Eight hatched so far!

[bossynbella]

Hello, We have over the last year gone from 3 Red star hens, to a odd assortment of standerds, bantams, and Silkys. We even have 3 call ducks and 2 Indian runner ducks.

Our silkys have been broody so we put some eggs under them and sure enough 4 chicks hatced out of 5 eggs from both Ebony and Ivory ( two of our silkys) So we have 4 two week old chicks and 4 one week old chicks. They are odd colors One of the silkys is white with one spot on its back. All but two have feathered legs and two have 5 toes. Our Rooster is not a silky but he does have feathering on his legs. I am not sure exactly what he is A friend gave us two of them.


Also a little off topic, How many roosters are too many. Not counting however many of the 8 babys are roosters, we have 2 12 wk old Red Sex linked Roosters, and One 12 wk old Barred Rock Rooster, we have a 8 wk old Cherry Egger rooster, Two banty roosters, though one seems to old to do anything He is over 5 and we have never seen him do anything.
We also have a 12wk old Silver Spangled Hamburg.
A friend gave us the BR, Cherry Egger and S.S. Hamburg because we ordered chicks with her and she didnt want the roosters.
Do I need to seperate and how many hens per rooster??
Sorry its so long just keep thinking of more questions.

 

[hatchcrazzzy]

i only have 1 rooster for my 12 hens.sounds like you are rooster poor lol.

 

[fdnick]

I "think" I read somewhere you need one rooster for every 4 to 6 hens for proper fertilization.. just remember I said I think.. LOL
I know nothing about chickens only what I read :O)
Denna

 

[bossynbella]

Thanks for the help so far I think we have something like 40 hens so any more then 8 roosters would be to many, does this sound correct?


Also does anyone know are Silkys the only chickens with 5 toes. Our chicks are mix's and some are probably from our silky hens. Most of the babies 6 out of 8 have feathering on there legs and or feet.
Our rooster has feathering on his legs too. But only 4 chicks have 5 toes and one of those 4 has 5toes on one foot and 4 on the other.
Our rooster has 4 toes.

Any ideas? How old do silkys need to be to tell if they are hens or roosters??

 

[bossynbella]

Four more babys have hatched looks like 3 bantys and a silky right now. One more was just pecking his way out when I went out to put the chickens away at 8 tonight. We still have two Ameracauna Eggs and one more banty/silky egg to hatch.
How soon can you tell if they are roosters or hens??? What do I watch for?

Does anyone know how i post a image??

 

[jimnjay]

There are several breeds with 5 toes, Faverolles are one, Houdans are another. I can't remember the others but I remember going through Feathersite and reading about others. Contrats on your hatch.

 

[MyPerfectChicken]

They sound cute!!!

Yeah.. get a free photobucket account and put the pics u want to use on there, copy the IMG code and paste it on here.. if i'm not being clear enough just let me know

Can't wait to see those pics!!