Hi Everyone: My name is Cynthia and I live in Reno. My husband and I are new to chickens. We got our first three birds this summer - supposedly three females. Imagine our surprise when we found out that one of the "girls'" turned out to be a Rhode Island Red Rooster. We know next to nothing about chickens ... except that Ruben the Rooster has quite the attitude! But the group, Ruben, Lullabelle and Sierra are quite fun and each has a different personality. Some questions .... will our rooster continue to have an attitude? What treats are good for the birds? At what age to chickens lay eggs? Cynthia
Hello there and welcome to BYC! Young roosters can be pretty spunky. Some will calm down over time and be quite friendly. Others can become quite aggressive and even hurt you. Especially once they grow their spurs. So time will tell. A treat or two each day can help break up boredom and help the birds bond with you. Every time they experince something positive with you, they do grow closer to you and food is a great bonding agent. Here is our treats chart of some things you might consider offering up to your flock...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens Just keep the treats to once or twice a day and only what they will clean up in a few minutes. Treats should only compromise about 10% of the diet. 5 to 6 months is a pretty common time to start laying. When their combs, faces and wattles start to get large and red and the birds start to squat for you when you lean over them, (the birds will hunker down low to the ground) the eggs should be coming down the pipes soon! At this point you would want to get them on layer feed and oystershell on the side for laying those hard shelled eggs. Good luck with your new birds and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!
The treat list TwoCrows gave you the link to is an excellent resource, I've referred to it several times. If you have questions, always feel free to ask. The Learning Center is a great place to get lots of information (that's where the Treat Chart is located): https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center Thanks for joining us, it's nice to have you here!
Hi! Welcome Cynthia! I'm glad you are enjoying your chickens. You may find that Ruben will become a bit much for only 2 hens, particularly an adolescent roo. He may insist on having his way with your hens before they are appreciative of his advances! This of course isn't always the case, but the typical ratio is 10-15 hens for one rooster. You may find interesting and helpful reading to manage Ruben in https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying. Don't hesitate to start a thread there as well if needed. Best of luck to you!
Hello! Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC.
