Morning!

[Lttlteapot]

Hi! My name is Jodi and I'm from the Maryland region.

My flock currently has 5 hens (Penny the buff orpington, Betty v the Jersey Giant, Pearl the lavender Orpington, Gloria the Leghorn, Piper the Polkie) and 1 rooster (Winnie the Roo, cuckoo Maran/Leghorn) that are a year old. I also have 6 chicks in the house that we're raising to eventually join our little flock (2 silkies Scottie and Raven, Aria the cream Legbar, Willa cuckoo Maran, Mango the sizzle, and Button the d'uccle). Also awaiting 4 more toward the end of the month (Mille Fleur, porcelain d'uccle, speckled Hamburg, welsummer). We are doubling the size of our coop and tripling our run.

Looking forward to advice and taking with you all!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello, Jodi, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Where was Gloria during the photo shoot?
Are you going to keep the bantams in with the LFs?

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Welcome to BYC Jodi, that picture is adorable. Looks like your having school. Beautiful flock you have too.

 

[Lttlteapot]

Hello, Jodi, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Where was Gloria during the photo shoot?
Are you going to keep the bantams in with the LFs?

Gloria was laying lol. She's fairly independent!

I'm unsure, since the Polkie is a bantam and Gloria is fairly little as well. We're ordering an Amish made custom shed 8x10 to be the new coop for them. Currently my 6 are in an 6x4 coop. The run we have now is 8x20. We're tripling that. I want them to have plenty of room! In the beginning, we'll have them partitioned by wire so they can see the new kids but not hurt them.

I also need to figure out if any of my new chicks are roos.... Can't have another unless I keep them separate. I have 4 straight runs - the d'uccle, 2 silkies, and the sizzle.

We have 2 acres and I was letting my little flock free range the backyard.... Until a fox got my Australorp, Tilly, last Saturday so they're now in the run unless I'm sitting with them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry about Tilly
I keep bantams and LF together with no problems. Main thing here is having enough space and roosts so everyone can spread out.

 

[DobieLover]

Gloria was laying lol. She's fairly independent!

I'm unsure, since the Polkie is a bantam and Gloria is fairly little as well. We're ordering an Amish made custom shed 8x10 to be the new coop for them. Currently my 6 are in an 6x4 coop. The run we have now is 8x20. We're tripling that. I want them to have plenty of room! In the beginning, we'll have them partitioned by wire so they can see the new kids but not hurt them.

I also need to figure out if any of my new chicks are roos.... Can't have another unless I keep them separate. I have 4 straight runs - the d'uccle, 2 silkies, and the sizzle.

We have 2 acres and I was letting my little flock free range the backyard.... Until a fox got my Australorp, Tilly, last Saturday so they're now in the run unless I'm sitting with them.

As long as the cockerel is raised around the senior rooster, he will likely be tolerated in the flock as long as he doesn't challenge the senior. He'd be a bit retarded to do so as he would be a bantam and Winnie is one big handsome dude!
But you could easily end up with two bantam cockerels. You'll have to work that out.

Have you considered using hot wires or poultry netting with a punchy charger to deter ground predators? I've had great success with mine. Nothing gets at my birds inside their 1/3 acre pen other than aerial predators and even then, I've only had a single strike that resulted in zero injuries as the two boys are always on look out and issue predator alerts when they see something.

 

[N F C]

Hi Jodi, what a lovely flock you have...thanks for sharing a picture!

 

[sourland]

Hello, Jodi, good morning, and welcome to BYC.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUNomenal community!
What a beautiful flock!
Best wishes & Be well!