Is this normal?

[missnu01]

I always like it when adult chickens meet baby chickens. The baby chicks are all like hey what's going on, and the adults are like ugh. What is that?! Quick peck it and maybe it will go away. I have a big gray hen, sold to me as an EE, but her size, egg color, shape, and lack of beard makes me think she is probably a buff orpington easter egger mix. Anyway she is a turd when it comes to chicks. She will go out of her way to peck them which they soon learn to step away when they see her coming. She causes no injury, but just acts like a punk all the time. But she lays me jumbo eggs, that hatch out chipmunk chicks so she will stay until this winter when I can convince someone to buy her. Lol. I'm not a fan of mean EEs, that lay cream eggs and don't have beards. She has the green legs and pea comb, anyway let me try to upload a picture real quick of her and see what you guys think.

There she is next to my buff orpington rooster and he's a pretty big fella.

There he is with all his girls. Those salmon faverolles with he bald backs are not bantams. The tiny chicken in front is my woods broody come down for her daily food water and dust bath and then she disappears again. That rooster has fathered chicks with all those hens...how...I'm not sure. But my EE seems too large to be an EE. I know they are big, but not BO big. Also I know my faverolles are rough looking but I have too many roosters and those girls are easy to catch. The EE is mean so they don't mess with her too much, and the BO seems to protect the barnyard bantam pretty well. I have hatched a couple of her eggs that the BO fathered as well as a couple my EE roo fathered.

Here he is.

He fathered this chick with the barnyard bantam

I am soon going to replace him with this guy because he is possibly the most beautiful rooster I have ever seen

And another of him
OK a few more of him...lol. In full sun he has green blue and purple sparkles. Blue on his wings the purple on his chest and tail and the green on his tail. His tail feathers are actually checkered with the purple and green... truly a rainbow rooster.

I have a salmon faverolle rooster because I wanted a rainbow roo, but this guy is so much prettier if you ask me. Here's my salmon guy. Always alone, rarely crows, never gets any hens. Poor fella.
I apparently don't have any of him without his head on the ground but you get the idea. He has a really big beard but a sad little comb...then again faverolles shouldn't have a big comb... but I love a big comb huge wattled rooster

...

like this guy, and then I'm done with he rooster pictures.

And the side shot

Lol. I just love roosters so much. Gotta get some more hens..but already I'm loving my newly hatched roosters. How can I tell they are roosters? Because they are pretty. Lol.

Anyway...enough of that.

 

[Melabella]

When I introduced new young birds, I put a wire enclosure in the yard with a covered area for the young birds. I left the gate open a little so that the young birds could enter & exit at will but the bigger birds can't. This has worked great! The younger birds go out in the yard with the older birds + 2 roosters, & when they feel intimidated, they scurry back into the enclosure. The older birds hardly pay the younger birds any attention now (it's been about 3 weeks). None of the younger birds have chosen to go into the older birds coop yet, the still prefer the "safety" of the covered area inside the wire enclosure.
The older birds, including the 2 roos are a little over a year old. The young birds are a little over a month old now.

Can I ask how many older birds you have with the 2 roos? Do they have their own separate flocks, and free range and co exist, or is one roo just 2nd in command?

 

[missnu01]

My roosters are always friendly with the chicks. Except the grown EE rooster. He has started attacking my up and coming EE cockerels. Bought 6 EE this year... 4 of them are boys...and only one out of the 6 has a beard, and that one is the new rainbow cockerel soon to become the rainbow roo.

 

[missnu01]

My adult roosters don't fight. They all know the BO is in charge. He will sometimes rush one of the lesser roos for trying to get his ladies, and sometimes captain giant comb will flying rooster ninja kick the BO off a hen and then run like all hades is after him...hilarious. The BO always seems to be caught off guard by that.

 

[missnu01]

The order is BO, Captain giant comb, EE, and then the lone ranger (salmon boy)

 

[cabinchicky]

missnu01 your roo reminds me of my Fester!!

 

[missnu01]

I can definitely see the resemblance. I have had red and black, red and blue, black and white, white black and red, solid red with a black tail, red and gray, but never a spangled rainbow glitter ee rooster. So I'm keeping him.

 

[oldcityhenhouse]

I have 4 hens all different breeds, my Lavender Orpington was named Bossy for the obvious reason. She was the biggest hen in my coop. I thought she was over due to lay eggs and she didn't visit the boxes. The other day she started to crow. Well it turns out Bossy is a rooster. We returned her to the breeder as he needed a rooster for his girls. Ya sometimes just don't know

 

[karenerwin]

Can I ask how many older birds you have with the 2 roos? Do they have their own separate flocks, and free range and co exist, or is one roo just 2nd in command?

My older group consists of 8 hens & the 2 roos. The Ameraucana/ EE roo, Texas, use to be alpha roo, then the RIR roo, Big Red, matured. They ended up battling( while I was at work) & Big Red came out the alpha rooster. We built a 2nd coop with the intention of moving Texas over there with some ladies of his own. I bought 5 Ameraucanas/EE's and they are almost old enough. I don't want Texas to try to mate them too soon.
As it is, Big Red "puts up with" Texas in his free range yard. The only time there is trouble is when Texas tries to get his way with the ladies, then Big Red chases him away.
The young chicks that were introduced into the yard are 5 weeks old now and there are 18 of them! It was my first try at hatching eggs in an incubator. I put in 20 eggs, by day 10 only 1 was bad and of the 19 left 18 of them hatched!! That was a lot more than I had thought. But in a way that is good because of my 8 hens, 4 of them have feather loss from to much attention from Big Red. So I'm hoping with an over abundance of ladies (once the hatchies mature) maybe his "favorites" will catch a bit of a break.
Texas, in the meantime, spends a lot of time over by the new coop. It's almost like he knows those ladies are for him.

 

[Kleo]

Giving treats makes mine very friendly .... free ranging, they see me and run over and more times than not will come out of the woods when called.