I can't find what I'm looking for using 'search' - I apologize for asking this again since I know probably all my questions have been answered *somewhere* here
I am starting to think in more detail about which of the male chicks we are likely to want to keep, and how. I have 10 straight-run sussex, and I know I definitely want a roo for the sussex hens b/c I would like to be able to home-grow further sussexes next year. I also have 6 straight-run campines (I am pretty sure 4 are males) -- I got them just to see how I liked 'em, and while they are kind of nutbags (the sky is falling! the sky is falling!) I actually do kind of like them a fair bit, and I guess I could at least *imagine* keeping more than just the 2 hens. Well, there are also 4 buff chanteclers 'just for fun' that I am not really worrying about b/c it'll be some while before I can tell them apart and I'll probalby just eat the cockerels anyhow.
I gather that roos in excess of 'needs', e.g. what social interactions and the hen population can support, can be kept apart in a bachelor pen type arrangement. I don't think I understand this well enough, though:
1) Can I do this long-term, or is it more just sort of a holding area between the flock and the stewpot?
2) Is it ok if they can see the hens?
3) If not, then is it ok if they can *hear* the hens real close by?
4) Would roos not being allowed 'at' the hens be happier that way, or in individual pens where they could see but not access the hens and could not directly see each other?
(The chickens are in large pens within a 15x40 building, so it would be hard to keep them from seeing each other and impossible to keep them from hearing everything the other chickens do. I do not see me building a separate coop at this point in time.)
5) If you were me, would you be thinking in terms of just picking out ONE sussex roo to keep, and getting rid of the rest, or would you want to keep a 'spare', and if so, in what way.
6) On a scale of 1 to 10 how stupid would it be to keep a campine roo with just 2 hens? I would consider putting 'em together with my 2 sexlinks and possibly whichever chanteclers turn out to be girls, IF they'll all get along without bloodshed but not if one or more campines makes the other breeds miserable. The only real reason for keeping him would be 'for pretty' and against the fairly miniscule chance that I ever get brave enough to try ranging the non-sussex hens inside electronet. If I had one, I might try to hatch out some eggs but it's not like there'd be a good reason to
7) If I did keep a campine roo, would it be completely idiotic to keep the runt that my 3 yr old has bonded to and named 'peep' (he's feathering out gradually and has a good sized red comb, and is quite frisky, he's just always been markedly smaller than the others). It is ok if the answer is yes, I just want to know what you think
Thanks very much,
Pat
I am starting to think in more detail about which of the male chicks we are likely to want to keep, and how. I have 10 straight-run sussex, and I know I definitely want a roo for the sussex hens b/c I would like to be able to home-grow further sussexes next year. I also have 6 straight-run campines (I am pretty sure 4 are males) -- I got them just to see how I liked 'em, and while they are kind of nutbags (the sky is falling! the sky is falling!) I actually do kind of like them a fair bit, and I guess I could at least *imagine* keeping more than just the 2 hens. Well, there are also 4 buff chanteclers 'just for fun' that I am not really worrying about b/c it'll be some while before I can tell them apart and I'll probalby just eat the cockerels anyhow.
I gather that roos in excess of 'needs', e.g. what social interactions and the hen population can support, can be kept apart in a bachelor pen type arrangement. I don't think I understand this well enough, though:
1) Can I do this long-term, or is it more just sort of a holding area between the flock and the stewpot?
2) Is it ok if they can see the hens?
3) If not, then is it ok if they can *hear* the hens real close by?
4) Would roos not being allowed 'at' the hens be happier that way, or in individual pens where they could see but not access the hens and could not directly see each other?
(The chickens are in large pens within a 15x40 building, so it would be hard to keep them from seeing each other and impossible to keep them from hearing everything the other chickens do. I do not see me building a separate coop at this point in time.)
5) If you were me, would you be thinking in terms of just picking out ONE sussex roo to keep, and getting rid of the rest, or would you want to keep a 'spare', and if so, in what way.
6) On a scale of 1 to 10 how stupid would it be to keep a campine roo with just 2 hens? I would consider putting 'em together with my 2 sexlinks and possibly whichever chanteclers turn out to be girls, IF they'll all get along without bloodshed but not if one or more campines makes the other breeds miserable. The only real reason for keeping him would be 'for pretty' and against the fairly miniscule chance that I ever get brave enough to try ranging the non-sussex hens inside electronet. If I had one, I might try to hatch out some eggs but it's not like there'd be a good reason to
7) If I did keep a campine roo, would it be completely idiotic to keep the runt that my 3 yr old has bonded to and named 'peep' (he's feathering out gradually and has a good sized red comb, and is quite frisky, he's just always been markedly smaller than the others). It is ok if the answer is yes, I just want to know what you think
Thanks very much,
Pat
