barred rock chicks

[gingersnaptoo]

I have 26 7-week old barred rocks that I hatched. This is my first venture at hatching; I usually buy day-old hens. I am new at this, so I don't know which are hens and which are roosters. They are all in the same pen, and I'm still feeding chick starter. I need to know: 1) when to start feeding them something else, 2) if I need to separate them when I do figure out which are hens/roosters, and 3) if I can feed out the roosters to eat. Any and all advice is very welcome! Thanks!

 

[kmollyhughes]

1: Starter feed is usually fed until around 16-18 weeks. Some starter/grower or meat bird can be given for longer as long as oyster shell is given to layers.
2: You'll see comb growth on the males at around 4-6+ weeks. Then you can pull them to another pen if you want, but not needed. I keep my boys with the girls until their hormones kick in, then they go to a grow out pen. Too many sexually active boys always on the girls is a stressor for them. That's usually around 4 months old. +\-
3: You can eat almost any roo. Some breeds have more meat than others, and Barred Rocks aren't the biggest or fastest growing. ...but they taste yummy after a nice long day in the crockpot.

 

[gingersnaptoo]

Thank you very much for the info. I really appreciate it. Glad they can all stay in the same pen for a while, as there isn't anywhere else at the moment. We eat a lot of chicken, so I can't wait to try 'em!