- May 21, 2009
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I started out with 6 hens and they are 3 years or so old now one died over the winter and since I could tell things were winding down I picked up 6 more this spring. I have since had to put 2 more down that I think were internally laying.
So I have been working to get them together without killing each other. First I would just put them in a pen near the other birds once or twice a day. Then I put them out in a temporary coop full time with a fence that was shared between the two so they could see each other but not be together. Then I would give them supervised visits. They are now about 10 or 11 weeks old are together and the last two nights I have put the little ones in the main coop. They still wont roost with the other birds but a few huddle on the floor and a couple roost on the steps up to the main roost. No major fights or hassles at this point just the occasional dirty look or a quick peck when someone gets too close.
All that to say what should I do for food? I have the young ones on grower and the old ones on layer. I am only getting a couple eggs every few days or so from the big girls. Right now I have the grower in the temporary coop and the layer in the big coop but they all have access to both for now. Since they are now going to be together full time....
Should I:
1. Just feed them all grower for now figuring it wont hurt the older birds and they aren't laying consistently anyway?
2. Mix the food 50%/50% grower/layer?
3. Not worry about it too much?
I should add that up until a few days ago I didn't need to worry about the little ones going in the coop (where the layer feed is) because they would not go in there just in the last day or so did they feel comfortable enough to walk in there on their own.
So I have been working to get them together without killing each other. First I would just put them in a pen near the other birds once or twice a day. Then I put them out in a temporary coop full time with a fence that was shared between the two so they could see each other but not be together. Then I would give them supervised visits. They are now about 10 or 11 weeks old are together and the last two nights I have put the little ones in the main coop. They still wont roost with the other birds but a few huddle on the floor and a couple roost on the steps up to the main roost. No major fights or hassles at this point just the occasional dirty look or a quick peck when someone gets too close.
All that to say what should I do for food? I have the young ones on grower and the old ones on layer. I am only getting a couple eggs every few days or so from the big girls. Right now I have the grower in the temporary coop and the layer in the big coop but they all have access to both for now. Since they are now going to be together full time....
Should I:
1. Just feed them all grower for now figuring it wont hurt the older birds and they aren't laying consistently anyway?
2. Mix the food 50%/50% grower/layer?
3. Not worry about it too much?
I should add that up until a few days ago I didn't need to worry about the little ones going in the coop (where the layer feed is) because they would not go in there just in the last day or so did they feel comfortable enough to walk in there on their own.
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