Yup yup yup, mmhmm... that's where I'm at.. 3 light brahmas will go in a run, Buff Orpingtons will go in a run along with the marans. My little black copper marans is so friendly in spite of being outdoors. Her sister is a house bird.. Then I have um, a beilefelder I'm still not sure is a pullet or cockerel (waiting on that) and a few odd EE cockerels. Guess the extra boys will go in the 'round pen'.. then I have two free grow out pens for the kids in the brooder/incubator. Waiting....waiting to see how many cockerels I got from my hatch.
Yes, that sounds like me right now. I need more pullets because I'm not getting enough eggs anymore, and my retired hens get to stay and live out their lives. So, I have some that are a few months, two pullets, Lori and Susie Q. Also, five 8 week old chicks that are just now integrating, which includes at least 2 cockerels, and hopefully only 2.
And one of my hens is sitting on 4 eggs.
My main coop is 8x10, so I can technically put 20 chickens in there, but it looks like it would be a bit crowded. Besides, I cannot keep all the cockerels in with the girls, and I do have a couple smaller coops to move groups of up to 4 into, with runs that can be divided off easily. But, how to divide them is the question.
I guess it depends on what I end up with, so it's a bit of a watch and see.
Lemme see.... I have Pippi and Mad and their girls, 3 Australorps, 2 BOs, 2 RIRs and 2 LOs, so that's 11. Add 2 pullets, and 5 chicks, and Louie Louie who is on his own atm because he's too hormonally crazy right now, and I'm at 19. If the 4 eggs hatch, I'm clearly over my 20 chicken capacity. Not to mention I will have too many cockerels. What to do, what to do.
This pandemic has created problems for everybody. Quite a mess!
