My current flock consists mostly of pullets, with a few favorite hens (around 30 total). A lot of the pullets are laying now. Jack, my avatar roo will be 4 years old this coming spring. I don't want to replace him b/c he has been a wonderful roo, loves his babies, and throws the blue egg gene. However, I know that sooner or later, his fertility is going to drop. So, it's time to be planning towards the day that he will retire. Of all the cockerels hatched this spring, none were IME as good as Jack. I had ordered 2 BE cockerels. One of them is a big beefy boy, and at almost 6 months of age, he's about the same size as Jack, if not bigger. He has excellent coloring. His comb is not as tight as I'd like to see, but his feathering and size are far superior to the other BE.
Plan A: When I put the rest of the spring cockerels into the grow out pen, I left the 2 BE boys in the flock along with all of the spring pullets. However, they started being more aggressive with the pullets than I was willing to put up with, so they got shuffled back into the grow out pen.
Plan B: I started letting the BE boys out with about a dozen girls for a few hours before coop time in the evenings. Their behavior, even when only let out one at a time continued to be atrocious, with a lot of chasing down, and grabbing. No successful mating. I realize this is part of the learning curve...
Plan C: This afternoon, I let Jack and his girls out, and allowed Goliath to join them. Goliath tried to take liberties, and Jack immediately gave Goliath a "run for his life". Just what he needed. He's been a bit better behaved, and actually had what appeared to be a successful breeding.
Tonight, after hubby and I returned from our walk, I went out to shut up the run, and see to it that everyone was where they belonged. Surprise. There were 3 boys in the big coop. Evidently, Goliath decided he'd bed down with the big kids. And Jr. escaped from his confinement behind 2 doors in the grow out coop, and went in to the big coop to join Goliath. So... just to keep the peace, I'll be removing both BE boys for the night after they are good and settled. Tomorrow, we'll continue with plan C.
Plan A: When I put the rest of the spring cockerels into the grow out pen, I left the 2 BE boys in the flock along with all of the spring pullets. However, they started being more aggressive with the pullets than I was willing to put up with, so they got shuffled back into the grow out pen.
Plan B: I started letting the BE boys out with about a dozen girls for a few hours before coop time in the evenings. Their behavior, even when only let out one at a time continued to be atrocious, with a lot of chasing down, and grabbing. No successful mating. I realize this is part of the learning curve...
Plan C: This afternoon, I let Jack and his girls out, and allowed Goliath to join them. Goliath tried to take liberties, and Jack immediately gave Goliath a "run for his life". Just what he needed. He's been a bit better behaved, and actually had what appeared to be a successful breeding.
Tonight, after hubby and I returned from our walk, I went out to shut up the run, and see to it that everyone was where they belonged. Surprise. There were 3 boys in the big coop. Evidently, Goliath decided he'd bed down with the big kids. And Jr. escaped from his confinement behind 2 doors in the grow out coop, and went in to the big coop to join Goliath. So... just to keep the peace, I'll be removing both BE boys for the night after they are good and settled. Tomorrow, we'll continue with plan C.
