Flock of Questions

[OneLuckeyWife]

1. Our chickens don’t use their coop they sleep on the porch. However, they don’t lay where they sleep. One in a tree base, one by the ac unit, etc. Is this normal?
2. We have 2 RIR, 1 hen and 1 roo. Roo is head of pecking order and the hen is second in command. Then the Brahmas follow in the pecking order. Is that normal for a hen to be so high?
3. One of the Brahmas, a roo, had gotten very sick as chick. I had separated him until he recovered. I nursed him back to health. He got a parasite that’s common in young chicks and almost died. He has crossed beak but his beak is evening out as he gets older. His tail is also tilted to the left; he can move it but it’s definitely odd looking. Even though he is the same age as the other Brahmas he is small, weighs less and molts later than the others. Could this be because he was so sick?
4. My RIR roo, the head of the flock, has realized he can jump onto our roof. Upon this realization, he noticed the neighbor leave dog food out for their small dog and jumped the fence... He’s been stealing that poor dog’s food and our neighbor finally decided to tell us about after weeks of it happening. We had no idea he was leaving our backyard. If I clip his wings will it effect his standing as head of the flock?
5. The RIR roo also tries to mate with the duck... a lot. Will it hurt her?

 

[PirateGirl]

I don't have all the answers, but this is what I have based on my limited experience.


1. my chickens don't sleep and lay in the same spot, that is normal, building nests and hiding eggs in "safe" places is normal, if you are ok with the egg scavenger hunt, I wouldn't worry about it, but perhaps someone else can guide you how to attempt to train them to lay in a nest box on your property if that would be better

3. I had a pullet that got very sick (I can't believe she lived with no long term side effects) around 10 weeks of age or so. She was always tiny after this, and waaaay behind the others of the same age in growth (there was a month or two when she was only half their size), but she had seemingly recovered and ate and drank and did normal chicken things, so I tried not to worry about her. I would say the slow growth etc. could be related to early illness for sure, or maybe the early illness and slow growth are both because as a chick they were already weaker and somehow compromised. Anyways, fast forward to about 9 months of age, the bigger stronger birds are close to full grown and have slowed down their growth and the little previously sick chick is catching up in size and doesn't look notably smaller or weaker or unhealthy at all. The others don't pick on her, she's not the bottom of the pecking order, and I have no worries despite her rough start. I think illness can slow them down, but they can still be totally fine. I'm sure your little Brahma will always hold a special place in your heart since you nursed him back to health.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

1. It happens but not completely normal cause it isn't safe. They need to be in predator proof quarters at night. Earlier this year I had a few hens and a cockerel that decided they would rather sleep in a tree. Over the course of a couple weeks, they were all taken by nighttime predators.
You can lock them in the coop and run for a few days till they get used to sleeping in there. You have to keep doing it until they start putting themselves to bed in the coop.
2. Fairly normal.
3. Probably. I assume it was coccidiosis he had. The problem affects feed utilization and it likely stunted his growth.
4. That can make problems with the neighbors. Trimming wings won't affect his place in the flock but it may affect his ability to protect the flock from hawks.
5. It won't hurt her. It would if it were the other way around - a drake over a chicken hen.

 

[OneLuckeyWife]

1. It happens but not completely normal cause it isn't safe. They need to be in predator proof quarters at night. Earlier this year I had a few hens and a cockerel that decided they would rather sleep in a tree. Over the course of a couple weeks, they were all taken by nighttime predators.
You can lock them in the coop and run for a few days till they get used to sleeping in there. You have to keep doing it until they start putting themselves to bed in the coop.
2. Fairly normal.
3. Probably. I assume it was coccidiosis he had. The problem affects feed utilization and he likely had stunted growth.
4. That can make problems with the neighbors. Trimming wings won't affect his place in the flock but it may affect his ability to protect the flock from hawks.
5. It won't hurt her. It would if it were the other way around - a drake over a chicken hen.

They used to sleep in the coop but have abandoned it for the porch. My dog watches over them and stays with them.

 

[PirateGirl]

how old are your chickens?
how many do you have?
how big is your coop?
how long is the highest roost?