Hello from a newbie

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MackChicks

MackChicks

In the Brooder
Joined
Jul 6, 2015
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Location
Central Florida
Hello all! Our family is in central Florida and new to raising chickens. We just finished our coop and run and are feeling a bit overwhelmed but excited! We currently have 3 hens (2 adult speckled Sussex and 1 young barred rock) and 2 Roos (an adult RIR and a young ameraucana) . Looking forward to learning lots from all of you!!
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! How exciting for you and your family to be starting your chicken fun. It can all be overwhelming at first but it really does get better with time. The learning centre has lots of great articles to help you along the way. Here is the link ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Be sure to ask any questions that you may have, everyone here to help and very friendly. Good luck with your flock in the future and enjoy BYC :frow
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. You have some very good breeds, but at some point you will need to re-home one of those roosters. The recommended ratio of roosters to hens is 1 roster for every 10 hens. As they mature and their hormones kick in, too many roosters will become very hard physically on your hens; over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. The only reason you really need a rooster is to fertilize eggs for hatching, and 1 rooster can easily handle 10-15 hens in this regard. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
 
We've already seen problems with the Roos. Our RIR got into the young chickens pen (our fault for leaving the top open, it's now enclosed) and did a number on the young Ameraucana. We plan to give him to my grandmother once he makes a full recovery. My husband got him because he knew how much I wanted an Ameraucana even though I said no more Roos! Bless his heart, he tried.
 
Last edited:
MackChicks said:
We've already seen problems with the Roos. Our RIR got into the young chickens pen (our fault for leaving the top open, it's now enclosed) and did a number on the young Ameraucana. We plan to give him to my grandmother once he makes a full recovery. My husband got him because he knew how much I wanted an Ameraucana even though I said no more Roos! Bless his heart, he tried.
Click to expand...

You could always keep the Ameraucana rooster and get remove the RIR rooster, particularly if he's aggressive as you don't want to risk him injuring someone, and you don't want to breed aggression into your flock.
 
We definitely may do that. Just hoping the young one recovers. He's not looking great and it's been 2 days. :(
 
welcome-byc.gif
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Sounds like you have a lovely flock! I have a speckled sussex too. I just love her to bits. She is so curious and funny. Congratulations on finishing your coop! That is a big accomplishment! My dad and I built our's. Boy did it take a while! But it sure was rewarding to have it done and see the hens happily living in it.
 

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