A few Questions?

[Abeall]

Hello! I am new to chickens! I've built a chicken mansion! LOL. I am a architectural draftsman and my wife wanted a chicken house. I think she got more than she bargained for.. Anyways...

Question One: How long should her chickens stay in the coup before being released onto our land to free range? (They've been in coop since yesterday)

Question Two: I have a Mature Rhode Island Red Rooster and Hen and would like to hatch more out? Ive done my research, they are both healthy, when should i seperate them to their own Honeymoon Suite?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If they have a pen around the chicken door leading from the coop, just leave them inside a couple days. The big thing is making sure they're confined somewhat outside the coop for a couple more days so that they can orient themselves before free ranging.

If you can identify which are her eggs and you don't have more than say 8 hens, you don't have to separate them.

 

[Abeall]

If they have a pen around the chicken door leading from the coop, just leave them inside a couple days. The big thing is making sure they're confined somewhat outside the coop for a couple more days so that they can orient themselves before free ranging.

If you can identify which are her eggs and you don't have more than say 8 hens, you don't have to separate them.

I have 7 laying hens right now. But not sure I could identify them. I have 4 wyandotts, and 2 white hens (Not sure of kind) and my Rhode island red. Also to add, There is no fenced run as I was just letting them free range?

 

[donrae]

If the birds are new to you, I'd think to keep them confined for 5-6 days or so. One, it lets them know where home is and where to sleep. It also gets them in the habit of laying in the coop where you want them. Beware, free ranging often leads to daily egg hunts! Hens are biologically programmed to hide their nests from predators and will often lay under shrubs, behind trash cans, in the weirdest places you can imagine. They are usually creatures of habit and like to lay in the same place each day, so keeping them in the coop also gets them in that habit.

If your hen hasn't been exposed to other roosters, you can separate her and start collecting her eggs now. I personally wouldn't leave the rooster in with her all the time, one hen can easily get overmated from a rooster's attentions. I'd put her in a separate cage, and put the rooster in every 2-3 days for a few hours. Hens are known to store sperm internally for up to 2 weeks from one mating, so he doesn't need to be mating her every day for fertile eggs.

I always ask what your plan is for the roosters you hatch? Do you plan to eat them? Give them away? Keep in mind roosters are a dime a dozen and getting rid of them isn't always easy, depending on your area.

 

[Abeall]

If the birds are new to you, I'd think to keep them confined for 5-6 days or so. One, it lets them know where home is and where to sleep. It also gets them in the habit of laying in the coop where you want them. Beware, free ranging often leads to daily egg hunts! Hens are biologically programmed to hide their nests from predators and will often lay under shrubs, behind trash cans, in the weirdest places you can imagine. They are usually creatures of habit and like to lay in the same place each day, so keeping them in the coop also gets them in that habit.

If your hen hasn't been exposed to other roosters, you can separate her and start collecting her eggs now. I personally wouldn't leave the rooster in with her all the time, one hen can easily get overmated from a rooster's attentions. I'd put her in a separate cage, and put the rooster in every 2-3 days for a few hours. Hens are known to store sperm internally for up to 2 weeks from one mating, so he doesn't need to be mating her every day for fertile eggs.

I always ask what your plan is for the roosters you hatch? Do you plan to eat them? Give them away? Keep in mind roosters are a dime a dozen and getting rid of them isn't always easy, depending on your area.

Well. The roosters I do hatch, my grandpa wants them. I think for food yes. And a couple of my neighbors said they would like one as well so that's about 3 worth. I have done lots of research and its all planned.

Just didn't know how to go a out it. First thing tomorrow I'm going to pick up some fenceing to make them a run. Don't like the idea of egg hunts. Easter with my kids is enough for that lol

 

[Mrs. K]

It is nice to have a run, cause sometimes you want to be gone for a couple of days. Chickens need daily fresh air.

If you understand how chickens work, I apologize in advanced, but perhaps you don't.

In the general scheme of things, roosters will mate with any breed chicken.

Hens lay eggs about every 26 hours, so not quite one a day, and they do skip days and lay less when there is not much daylight. But 99% of the time, they jump out of the box and could care less what happens to the egg, I swear they smile when they do it too! haha

My personal theory, is it is the intensity and amount of light that can trigger a broody hen.... if the Gods line up, the nest suits her, and she gets the notion. Some breeds go broody more so than others, some nearly never do so..... but go figure, my first broody hen was a breed that was not suppose to. If she does, she changes, she sits differently on the nest, she gets flatter, and she growls at you, and make peck and peck hard if you reach under her. Sometimes, she will settle right away, and sometimes she may start to set, then get up and forget only a day or two later really get serious.

If the hen (or an incubator) heats the eggs to near 100 degrees for 24 hours, then a fertilized egg will begin to develop.

There is no way (some wives tails) to make a hen go broody. You can incubate fertilized eggs, of course.... but if you were thinking of doing it the natural way I wanted to make sure you understood how it worked.

 

[Abeall]

I have had the chickens in the coop a week. This will be day 2 outside in the run that I built for them. Now my question is, will there be a egg hunt LOL. So far they have only laid in their nesting boxes. Will they continue to do that if I let them out to free range?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

My hens would dig out of their chicken tractor to run back to the coop and lay in the nests even with a nest in the tractor.
Other birds will occasionally lay an egg wherever they are standing.

 

[Abeall]

My hens would dig out of their chicken tractor to run back to the coop and lay in the nests even with a nest in the tractor.
Other birds will occasionally lay an egg wherever they are standing.

Alright. I can lose a few eggs here and there I just don't want to have to egg hunt all the time! Lol