it would hurt them to have yet. I know their primary food should be the starter/grower . My 3 that look silkie are not the smallest out there but they are definitely on the small end. They look like they are wearing a bad tupee or like 80s big hair. I have one little red guy that I’m guessing is bantam cause he’s little but I’m pretty sure it’s a roo. I’m guessing we will have to buy sexed chicks to expand the flock after this which is disappointing because I enjoy hatching and raising them but I had a huge tilt toward boys

 

[mmmchicken]

LOL! Oh I understand migraines very well!! lol It made me giggle so thanks! On top of whatever you take for your head, try 2 aspirin and a Coke. That's my unasked for advise there!

Yep. Toss those out to them! My silkies LOVE the strawberries. And I have thrown peppers out to them too. Good to go. Aren't they ridiculous/fun looking? "Worse" then them are the Polish breed. I've got 4 silver laced ones of those nuts. Crazy fun!

I am no expert with whatever breed that is, but HE definitely looks roo-y. I get what you're saying. How many do you have in all? I have 24 but in that I have 4 guinea fowl. From what I can tell, for sure 2 roos at this time with a probable in the Polish and Silkie, but time will tell. Expanding is a pain because of the whole acclimating them to each other, but it may be what you have to do. It may pay to have them sexed next time if you order from a hatchery, but looks like you gambled and raised your own eggs? Still... chicken math in the end. It's all good.

 

[Jehri]

LOL! Oh I understand migraines very well!! lol It made me giggle so thanks! On top of whatever you take for your head, try 2 aspirin and a Coke. That's my unasked for advise there!

Yep. Toss those out to them! My silkies LOVE the strawberries. And I have thrown peppers out to them too. Good to go. Aren't they ridiculous/fun looking? "Worse" then them are the Polish breed. I've got 4 silver laced ones of those nuts. Crazy fun!

I am no expert with whatever breed that is, but HE definitely looks roo-y. I get what you're saying. How many do you have in all? I have 24 but in that I have 4 guinea fowl. From what I can tell, for sure 2 roos at this time with a probable in the Polish and Silkie, but time will tell. Expanding is a pain because of the whole acclimating them to each other, but it may be what you have to do. It may pay to have them sexed next time if you order from a hatchery, but looks like you gambled and raised your own eggs? Still... chicken math in the end. It's all good.

I have 11 and it looks like I have a high possible roo count like 7 or 8 I rolled the dice with shipped eggs and hatched 11 out of 15 sent which I don’t think is too bad when I paid for 12 I raise exotic birds so I really do enjoy incubation and watching them grow in the egg and with the school business I thought it would be a good science project go for the kids. Maybe if I do eggs again I’ll at least do like 4 at a time. I went out to check the “kids” and it sounds like they are going to experience their first pop up thunderstorm.... it crossed my mind to pop up my chair in the coop with them but then decided that they really will be okay The little guy ran right up to me to be picked up I think the big boys at bullying him if it gets bad I may have to separate him but for now he just has a couple scratches and a keen run to momma instinct. It’s cute. Considering my fear to even go into a yard with chickens before all this I’d say we are getting along ok so far

 

[rosemarythyme]

1) Are cockerel the only ones that will flare out their neck feathers and charge one another with their chests out? No. A 6 weeks old they're all (male and female) playing and still learning about pecking order and such.

5) When do I switch to layer feed? Ideally when the pullets are all laying, assuming you are not keeping any cockerels.

6) Does early use of a layer feed bring about earlier eggs? No! The only difference between layer and grower/starter/all flock is higher calcium and often lower protein. If birds are still growing a little more protein is beneficial. Conversely excess calcium can cause organ problems over time.

8) what age can you begin giving scraps and other foods to your chickens besides their crumbles? I usually start giving tiny amounts of treats at a few weeks to train the birds to be less fearful of my hands. Keep in mind that treats/scraps dilute the nutritional balance of the feed, and chicks have tiny tummies, so keep any treats to a bare minimum, and make sure grit is available.

9) Is there a number of hens that is too few to ideally keep egg production and to stay warm through the winter? I typically get zero production in winter and so I save up eggs in fall in anticipation. I do not supplement light.

You don't need a number of chickens to stay warm during winter... their feathers do that, not being around a lot of other birds.

10)Is there a Chicken hardy grass that will hold up to them in their run or is it inevitable that they will take out all the vegetation in there? Chickens excel at killing off plants, so unlikely that anything survives unless you're rotating pastures or providing a massive amount of space (like a couple hundred sq ft per bird).

 

[The_Patriot5150]

1. No, I have seen my pullets at 3 weeks do fight like that, gender doesn’t matter in the pecking order, even pullets will fight with cockerels.

3. No, in my experience, all cockerels are loud, but there is such thing as a collar for your rooster that prevents it from crowing as loud, try googling it.

4. Silkies only weigh about 3-4 pounds and bantams weigh less.

5. I would suggest around week 18-20, or when you get your first egg.

6. No, when the chickens mature, they will lay eggs.

7. There is a list on google on what not to feed them, but apple seeds contain cyanide and avocados are bad as well.

8. People say when they are fully mature at 4 months, but I free range my chicks with a broody, so I would say that is a judgement call. They do need crumbles at all times when they are chicks though.

9. No, egg production will always slow in the winter, and the amount of chickens doesn’t affect the temperature, a heat lamp does.

10. I have tried with only one run, you would need to have two separate runs so that when they pick off all the grass in one run, you can open up the other run to them and close the other one to regrow grass, that’s how I do it though.

I hope this helps.

By the way, there are only 9 questions.