Cinnamon Queen questions: health, longevity, temperament etc

[alinas2010]

Thanks that's great info. As we have 4 and only allowed 2 more, we are looking for a breed that will easily fit in, be calm, docile not necessarily dominant. May have to look at other breeds. Any suggestions?

I don’t have a ton of experience with different chicken breeds, tbh, so maybe someone with more experience can chime in. But I will say our Sapphire Gem is a really gentle, docile breed and a great layer. I think Sapphire Gems are supposed to lay more than CQs, even, if you’re looking for production hens. I would say they match production wise.

When we adopted a lone hen and the sapphire gem was the only hen who wasn’t terrible to her when integrating. Our neighbors even got a couple of them and noted how docile and sweet they were.

 

[Mrs. K]

As we have 4 and only allowed 2 more, we are looking for a breed that will easily fit in, be calm, docile not necessarily dominant. May have to look at other breeds. Any suggestions?

Probably what is more important than your breed, is the size of your set up. SPACE is very, very important in keeping chickens. How old are the birds you have now?

What are the measurements of the coop/run? Is it a pre-fab set up? Thing is, introducing new birds is a bit tricky and can be very difficult if you are tight on space. A lot of pre-fab set ups say they will hold 6, but they really don't. Too little space can cause a lot of conflict even with birds raised together.

Actually if you are adding 2 birds to an established group of 4, you want something with a bit of starch in them. The nicest, calmest birds can become heartless when strange birds show up.

 

[Nixonfamilyusa]

We currently have 4. Coop is 6x4 foot, 24 sq foot, but I am building a new one this Spring. Will maintain 4-5 sq feet in coop per hen. Run is currently 10x13 but coop is inside run. There is a little over 70 sq foot of run space, new coop will be outside run.
Current hens will be a year old in April with the exception of one who we bought this past fall as point of lay. Of the original 3, 2 are fairly dominant and one really docile. We added 2 welsuumers in the fall, one fit in well, one was aggressive - feather pulling and pecking. She was rehomed where she can free range more. The remaining welsuumer is bottom of pecking order and we are wanting to add two more. Based on this info, 2 dominant and 2 docile, what do you suggest?

 

[Mrs. K]

I think I would buy 3-4 chicks, introduce them when they are 3-4 weeks old using a lot of clutter, and safety zones. Not all chicks live, and even if they do, chicks don't take up much space. Thing is, you can cheat on numbers when they are small, but you need to know that come October, things need to fit in the space you have right then.

You will need to sell 2-3 birds. By getting chicks, and some time, you can then make a better decision who you keep and who you sell. Could be that you sell 1 older gal, and 2 point of lay, or just the extra chicks. Generally, you should more than break even on the cost of the chicks and chick feed.

Thing is, you should do this next year too. It keeps your flock young and much healthier.

Weirdly enough, often times it is the hens lowest on the pecking order that are the most wicked to new comers. Some people wait until they are point of lay to add them, which can be very difficult to get them integrated into the flock and it was tooted as a good thing to do, until some people started adding them as chicks. Which really works some much better as flock dynamics.

Mrs K

 

[Nixonfamilyusa]

I think I would buy 3-4 chicks, introduce them when they are 3-4 weeks old using a lot of clutter, and safety zones. Not all chicks live, and even if they do, chicks don't take up much space. Thing is, you can cheat on numbers when they are small, but you need to know that come October, things need to fit in the space you have right then.

You will need to sell 2-3 birds. By getting chicks, and some time, you can then make a better decision who you keep and who you sell. Could be that you sell 1 older gal, and 2 point of lay, or just the extra chicks. Generally, you should more than break even on the cost of the chicks and chick feed.

Thing is, you should do this next year too. It keeps your flock young and much healthier.

Weirdly enough, often times it is the hens lowest on the pecking order that are the most wicked to new comers. Some people wait until they are point of lay to add them, which can be very difficult to get them integrated into the flock and it was tooted as a good thing to do, until some people started adding them as chicks. Which really works some much better as flock dynamics.

Mrs K

Thanks, that is fascinating. We did that, bought two point of lay. One has integrated well and one we rehomed. Might try the chicks idea