Game Hens & Silkies

[TJAnonymous]

Well, it appears that something got the GLW rooster that we had allowed to hang around the barn to protect the adopted game hens that were roosting in there. I'm actually away on vacation and we have someone who is taking care of our animals while we are gone. They let us know that the barn rooster hasn't been seen since Friday night. We started with 5 game hens that were gifted to us. Two have been killed by predators. Only 3 left.

We just recently finished a new coop & covered run for our Silkies right before we left on vacation. I'm considering putting the game hens in with the Silkies once we return home. Does anyone see a potential problem with this? The game hens seem to be pretty aggressive towards my standard sized chickens but only when they are fighting over the nesting boxes. Do you think they would be aggressive towards the Silkies?

I could also put the game hens in with my standard heavy breed chickens but I figured the large roosters would hurt them if they tried to breed.

What would you do?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry to hear about the rooster.
The Gamefowl Hens you have are basically used to free roaming, so yes, personally I do see that you will run into issues by confining them - whether with the Silkies or with the layer flock. Adding a roosters to the mix would likely further complicate things.

Are they in a secure location at night?
Not sure what type of predator you are dealing with but it would be a good idea to take measures to remove the threat and possibly make nighttime housing/roosting areas more secure.

Not saying that Gamefowl Hens can't live with other breeds, but chances go down if they are not raised together.
But if they are anything like mine, I can see where there would be a lot of drama/fighting/injury, etc.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Sorry to hear about the rooster.
The Gamefowl Hens you have are basically used to free roaming, so yes, personally I do see that you will run into issues by confining them - whether with the Silkies or with the layer flock. Adding a roosters to the mix would likely further complicate things.

Are they in a secure location at night?
Not sure what type of predator you are dealing with but it would be a good idea to take measures to remove the threat and possibly make nighttime housing/roosting areas more secure.

Not saying that Gamefowl Hens can't live with other breeds, but chances go down if they are not raised together.
But if they are anything like mine, I can see where there would be a lot of drama/fighting/injury, etc.

I don't think the problem is at night (with the exception of the one broody). They are getting attacked in the early dawn hours after they come down from their roost.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don't think the problem is at night (with the exception of the one broody). They are getting attacked in the early dawn hours after they come down from their roost.

Then something has learned their pattern and is waiting.
Fox? Coyote? A game cam would hopefully reveal the culprit.