Ok....I have 1 silky hen and 1 silky rooster in my rabbit barn. Will the rooster kill my newly hatched silky baby??? I am prepaired with a brooder to take it if I need to. Or will mama protect it? I am in Florida so cold temps are not a problem.
Unfortunately, some roosters, (and even some hens), will kill new babies and young chicks - usually not the chick's mother though in case I made you wonder about that. You have to watch and make a judgment call on it. Is your rooster usually a docile sort? Does he seem aware that there's a baby about? Does Mom seem protective when he comes near to investigate? Sometimes better safe than sorry, I say. BTW - I've heard that rabbits will kill chickens. Do you have some in with yours where they could get at them or in separate cages? Just thought I'd mention that.
Although some roos will hurt babies, mine leaves them completely alone and even feeds them like he does the hens. It just depends on the roo.
I divide my pen with hardware cloth so the flock can see and get used to the babies. That way momma can raise them in peace for the first month and I don't need to worry. Even though there is a heavy screen between them, ever time I open the pen to check on them, my roo Seis comes in to make sure I am not there to cause harm.
Thanks everyone! I am gonna go fetch my new chick! Sunny the Silky was only sitting on 2 eggs. Now we are waiting to see if the other hatches! Sumpter the Silky is on me like white on rice everytime I go to look at the new mama and baby. He seems a bit too interested if you ask me. I hope the other egg hatches so the chick isn't lonely!
Hi there Majestic Farm. We plan on making some modifications to the coop area soon with seperate coops for different kinda of chickens. But I just wasn't ready yet! chicklady63 Sumpter the silky is not docile.....We are gonna go get the brooder...
Quote:I was also wondering what would happen.. (I kept them in house for a few days until they got around good) This is what happened with my Silver Pheonix this year after I let her out on the free range with the others.. The roosters ran over and started scratching around like momma then eventually went their own way.. I also have turkeys and thought this might be bad as well, but to my surprise the turkeys just looked around.. BUT.. it might be different with different type chickens..
