Am I Doing The Wrong Thing?? Any Other Ideas? PLEASE READ

[Mwing14]

So I have 11 silkie chickens and there is a little black one with a crooked beak. He/She's been doing fine so I'm not worried about that, but they are almost 4 months and are going to be starting layena. I know I have at least one rooster because I got straight ones. Now whether he/she is a rooster or a hen. I do not want it to have babies because it just would not be fair to it's babies because I heard having a crooked beak can be very genetic. So I was thinking that maybe I should buy a large cage and seperate it from the others. I know it sounds mean but wouldn't it be even meaner to let it have a bunch of babies with crooked beaks. By the way I'll probably be selling the baby chicks and let's face it not a lot of people want a chicken with a bad beak. I just need some advice people are telling me that I'm terrible for thinking about seperating him, but I'm just not sure what else to do. I was also wondering if you could get a chicken spayed or neutered? I know it sounds weird but I'm just brainstorming. What do you guys think?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I would give him a friend if you are going to separate him. Chickens get desperately lonely.

You can caponize a chicken but it is an incredibly painful procedure done without anesthesia unless things have changed, and I don't recommend it.

In order to be completely safe, one month is needed for a hen to be away from a rooster (so that the rooster wouldn't be a possible father to the chicks). Usually people say two weeks are needed, but I have heard up to one month.

So, when you are about a month away from letting your hens set on eggs, you can pull him and a friend out of there. Then get your hens setting on eggs one month later, mark the eggs with pencil or pen.

Put your rooster back in there (and his friend). Presto! You don't have to have him separated all the time.

Alternatively, you can separate out the hens and rooster you want to breed for a month. These are called breeding pens.

 

[Mwing14]

Thanks so much for the feedback! I was thinking the same thing about putting a friend with the little chicken.