How early do you let your hens out to free range?

[s1a2b3]

A good/expected number of eggs is half of your chickens so two out of four is perfect. I would suggest getting more chickens and/or switching their feed.

The rooster just means the chickens will get broody more often, lay hidden clutches which you could hatch.

Molting is usual once or twice a year. Not a huge factor. If they do molt three or more times a year each, that is probably a problem of mites, aggressive mating, or a dominance problem:


MITES: As long as you have dirt (a pile of ash really works), the chickens will most of the time get rid of the mites on their own, if not, I would dilute clove, tea tree, and rosemary oils in water and spray them with it.



AGGRESSIVE MATING: Rhode Island Reds are usually severely aggressive when it comes to mating. I would suggest rotating the male from a cage to the flock, (not getting rid of the rooster entirely).



DOMINANCE PROBLEM: There is sadly not much to do about this issue. You could try to separate the main problem chicken, but in the end, they are going to have to work out their problems.