Hay everyone!!! I am starting my first chickens and coop this year. Building our coop currently. All my chickens have had a summer condo in a run Aka a very large dog house. There happy. But we have had some problems. I started off with only 6 chicks. Worried and nervous that will all I have on my plate I may find chicken raising too much. My hesitation has resulted in some issues. We took a class at big R where they did tell us you may in up with a Roo. But they made it seem like it rarely happened. Still I was actually excited when one seemed to be a boy. Here we were my happy little clutch and I when a few weeks ago a easter egger I was sadly and obviously thinking was a girl decided to clear the issue up. Walked up to me, looked up and crowed. ....... I should have noticed this earlier. He is very fancy. Most animals the boys are fancy. I have a lady who is supposed to pick up my other rooster tonight. But now im down to 4 hens...... I hope. And they never tought in the class or have I come across that you need at least 8 hens per rooster.
where can I get hens this late in the year? Can I still get marans, blue and olive eggers?
Rural Kings (RK) often have chicks starting in the spring. Some stores choose to keep selling them longer than others, but I've yet to see one that actually has them all year. So long as you don't have a HOA mandating how many of what kind you have, you're free to get whatever chickens you feel like owning. I've really cut down on how many breeds I'm keeping, but Easter Eggers (EE) are definitely the one that's staying. On at least some occasions, I've had pink, mauve, cream, sky blue, spearmint, speckled, brick red, and milk chocolate in my egg basket. It's delightful for me, and the colored eggs have so far been the only ones anyone's willing to pay for here.
Thank you! Yes I understand it wont be easy but I already planned on integrating 6 more next year. This just makes this happen faster. I was happy to get a rooster because we were told this would help integration. I wont get more hens until we finish the new coop and move the run to it. Then there will be plenty of space. Til then ill just study up on integration tips. The lady who picked up the rooster said I should visit rural king and that they have chickens all year. Doesn't sound right but ill look.
I guess different people different experiences? They said I had to have 8 or get rid of both roosters. Not just one. But you are the second person today to say that's not right. I would like a few more hens. 4 are not giving me many eggs for 6 person household. I am going to have to deal with integration sooner or later. but I guess I dont have to worry over having 8. thanks all!
Dose anyone know of a ok and not ok to feed to the chickens list? Everyone here keeps saying feed them anything but I don't trust that idea. Other than feed they have been getting garden tomatoes, watermelon rinds. herb cuttings. I tried to add protein with the cat food suggestion and when they were not impressed with that gave them some salmon which was a win.
Chickens generally know what's okay to eat and what isn't okay to eat. They nibble foods they don't know, and if it makes them sick, they stop eating it. Some foods are toxic to people and/or other mammals but are NOT toxic to birds. Poke is one such case where birds eat it fine even though it's toxic to mammals. Provided ample plant alternatives, chicken poisoning is exceptionally rare and nothing to worry about. There are things which are toxic to them that aren't to us as well (such as painkillers ending in -caine). Most "toxic lists" consist only of plants which could possibly have an adverse side effect on
mammals, and
many of the plants on such lists are actually beneficial for birds.
You don't need any set number of hens to any set number of roosters. Some roosters have incredible sex drives; others don't. It's all going to depend on the boys as individuals. If your hens are popular enough to lose the feathers on their backsides, you should consider adding more hens, buying saddles for them, or reducing the number of roosters. Even with forty hens, however, some hens are "the favorites" and will likely be ridden barebacked anyway because roosters do play favorites with the ladies. Generally, at least two girls for every boy is advised, but some boys can be happy with only one girl.
Integration can be trying, but it can also be lackluster. Again, it depends entirely on the crowd of birds you're keeping. The first flock I had contained several Rhode Island Reds (RIR) and a few red sexlinks (RIR derived), and unfortunately, RIR are really, really good at recognizing the new kids on the flock and can be decisively aggressive for an extended period of time before allowing the intruders to remain alive in their vicinity. My current mixed flock, however, is a-okay with everyone, seemingly, and we regularly trade birds in and out. All summer, I've had a spate of broodies, and I get new chicks pretty much every spring. Very few problems integrating or reintegrating members here.
It's handy to have a partition through which birds can see each other before you let them have bodily contact, so consider having new birds housed in a quarantine from which your senior flock members can see them. One might even say that chickens like advance notice before company comes over and plans to stay forever as roomies.
I understand. I just gave up my best rooster. Made me nervous but everyone swears the underdog in my coop will step up to the job. But I still wonder if he will be as good. I hope it works out for you. I bet separating them will help. Vying for rank tends to make animals aggressive.
If your top roo was good to the ladies, don't bet on the underdog. Lower rung roosters tend to be more rape-y with lots of competition; however, taking away the competition isn't guaranteed to improve anything about his demeanor. Sometimes lower rung roosters can actually become more aggressive with other birds, other pets, or even humans. They can also man up and become genuine treasures for the flock. You won't know until you make the leap, really.
On the contrary, having multiple roosters keeps human aggression down in rooster populations. The more he has to compete, the less he'll care about you manhandling his ladies.
