I have 4 chickens that are around 4 months old. Truth be told, my daughter and I caught them at someone's house by net when they were biddies. No one was exactly sure when they'd been born but they were already getting feathers and were still small enough to fit in one hand. Anyhow, they are MUCH bigger these days. I think that 2 are roo's and 2 are hens?? Today I watched 2 of them acting like they were going to fight. They kept watching each other's every move and they'd get face to face with their neck feathers blown out. It seemed like they were almost flirting-a love/hate relationship if you will? Every time one walked away the other would start it all up again. They have an 8x8 coop. We built 4 separate nests. I don't let them out an account of our dogs who are inside primarily but do run in our fenced in backyard. I wonder what this behavior means between the chickens? Is is bad to have 2 roosters, if in fact that's what I have? I think that the two I watched behaving in this manner are a rooster and a hen, which is why I felt it was a flirting thing? Also, they are messy as all get out!! Poopingest things I've ever seen in my life! What's the best stuff to use for their nests and on the ground? I've got pine straw at the moment. Seems like cypress chips/shavings would be too much cost wise, especially since I will be doing a huge amount of cleaning up in there! I was appauled that they poop in their nests, their water, their food! GROSS! I can't believe I eat them. I love having them though and I can't wait until they begin laying! Had no idea it took so long!
Hi Jen! Sounds like you've got your hands full. Most people use pine shavings - cheaper than the other types. Make sure you don't get Cedar cause it's toxic. If you hang your feeder and waterer they won't get poop-ee. There are a lot of pictures and posts on the forums about all the things you mentioned... basically you can spend days reading threads and learn more here than you would in 10 years somewhere else! From what I've read, the behavior you described is normal pecking-order stuff. If you post pictures of the birds, someone may be able to help you sex them.
I have a sexually ambiguous mixed bag of EEs who do that all the time. I don't think it's necessarily telling of the sex, it's just adolescent chickens. If you do have two roos and two hens, you may have issues. The 'rule' is 10 hens to a roo. The 'rule' is subject to bending, but you may pay for it with a bald back on a favourite hen. I have two roos in with 16 hens and haven't had a problem...yet.
I use pine shavings and I sprinkle FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth (DE) on the shavings. Also my roosts in my coop are over wire which allows the poop through and I sprinkle the DE over the poop too. The pine shavings are on the floor in the rest of the coop. Monthly I add some shavings until I have approx 4/6in, and weekly I add more DE. Once in awhile I throw some scratch on the shavings and let the chickens mix it up. They do a very good job. I have no problems with flies, stink and such. My pine shavings stay nice and dry easy to clean out. I put them in my compost pile. which every once in awhile I give a toss to keep it mixed up with the other stuff that goes in. sprinkle with water and let it cook. I have bought the pine shavings at my local feed store. They were out before, so I have bought some in the pet department at Wal-Mart. Mine started laying at 17 weeks.
/img] I'm trying to figure out how to get my photos on here and onto my page? Should be simple I'm sure, yet I'm not having much luck and I'm confused and frustrated! HELP!
I hope those girls are about to outgrow that treehouse. It won't take long before you're looking to annex it for more chicken space!