i somehow acquired 2 runaways and i have questions. please help

[Iluveggers]

If I buy hens, I know the males (or most of them) are killed by the brooder/seller anyway. If I give away a rooster, I know there is a risk he gets killed by the new owner. Whats best from the point of view of the cockerels?

The times I let my broodies hatch fertilised eggs, there was always at least one cockerel. Most of them found a good life elsewhere. Some I wasn't sure about, but I prefer the hassle of rehoming to buying pullets and putting them in quarantine.

Until now I never got stuck with a cockerel I couldn’t keep any longer bc as long as it is winter the neighbours don’t mind if he starts to crow. Twice I could keep a cockerel for offspring before he had to leave.

I would hate it if I ever have to kill a chicken for whatever reason so I did some research to find the best way if I ever need to kill a cockerel or a very poor sick chicken. Using an airtight box and using ether or starting fluid seems the right thing to do for me. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...re-culling-the-injured-and-sick-babies.72140/

You are lucky you have good neighbors. I would probably ruin the chicken law in my area if we had someone crowing...

I would definitely hatch and keep chicks if it was easy to rehome roosters by me or we could have temporary crowing, but unfortunately we can't give them away, and having them processed before they start crowing is way to small an amount of meat to be worth it.

I wish our laws were different.

 

[pollipazzi]

i could never kill a chicken. or anything else.
people here seem to use facebook for everything instead of websites or whatever. i have joined just about every poultry group and even a rooster rehoming group, just to see what the story is.
there are so many roosters that people can't even give away.
even the hens that are for sale seem to be offered only as "pairs" with a rooster.

if breeders can't give them away, how would i?

i wonder if colonel sanders is hatching eggs and what he's doing.
he is my neighbour, but he's sort of in the middle of a big field (across the road). he has a rooster, but i almost never hear it. i wouldn't be so lucky. i am surrounded by housing estates and school kids.
i panic when the girls bagawk that it's gonna make somebody very cross.

 

[pollipazzi]

You are lucky you have good neighbors. I would probably ruin the chicken law in my area if we had someone crowing...

I would definitely hatch and keep chicks if it was easy to rehome roosters by me or we could have temporary crowing, but unfortunately we can't give them away, and having them processed before they start crowing is way to small an amount of meat to be worth it.

I wish our laws were different.

what do you do instead?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

i could never kill a chicken. or anything else.
people here seem to use facebook for everything instead of websites or whatever. i have joined just about every poultry group and even a rooster rehoming group, just to see what the story is.
there are so many roosters that people can't even give away.
even the hens that are for sale seem to be offered only as "pairs" with a rooster.

if breeders can't give them away, how would i?

i wonder if colonel sanders is hatching eggs and what he's doing.
he is my neighbour, but he's sort of in the middle of a big field (across the road). he has a rooster, but i almost never hear it. i wouldn't be so lucky. i am surrounded by housing estates and school kids.
i panic when the girls bagawk that it's gonna make somebody very cross.

Do you know any of your neighbors with kids? And can you hear (or see) enough of the kids playing to see which ones seem kind and compassionate?

Maybe you could invite them over in very small numbers to meet the chickens. I doubt that Thelma and Louise are anywhere close to being able to accept young children, but you can explain their backstory and how you wound up with them. Then why and when hens make noises, but that they’re not roosters.

Sometimes creating neighborhood ambassadors can reduce or prevent crossness.

Eggs help too, but it’s hard to build up a supply with only two hens.

 

[Iluveggers]

what do you do instead?

I buy sexed pullets. Would love a roo or two but we aren’t allowed any.

 

[pollipazzi]

Do you know any of your neighbors with kids? And can you hear (or see) enough of the kids playing to see which ones seem kind and compassionate?

Maybe you could invite them over in very small numbers to meet the chickens. I doubt that Thelma and Louise are anywhere close to being able to accept young children, but you can explain their backstory and how you wound up with them. Then why and when hens make noises, but that they’re not roosters.

Sometimes creating neighborhood ambassadors can reduce or prevent crossness.

Eggs help too, but it’s hard to build up a supply with only two hens.

weird, but i don't really. besides the school kids when they walk past, they mostly live in the estates. the neighbours i mostly know are older . we're on one of the bigger streets in the village and they have all lived there their whole lives. we're the blow ins.

however, my neighbour friend that did the chicken negotiations knows everybody, and i am pretty sure she has told them all. lol!

 

[pollipazzi]

I buy sexed pullets. Would love a roo or two but we aren’t allowed any.

what do you do when you integrate them? like what's your integration routine,if you don't mind saying?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

weird, but i don't really. besides the school kids when they walk past, they mostly live in the estates. the neighbours i mostly know are older . we're on one of the bigger streets in the village and they have all lived there their whole lives. we're the blow ins.

however, my neighbour friend that did the chicken negotiations knows everybody, and i am pretty sure she has told them all. lol!

I do think you’re going to be fine, as long as there aren’t any ridiculously stuffy people around.

My husband and I were fretting about the occasional squawks in our yard, and our nextdoor neighbor, who literally climbs up on a box to chat over the fence, didn’t even know we had any for weeks. He was amazed and said he never heard a thing, unlike the little shrieking kid who lives in the house behind both of us!

 

[Iluveggers]

what do you do when you integrate them? like what's your integration routine,if you don't mind saying?

I keep them in a large dog crate in the garage for the first few weeks. Once the weather is warm enough (usually around 3 weeks in the summer), I move the dog crate into our secure run. I put the crate in the coop at night and take it out during the day. They stay in the crate for another week, and I add a small branch as a roost bar. By week 4 I partition off a small section of the run for them to “come out” during the day and go back into the crate at night, which gets moved into the coop every night. I use a roll of flexible garden fencing for the outside safe space, and open the dog crate door into it. Clothespins or binder clips work great to hold it together during the day and unattach easily at night. They have never had a problem going back into the crate,since they live in the crate from day 1.

In another week or two, I cut two small “doors” that are too small for the big hens to get through, and line them with a bright color so they are easy for the small chicks to find. This gives them 2 ways to “escape” back into their own area if they are being bullied. I observe a lot for the first few days. (I am a teacher and home for the summer, so we plan it around that). Once they start getting too big for the door, I try taking down the netting and letting them out completely. I move the dog crate into the human door of the coop before dark, (ours is big enough to fit it), and leave the human door open so the chicks can get in when it gets close to night. Once they get used to going into the actual coop and not just the crate, I take the crate out and leave a very low portable roost in its place. The older girls will usually not let them roost with them until they get to laying age (& even sometimes at laying age), so giving them a low roost allows them to join the flock without nighttime stress if they are super docile.

This has worked every time I’ve tried it. I know it sounds complicated but it actually is very low stress for me & the birds. If you can make your new cooping enough to fit a small dog crate, or a bird cage or something to that sort, the chicks will go right to it when then want to sleep and it trains them exactly where to go and protects them from being bullied in the early morning light before I open the hen door.

I hope that helps and wasn’t too long!

 

[pollipazzi]

I do think you’re going to be fine, as long as there aren’t any ridiculously stuffy people around.

My husband and I were fretting about the occasional squawks in our yard, and our nextdoor neighbor, who literally climbs up on a box to chat over the fence, didn’t even know we had any for weeks. He was amazed and said he never heard a thing, unlike the little shrieking kid who lives in the house behind both of us!

my next door neighbour said he never hears them. i don't know if he was just being nice or what

i can relate with the shrieking kid. having the school behind us, there's no shortage of shrieks.

there's also a lot of cows around and they make really weird noises. not just moo, like i expected