Breed and sex?

[InterestingChickens]

The bird you question is an Easter Egger cockerel.

Agreed.

Damn... they were supposed to be sexed. No roosters. The coop itself is fairly small. It's the largest eglu coop. But their run is quite large. The coop states it should fit this many. I just tried to place one of the chicks at the door of the coop and one of my hens came over and gave it a pretty good peck so I guess they are understandably scared.

Prefab coops almost always say they can 'hold' a lot more chickens than they can handle. This is the recommended guidelines per bird, remember the more space you can give your birds, the better.

• 4 square feet in the coop, (0.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in run, (0.93 square meters)
• 1 linear foot of roosting space, (30 centimetres)
• 1 nest box for every 4 to 5 birds
• 1 square foot, (0.09 square meters) of permanent ventilation, which is best located above your chickens when they are perched on their roost.

Best of luck with your flock.

 

[QueenBean]

[/ICODE]

Agreed.

Prefab coops almost always say they can 'hold' a lot more chickens than they can handle. This is the recommended guidelines per bird, remember the more space you can give your birds, the better.

• 4 square feet in the coop, (0.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in run, (0.93 square meters)
• 1 linear foot of roosting space, (30 centimetres)
• 1 nest box for every 4 to 5 birds
• 1 square foot, (0.09 square meters) of permanent ventilation, which is best located above your chickens when they are perched on their roost.

Best of luck with your flock.

Thanks for the advice! I think the run is large enough but it sounds like I need to upgrade my coop....

 

[SueT]

Or you could rehome the male, and the 2 older hens, and be back to your original number....

 

[rosemarythyme]

Damn. I had kind of assumed that since they only sleep in there it wouldn't be a problem.

It wasn't a problem before. But because you're integrating, you need even more space, sometimes above the minimums you see commonly quoted on here.

And yes that's a cockerel, his coloration and developed comb gives it away.

 

[QueenBean]

It wasn't a problem before. But because you're integrating, you need even more space, sometimes above the minimums you see commonly quoted on here.

And yes that's a cockerel, his coloration and developed comb gives it away.

Thanks for the help

 

[QueenBean]

Or you could rehome the male, and the 2 older hens, and be back to your original number....

Good point

 

[NatJ]

I'm at a loss for how to get them to go into the coop on their own. [Edited to add I just tried again when a little light out and one of the big hens gave a good peck that sent the Littles running.]

I think they will not go into the coop on their own, no matter what you do, if the adult hens attack them for going in.

You probably need a second coop, or a bigger coop, or to remove the adult hens. Or just keep doing what you are doing until the chicks are completely grown up, and see if it changes then (it might not change then either.)

 

[SueT]

I had a pair of older leghorn hens who were bullying everyone, to the point of making combs/wattles bleed. They would team up to make others miserable. I decided to take them to the poultry swap and sell them to someone who would appreciate them. I had a pang of guilt about doing this to them, as I had raised them from day old. My sister said, Don’t worry, they’ll forge right ahead in true leghorn fashion, and someone will appreciate their large eggs. I sold them within minutes of arriving.
It was such a relief after they were gone, and the flock was one big happy family.

 

[3KillerBs]

So I have 2 of my old adult hens left. But there are 6 babies. The coop had said up to 10 so I figured 8 would be okay since they only seem to sleep in there and are in the run during the day. Guess not. I originally had 5 grown hens that did well in there together.

8 hens

• 32 square feet in the coop. 4'x8' is approaching the limits for a non-walk-in coop even with the access door in the middle. 6'x6' should be walk-in because even the tallest chicken-keeper won't be able to reach the far wall.
• 8 feet of roost
• 80 square feet in the run. 8'x10' is a nice looking number but, remembering the common dimensions of lumber, a roomier 8'x12' is actually easier to build. 6'x14' looks good on paper but would require a lot of weird cuts.
• 8 square feet of ventilation.
• 2-3 nest boxes.

 

[QueenBean]

I had a pair of older leghorn hens who were bullying everyone, to the point of making combs/wattles bleed. They would team up to make others miserable. I decided to take them to the poultry swap and sell them to someone who would appreciate them. I had a pang of guilt about doing this to them, as I had raised them from day old. My sister said, Don’t worry, they’ll forge right ahead in true leghorn fashion, and someone will appreciate their large eggs. I sold them within minutes of arriving.
It was such a relief after they were gone, and the flock was one big happy family.

I'm hesitant as well as I raised these two from chicks and their are otherwise good hens. I think I'll see if things change as they get older. Thanks for this - it made me feel better about the idea of re homing them.