A few basic questions, I think ?

[savingpurple]

I am very new to all this, and am muttling my way through. A few questions if I may.....

Tried the yogurt, and my girls, were so afraid of the bowl, they would not go near it. They would however eat it off my finger. Had to laugh at that one. Will try again later...LOL

How soon can you tell if you have a rooster or hen? All the red pullets and one white leghorn all seem to have the same size comb, but the white leghorn pullet has the attitude of a rooster...LOL The other younger, by one week,white leghorn pillet, so I was sold, sure seems to have a much larger comb then the rest. They are about 3 to 3 1/2 weeks old. Any help?

Is there a good book to answer alot of questions on all ages, and aspects of a chickens life, first aid, diet, etc.?

I have heard horror stories from people that have had roosters or do have roosters, and am afraid the one I have is one. Do you all have them, and can you tell me if I end up with one, is there a way to tame? Just "get along with" would make me happy

I live in NW Ohio, and we have sometimes brutal weather in the deep winter months. Can they go out? Should I open the pop door? Do I need to have a heat lamp for them? Should I just leave them in the coop in really bad weather? How about rainy weather?

Sorry to be so needy, but am entering into unventured territory. A little nwervous, but will do fine as I always do!

Edited to ask...is there a different place I should post these kinds of posts?

Thanks in advance.

Oh, one last thing? can you tellme how to post pictures. Would like to share the coop, and pics of my "girls" !

 

[gingerpeach22]

I like the book, Raising Chickens for Dummies by Kimberly Willis with Rob Ludlow (owner of this website, BYC). For specific topics, look at the search box on almost any page and type a few words like "feeding chicks" and a page will come up where you can pick and choose which threads to read. Also, click Index at the top left of the page and see if your question falls roughly into some topic like egglaying or sickness or whatever. You can then scan down the active threads to see if any are interesting or not. Put post photos in that search box and you'll find help there.

 

[miss_thenorth]

How soon can you tell if you have a rooster or hen? All the red pullets and one white leghorn all seem to have the same size comb, but the white leghorn pullet has the attitude of a rooster...LOL The other younger, by one week,white leghorn pillet, so I was sold, sure seems to have a much larger comb then the rest. They are about 3 to 3 1/2 weeks old. Any help?

Can you post pics? We'd be able to help you better that way/

Is there a good book to answer alot of questions on all ages, and aspects of a chickens life, first aid, diet, etc.?

i found all my info online--aka on this site, but BYC has a chickens for dummies book.

I have heard horror stories from people that have had roosters or do have roosters, and am afraid the one I have is one. Do you all have them, and can you tell me if I end up with one, is there a way to tame? Just "get along with" would make me happy

I alwasys keep rooster, that is how I replenish my flock. Some can get nasty--just let them know you are the boss. If you have kids, make sure they are boss to. One thing I do,is rotate my roos. About every year I let a new one take the lead, and the older one goes into the soup pot. They usually don't get ornery until after about a year old, but some breeds are more gentle than others.

I live in NW Ohio, and we have sometimes brutal weather in the deep winter months. Can they go out? Should I open the pop door? Do I need to have a heat lamp for them? Should I just leave them in the coop in really bad weather? How about rainy weather?

I live north of you in Ontario, Canada, I let my chickens out daily--rain, shine, snow, sleet etc. If they don't want to go out, they will sta in the barn. My chickens were out all winter, and even in teh rain yesterday.

Oh, one last thing? can you tellme how to post pictures. Would like to share the coop, and pics of my "girls" !

Up at the top, there is ablue bar. Right next to the recent posts button, there is one that says uploads. If you click on that, it will direct you to go through the pics on your computer and you can select pics to post.

Enjoy!​

 

[hoping4better]

This is my first year as well:

:
They're around 18 weeks now, and I have raised them from around 3 days old.

I now have 3 roosters out of 18 chickens. I had 4, but one got aggressive. The other roosters aren't nearly as aggressive, in fact they pretty much just stay out of my way. They'll get curious if I do something to upset the hens and come running, but they then just stand there and look at me. As for getting along, I think it depends on the rooster and how much time you spend with them as little guys. I've heard some people the have roosters as pets and even sit on their shoulders. I would spend as much time as you can with them now as they are little. Also, once they get older if they don't become friendly there are techniques to teaching them who is boss. A search on roosters may pop something up.

Roosters can serve multiple purposes (protection, they're pretty, getting fertilized eggs), but if they don't serve a purpose for you - you don't need one.

 

[Jesseschickens]

HOld your roo alot when he is little give him trats tell him he is pretty boy dont be aggresive to him however if he trys to bully you you need to show him you are his boss. My roo turend out perfect he weight almost 17lbs an was 20inches tall and he crowed on comand if your roo brings odd thing to you and does a little dance at your feet he is showing you you are his friend take it from him and show him you care.

 

[AKsmama]

My "chicken Bible" is Storey's Guide To Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. I refer to it almost weekly. I also have her Chicken Health Handbook.

I have 5 roosters- technically 2 too many, but everyone pretty much gets along, with an occasional dust-up here and there. It really depends on your individual roo. You can always get rid of him if you decide you and your flock would be better off. I think most roos get a bad rap- seems like everybody that has never personally owned chickens has some story to tell about being chased around the yard by their grandpa's/aunt's/neighbor's rooster when they were growing up. Some of them are mean, some aren't. You just have to wait and see. I have one that I call Satan's Minion, one that I have to keep my eye on, and three that are good. My head roo has never come after me and actually body slams my mean roo when that one comes after me- and then the head guy puffs his chest out like he knows he has done a good thing!

Yeah, chickens really are chicken- they are scared of anything new! They are amusing little creatures, especially as chicks!