Quote:
A couple of things on this. First EEs are a hybrid. You don't breed EEs to EEs and get more EEs. Hybrids do not breed true. If you want to create EEs then you need pure Ameraucanas or Araucanas which you would then cross with a light brown egg laying breed. The resultant F1 offspring would be EEs. I'm not sure if that's what you were meaning or not, but thought clarification would be good if nothing else for others reading who may be wondering.
Second is that the very act of treating your roos as "lap buddies" increases your odds of having aggressive roosters. Raising them like your female chickens is a bad idea. Roosters with a healthy fear and respect of humans are far less likely to challenge your dominance than those who are intimately familiar with being in your immediate physical vicinity and who view you as one of the flock. Don't coddle your cockerels and you'll have much higher rates of success.
Quote:
Some very important points here on heating.
Another thing I would like to remind everyone of is that heating increases, rather than decreases the likelihood of frostbite. I know it was mentioned in passing that some are heating for fear of frostbite, but that is very much counterproductive. The temperature range right around freezing is the danger zone for frostbite for chickens because that temperature range fosters moisture which is a much bigger factor in frostbite than temperature itself.