@getaclue gave excellent advice and I agree that the APA SOP is a good book to have but if you can find the standard for the breed online, you won't need the SOP book.
So if I understand correctly, you have 2 cockerels and 5 pullets. Is that correct?
Noise levels only get bad for a bit in the morning when they all decide to crow at the same time, but probably not as bad as the same number of barking dogs that usually have higher decibel levels than roosters.
Will the roosters crowing bother anyone but you? I really can't hear 10 to 20 roosters crowing when in my house unless I have every window open. My coops range from 120 to 150 feet from my house. Two are even closer to one of my neighbors house and they didn't know I had chickens till I told them I did. Realize that a rooster's crow is quieter than weed eaters, lawn mowers. roofing guns, barking dogs, boom boxes, motorcycles, loud mufflers, train whistles and all sorts of other sounds of civilization. It is just that people are more accustomed to those.
Noise aside, I suggest you use this time while they are growing to start building more housing. At a minimum, you'll need one setup for a bachelor pad. One or two for grow out. And for even more accelerated improvement, several smaller units in the form of breeder units so you can identify which egg comes from which hen. That way you can pedigree all the chicks, track their progress and identify your primary breeders as well as all their offspring.
As was said, start weighing the birds and establish a spreadsheet or other means to track weights. The standard weights for Crevecoeur range from 5.5 to 7 lbs.. That should be easily within reach.
You'll also need a good incubator. Or two, one used as a hatcher so you can more easily stagger hatches.
At 8 weeks, your chicks won't be laying eggs for 3 to 4 more months. Since they'll be reaching laying age, it will be well after summer solstice (which is tomorrow) and they will be maturing at a time of year when daylight, vis a vis darkness, is decreasing the fastest. So if you want to accelerate your breeding program and not wait till next year for your next generation of chicks, I would plan on adding light to the coop by the end of October. Otherwise they may not lay till January or later. If you do so, put the light on a timer and add about 20 to 30 minutes daily light per week in the morning before dawn. Doing so, they should lay by the end of November. For a breeding program, you don't want to hatch pullet eggs. Wait till they get bigger by perhaps a month after laying commences.
Am I overwhelming you yet?
This all also requires that you keep them alive and in good health. The best way to do that is absolute predator proof housing and excellent ventilation. Forget what you've read about eliminating drafts. It is nonsense. A chicken can forage all day in frigid windy conditions. I'd call that a draft. Chickens can live in a tree. I can't keep a draft out of a tree.
What they can't live without is oxygen. Bad air can kill a chicken as easily as a raccoon in darkness. I've been raising Mediterranean breeds in buildings with huge 2X4' windows on both east and west walls with wind blowing right across the roost in temps to well below zero. The lowest was -19F and I never lost a bird.
As a crested breed, they will be vulnerable to predation, especially aerial predators.
The other thing that will help, and you can start now, is focusing on optimal nutrition - especially for chicks and breeders beginning a couple weeks prior to hatching egg collection. That will require paying special attention to amino acid and fat soluble vitamin content. Free ranging is OK but avoid the temptation to treat excessively, especially scratch grains. Feed is already mostly grain.
I can give you numbers for amino acid, vitamin and mineral content if you would like - after you've recovered from being overwhelmed.
So if I understand correctly, you have 2 cockerels and 5 pullets. Is that correct?
Noise levels only get bad for a bit in the morning when they all decide to crow at the same time, but probably not as bad as the same number of barking dogs that usually have higher decibel levels than roosters.
Will the roosters crowing bother anyone but you? I really can't hear 10 to 20 roosters crowing when in my house unless I have every window open. My coops range from 120 to 150 feet from my house. Two are even closer to one of my neighbors house and they didn't know I had chickens till I told them I did. Realize that a rooster's crow is quieter than weed eaters, lawn mowers. roofing guns, barking dogs, boom boxes, motorcycles, loud mufflers, train whistles and all sorts of other sounds of civilization. It is just that people are more accustomed to those.
Noise aside, I suggest you use this time while they are growing to start building more housing. At a minimum, you'll need one setup for a bachelor pad. One or two for grow out. And for even more accelerated improvement, several smaller units in the form of breeder units so you can identify which egg comes from which hen. That way you can pedigree all the chicks, track their progress and identify your primary breeders as well as all their offspring.
As was said, start weighing the birds and establish a spreadsheet or other means to track weights. The standard weights for Crevecoeur range from 5.5 to 7 lbs.. That should be easily within reach.
You'll also need a good incubator. Or two, one used as a hatcher so you can more easily stagger hatches.
At 8 weeks, your chicks won't be laying eggs for 3 to 4 more months. Since they'll be reaching laying age, it will be well after summer solstice (which is tomorrow) and they will be maturing at a time of year when daylight, vis a vis darkness, is decreasing the fastest. So if you want to accelerate your breeding program and not wait till next year for your next generation of chicks, I would plan on adding light to the coop by the end of October. Otherwise they may not lay till January or later. If you do so, put the light on a timer and add about 20 to 30 minutes daily light per week in the morning before dawn. Doing so, they should lay by the end of November. For a breeding program, you don't want to hatch pullet eggs. Wait till they get bigger by perhaps a month after laying commences.
Am I overwhelming you yet?
This all also requires that you keep them alive and in good health. The best way to do that is absolute predator proof housing and excellent ventilation. Forget what you've read about eliminating drafts. It is nonsense. A chicken can forage all day in frigid windy conditions. I'd call that a draft. Chickens can live in a tree. I can't keep a draft out of a tree.
What they can't live without is oxygen. Bad air can kill a chicken as easily as a raccoon in darkness. I've been raising Mediterranean breeds in buildings with huge 2X4' windows on both east and west walls with wind blowing right across the roost in temps to well below zero. The lowest was -19F and I never lost a bird.
As a crested breed, they will be vulnerable to predation, especially aerial predators.
The other thing that will help, and you can start now, is focusing on optimal nutrition - especially for chicks and breeders beginning a couple weeks prior to hatching egg collection. That will require paying special attention to amino acid and fat soluble vitamin content. Free ranging is OK but avoid the temptation to treat excessively, especially scratch grains. Feed is already mostly grain.
I can give you numbers for amino acid, vitamin and mineral content if you would like - after you've recovered from being overwhelmed.
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