BDutch's bantam flock & natural breeding projects #5 🪺 🪺 and #6

[fluffycrow]

View attachment 3868239Two more hatched! View attachment 3868235

The first chick eating with Ini mini.
View attachment 3868234

A white spot on the head if its small and not striping out to the neck means female. So maybe I have 1 or two pullets.

Glad you got what you were hoping for! They'll have a great life ahead!

 

[MaryJanet]

View attachment 3868239Two more hatched! View attachment 3868235

The first chick eating with Ini mini.
View attachment 3868234

A white spot on the head if its small and not striping out to the neck means female. So maybe I have 1 or two pullets.

Congratulations!

 

[Sequel]

Those chicks are so cute! I’ve never hatched before but you are making it look like so much fun!

 

[BDutch]

Those chicks are so cute! I’ve never hatched before but you are making it look like so much fun!

Yes it is fun, on the other hand its nerve wrecking too.

 

[2ndTink]

Yes it is fun, on the other hand its nerve wrecking too.

Truth there, it's so fun, and exciting, and so so so stressful

 

[BDutch]

It seems I have two cockerels and only one pullet.

I made a few plans to cope with the space, the new family and Tintin in the future.

The second run with the coop is good for the 2 momma’s and the 3 chicks now. I can close it off so the chicks will be safe there for the time being.

The small coop with the nest boxes, the extension (adult roosts) and the main run are good for the 4 hens and Tintin for the time being. Tintin has to find his way there to roost as long as I have him. I have put an add out for someone who likes to get a free bantam Sulmtaler.

If the chicks grow up, I want to give away one Amrock cockerel and keep the pullet with one boy as long as possible. Because a lonely pullet will have a hard time within my flock with pestering attitudes towards young pullets and cockerels who want to roost with the adults.

Do question me or comment if you have another view on best keepings.

 

[BDutch]

Sunday the mammas and chicks came down to the ground floor over a plank (with bath-towel stapled on top).
Besides the wet chick crumble there was insect hunting on the menu.
The retuned nicely to to laying nests early evenings.

Today the same recipe. Tucked in around 6 pm.

 

[BDutch]

The peeps are still locked in in the small coop/run combi with the 2 mama’s.

Yesterday I bought a flat pack with the intention to remove the extension this summer (falling slowly apart) and add the coop without the small run instead with a few alterations.
It has more roost space and heigh than the current extension.

Tintin started roosting after I expelled him from the nestbox next to the broodies. The hens didn’t want him on the roosts (extension). But expelling him from the nestbox did trigger him to start roosting. He roosts in the berry bush between the red berries in the second run now.

He’s practicing to crow once a day around 9 am . Les pleasing : he is a pain in the ass to get him inside the run in the middle of the day . If the laying hens are allowed to free range for a few hours in the morning, I keep him inside the run now.

I would like to move the mamas and the chicks to the second run to keep them separated and give them more space. But with Tintin sleeping there now I wonder what will happen if I expel him once more from his favourite roost space.

 

[MaryJanet]

The new flat pack looks great! Is the roof high enough for you to walk around inside?

 

[BDutch]

The new flat pack looks great! Is the roof high enough for you to walk around inside?

No it’s meant to clean from the outside. It has a small maintenance door and poop tray you can pull out.

Name and size: Holland - Kippenhok met ren (Chicken coop wit run) - 250x102x155 cm (8.2 * 3.35 * 5 feet )

The size of the roost space inside is 90x90cm and about 100cm (5”) high in the middle.
It has 2 easy to take out roosts. The shop says it’s a right size for 4 normal sized hens or 8 bantams. Which I believe is a correct advice for a change.

Winters here are mild, so there is no need for a large winter coop. The chickens have beside this new build the old really small coop with a small roofed run and 2 runs with net covering. The large one is 9m2 and has a roofed sandbath space . The second one is about 6m2. Both have bushes inside. And has proven to be large enough if they can free range in the garden too a few hours on most days too.