I think Charlotte may be a Charlie, he or she crowed this morning. I dont know what to do now, I wa

[16 paws]

Hi everyone, I have 3 chickens and a big coop and run. I am trying to figure out what to do now if one of my chicks are a rooster. We live in Vista, Ca. It is county not city so I am pretty sure we can have a roo but are we going to have baby chicks or what? The chicks were born in early August so they are about 5 months old.

This is Charlotte and she crowed this morning a few times. She is bigger than the other two chickens. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks so much....

 

[sourland]

Charlie it is.

 

[my sunwolf]

Wow, is he a Dark Brahma? He's gorgeous and 100% roo.

You could let him breed the hens (he'll be fertile in about 1 month) and get an incubator for your own babies

 

[16 paws]

I dont know what kind of chicken he is, we got them from the feed store and and I forgot what kind they said they were. Do I have to get an incubator and do I have to have baby chicks? I know that sounds stupid but I dont really know much about this subject. Thanks again for your help....

 

[16 paws]

Here is a picture of their home. We only have three chickens, I wasnt counting on a roo but I dont really want to get rid of him.

 

[MeatKing]

Wow, Nice coop!!! That's awesome!!

No you don't have to have babies. It takes 21 days for an egg to become a chick. Just collect them everyday and you'll be fine if you don't want chicks..

Sometimes your hen will go "broody" which means she wants to sit on the eggs.. And hatch babies.. She will sit in nesting box, and peck at you, when you try to take the eggs. This will/can happen whether or not you have a rooster.

Be prepaired, sometimes rooster can get mean as they get older.. EI, Our rooster will be leaving when that happens, as our children could loose an eye, or get some serious scratches/scars from one. So if you have young children, and want them to enjoy the chickens, as do I. You may choose to get rid of him.

My sil, brings a shovel in the coop with her, as she's got a real mean rooster.
Some roosters are good, and don't get mean. Then they say you can train a rooster to be nice.. I don't have time or patince for that.. It will be a rooster in a pot at that point for me.

 

[16 paws]

Thanks for the compliment on the coop, we worked hard on it and think it came out nice. Here are some pics of the inside. Also, thanks so much for the advice, greatly appreciated.
Marie

Those are wooden eggs in the nest box.

This is where they sleep, inside the coop, it is so funny to watch them climb up the ramp everynight to go to bed.

 

[elsfieldchickens]

what a nice coop!

 

[Chickenfan4life]

Charlie is a Dark Brahma, the other hen in the picture is a Light Brahma.

BTW:

 

[theoldchick]

Your chickens are very lucky! What a wonderful place for them. Eggs have to be incubated before chicks hatch. You can do this with an incubator or allow the hens themselves to do the hatching. The hen will go broody and refuse to leave the nest. They'll fluff up and make strange noises if you get near them. You can prevent from having chicks by simply collecting the eggs every day. Yes, you can eat fertilized eggs so long as are collected on a daily basis. No, you will not be eating a baby chick because nothing starts to form until the eggs are incubated.

Good luck with your flock! You are going to have a blast with them!