Jumping In With Both Feet....Ringnecks and Yellow Goldens

[waterbabies]

So...My husband said no pheasants..........he then realised that ringneck = food. LOL So I ordered 100 ringneck chicks for a May shippment. I have found LOADS of great info here on them. We plan to eat most of them between us and family but plan to keep a few to breed later. What cock to hen ratio is recomended? I am thinking 1 cock to 4 hens is plenty to keep us supplied in meat but want to be sure that 4 hens is enough to keep him from tearing them up breeding.

My husband wants to raise a couple of cocks to have mounted by a taxidermist buddy of his. Can the cocks be kept together as long as there are no hens with them?

If he can have ringnecks I can have ornamentals....Right???? I bought an unrelated pair of 09 Yellow Goldens today and am negotiating with 2 different Red Golden breeders for some '10 hatch. Are they best kept as pairs, trios or quads? If they can be kept in trios or quads do you still get good fertility with just one cock?

If they can be kept in trio or quad I am interested in another Yellow Gold hen or 2...............Anybody have any?

 

[chseeads]

I've read some stuff on ringnecks that says one male can go with 8-10 hens.

1 male and 8 hens is what I have honed my melanistic flock down to now. This will be my first breeding year.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I have 1 to 5 on my silvers, & cousin has 1 to 3 on his red goldens.

 

[Tony K T]

On ringnecks,reeves and silvers the more hens the merrier.They can be very aggessive during breeding,and he is breeding multiple hens,there is not just 1 hen taking a beating.There are some breed that will only breed 1 hen,but this applies to none of the common breeds.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[lobojoe]

Ring necks can be best kept with a 1 to 8 ratio and males can be kept with other males as long as no females are in the pen with them as well as the pen size must be large enough to give them all enough room to get away from each other. add places for them to hide in (tree branches works great) As for your ornimentals I too have red goldens, lady amherst, Reeves, ring necks and Himalyans. and I keep all of them in trios and they seem to be very happy with that arrangment and I get eggs from them with no problems. I must say the Reeves and ringnecks are very agriseve birds and teritorial over their mates especialy durring breading season.

 

[waterbabies]

Thanks for the info! I guess I better keep more than 4 hens for my ringneck then. Guess I will need to build a bigger pen for them when the time comes. I am working on some trades now for a red golden trio and a lady amherst trio. What size pen do you recomend for the goldens and amherst trios. I know the ringnecks are supey flighty and need more space but how much more? I know a guy with a pr of reeves for sale but they just don't do it for me. They were bouncing off the pen when we were 30 ft away. My yellow golds are almost as tame as my giant cochins. How are the amherst as far a temperment?

 

[Tony K T]

The time for a bigger pen is now.They are pairing up and will start breeding in the within 2 weeks.My pens are 6x12x8 and they house trios just fine.Foe ringnecks build it as big as you can,place branches all around so they have hiding places,this will also calm them down eventouly.Amherst are a little more timid then goldens but not by much.
In N.H.,Tony.[[/

 

[waterbabies]

I think I am safe holding off till fall to build breeding pens for the ringnecks..................They won't even hatch till May and won't be here till May 5th as day old chicks. LOL

My Yellow Goldens are quite tame........are all the golden color varieties this way or are certian varieties tamer than others?
I am pre ordering a trio of red goldens as we speak and they will be sent as soon as they can be sexed. If you work hande on with them will they be as tame as my chickens?

Sorry for all the novice stupidity......I just want to do this right!