Giving away some Chickens,which?

[FatBurrito]

So my mom and I decided that we don't have the right room and time to take care of our chickens anymore so we decided to give some to a friend who is building a big coop and is going to run a small farm for their eggs.
We have 4 (one in which is young and we are keeping so it's really not related to right now) hens,1 rooster,and an unknown chicken (who is probably a rooster)One hen has 5 chicks.

My mom said she wants to give the hen with 5 chicks to her friend along with our rooster so he protects the chicks and the hen in case something happens.Does that seem okay? I don't know if I should seperate the other 2 hens from the rooster as all 4 chickens (momma hen,two other hens,and rooster) grew up together but maybe we should?

My mom said the chicken with unknown gender looks like a rooster already so he'll protect the other 3 hens when we give away the rooster,momma hen and her 5 chicks.

Does that sound like a good plan or should we do otherwise?

 

[orrpeople]

A couple of things come to mind - a one rooster to one hen ratio (chicks don't count) is not going to be very good on the hen (unless he's old or infertile).
Also, as long as your chickens still have friends, it's okay to separate them. They will go through a period of adjustment, but as long as they still have someone to keep company, they'll end up being okay.
Best of luck with your decisions!

 

[tacothechicken]

So is that four chickens including the rooster or no? And if you plan on keeping that single chicken youll need to keep two as chickens are social creatures much like goats and keeping one is risky and bad for thier health emotionaly speaking. the single hen with chicks and the rooster may work but again chickens are social and another hen may help saftey and socially for both the hen and chicks.
The advice many will say is that 2 chickens is the minimum to keep if you want any at all other wise id advise not keeping a single chicken. We recieved a chicken who had been raised on her lonesome and coming to us...she was in seriously bad shape psychologically and physically, it took months to get her to good and proper health and teach her proper chicken skills id say they go in sets of two or all together if possible if there is not enough space your friends can always sell the chicks once independent.

 

[FatBurrito]

So is that four chickens including the rooster or no? And if you plan on keeping that single chicken youll need to keep two as chickens are social creatures much like goats and keeping one is risky and bad for thier health emotionaly speaking. the single hen with chicks and the rooster may work but again chickens are social and another hen may help saftey and socially for both the hen and chicks.
The advice many will say is that 2 chickens is the minimum to keep if you want any at all other wise id advise not keeping a single chicken. We recieved a chicken who had been raised on her lonesome and coming to us...she was in seriously bad shape psychologically and physically, it took months to get her to good and proper health and teach her proper chicken skills id say they go in sets of two or all together if possible if there is not enough space your friends can always sell the chicks once independent.

If we give away momma and her 5 chicks and the rooster,we will have 3 hens and an unknown gender chicken left.

Does that sound good? I mean,it's sad we're separating chickens that grew up together but would that be okay?

 

[FatBurrito]

A couple of things come to mind - a one rooster to one hen ratio (chicks don't count) is not going to be very good on the hen (unless he's old or infertile).
Also, as long as your chickens still have friends, it's okay to separate them. They will go through a period of adjustment, but as long as they still have someone to keep company, they'll end up being okay.
Best of luck with your decisions!

Thank you!
So is what I said above okay?

 

[orrpeople]

Thank you!
So is what I said above okay?

If the people you are giving them to have other hens for the rooster it would be okay. I would not want to have one rooster and only one hen -roosters really need to have more girls and the poor hen might get over harassed.

 

[tacothechicken]

I agree whith all above comments. As long as the hen to roo ratio is at 3:1 and all hens have companions to keep them happy and everyone has proper space and companionship(2 birds together, 1r/2-3h) you should be good! Hope your friends love them!

 

[FatBurrito]

Thank you everybody! This is really helpful
Sadly I don't think they have more hens,maybe some of the mommas chicks will be hens? Would that be okay? But I'll talk to my moms friend about getting more hens

And it's fine separating the chickens? They grew up together though,I just feel bad seperating them

 

[keesmom]

What will your mom's friend do with the cockerel chicks? She won't be able to keep any of them.

 

[FatBurrito]

Oh she can't? She's keeping them all ATM