Free Range Flock With Separate Breeding

[JustAMoHick]

Evening!

I am new to this forum and trying to get "my legs underneath me." LOL
one big question we have

So my wife and I are planning to start raising chickens, and one big question we have, CURRENTLY, is how do we raise a mostly free range flock, but keep the breeding separate?

We are wanting to run a flock that consists of 5 different colors of Wyandottes, but want to keep those specific colors pure.

Any thoughts/ideas from folks that have done this successfully would be GREATLY appreciated.

(BTW: If this has been discussed somewhere on a different thread, I'd be obliged for a point in the right direction. Thanks again)

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

You would probably have to have multiple coops and pen them when you want to hatch eggs or rotate them. When they free range though the hens will choose their roosters and it won’t necessarily be because he is the same color.

 

[The Moonshiner]

If you want to breed seperate colors you just have to keep them seperate. 5 colors mean 5 different groups. You can pen them separately and rotate free range time.

 

[JustAMoHick]

You would probably have to have multiple coops and pen them when you want to hatch eggs or rotate them. When they free range though the hens will choose their roosters and it won’t necessarily be because he is the same color.

I've wondered about keeping all the roosters in a separate free range space and coop. Then, when I want to hatch, put the hens and the rooster I want to breed in a breeding coop to let them do their thing. However, I've heard that if you take a rooster out of the rooster flock for any significant time, meaning more that a few hours or a day, it could cause problems within the roosters.

 

[JustAMoHick]

I've wondered about keeping all the roosters in a separate free range space and coop. Then, when I want to hatch, put the hens and the rooster I want to breed in a breeding coop to let them do their thing. However, I've heard that if you take a rooster out of the rooster flock for any significant time, meaning more that a few hours or a day, it could cause problems within the roosters.

But... I am also trying to do this with as little extra infrastructure and added labor as possible.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

And I’ll add - and I’m officially requesting help from more experienced posters! - hens can store rooster semen for some ridiculous amount of time (3 weeks?), so you can’t just separate a hen from the flock, pop her in with the chosen rooster, and expect all the eggs the next day to be his.

@Ridgerunner @BigBlueHen53 @fuzzi and others: please jump in here and untangle any mess I’ve made!

 

[SilverBirds]

Either keep them separated in different pens at all times or rotate days your free range. Or, if you aren't planning on breeding year-round, you can keep them all together during the off season and then separate your colors a month or so before you plan on hatching.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

And I’ll add - and I’m officially requesting help from more experienced posters! - hens can store rooster semen for some ridiculous amount of time (3 weeks?), so you can’t just separate a hen from the flock, pop her in with the chosen rooster, and expect all the eggs the next day to be his.

@Ridgerunner @BigBlueHen53 @fuzzi and others: please jump in here and untangle any mess I’ve made!

I'm flattered, MoC, but I'm not a breeder. I'll defer to the others here. @The Moonshiner would be my expert of choice here but I know there are others.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I'm flattered, MoC, but I'm not a breeder. I'll defer to the others here. @The Moonshiner would be my expert of choice here but I know there are others.

Thanks for helping with the Bat Signal! I couldn’t think who to flag.