Can I raise freebie packing peanut roo with cornish cross? aaarrgh!

[turtlebird]

Picked up my box of cornish X from the P.O. this morning, only to find that my order (NO FREEBIE ROOSTER SPECIFIED) indeed contained a packing peanut. Oh, and he is soooooo cute. Can he be raised alongside my piggie cornish X's (which will have feed 12 hours on/12 hours off after day 5). Or should he be raised separately....or does he need company? I am afraid if I go to the feed store to get 2-3 friends, it will turn into 6 (2x3=6...right) which would be a total of 7 more chickens. Laying coop is already at max of 17 (1 year old) ladies. AARRRRGGGHHH! What do I do? Darn packing peanut

Did I mention how cute he is?

 

[dacjohns]

I would give it a try. If the lights go off at night he should be sleeping or at least less active so the lack of food at night shouldn't be an issue. Chicks with a momma hen don't eat at night. I would keep an eye out and make sure he isn't getting squashed by the dinosaurs when they get significantly larger than him.

Other issues are:
are you allowed to have roosters where you have your chickens?
do you already have roosters? If you do there very well could be competition issues.

Are you sure it's a rooster or did you just assume it was?

Good luck.

 

[hlf1996]

picture please

 

[CheekyChooks]

aww, whats a packing peanut?

 

[dacjohns]

Quote:
A packing peanut is an extra chicken thrown in for free usually to make a shipment large enough that the combined body heat keeps the chicks warm enough to reach their destination alive. They are usually roosters.

 

[CheekyChooks]

Ohhh ... do most people keep their packing peanuts? Seems rather sad for the peanut ... can we have a picture??

 

[turtlebird]

Quote:
I am presently w/o a rooster, as the last roo-cifer made a oneway trip to freezer camp just last week. Yes I can have roosters, very rural. I am assuming it is a rooster, as the free exotic chic from Murray McMurray typically is. I do feel bad for all those extra roos that nobody wants....I am just a little nervous about raising him with, as you stated so perfectly, the dinosaurs! So, if he can make it....and can be solitary from week 8 to integration with my present flock of ladies, I am all for it!
Thanks for your input

I am going to go and see how photogenic the little bugger is~!