We are finishing putting the poultry fencing up tonight, and I am planning on moving the girls in the morning (that way I can keep an eye on them all day). I want this to go well, and I realized, contrary to the ridiculous amount of faith and confidence I normally have in myself, I do have a few questions!
1. Two of the chickens I have are cornish-crosses. You can guess that I don't have them for laying-purposes. My husband wanted a couple fryers. I've not gotten attached to them, but I have kept them with the other chicks through the brooding period. They are a couple of weeks older than my others, and probably should have been moved out a couple of weeks ago. My question is: should I even move them out with the layers? I am worried the eight of them will establish a pecking order with the two fryers, and things will go haywire when the two fryers are gone? Just wasn't sure how this worked.
2. I live in central Nebraska, the weather is gorgeous. As of now, we don't have a door that closes from the coop to the run. The run is all secured. But do they need to be shut in the coop at night?
3. One of my chickens is a silkie bantam. She's substantially smaller than all the others (They are all about a month and some days old). With her silly feathers, it's hard for me to tell if she's fully feathered yet or not. But she's SO TINY! I feel like it's too soon to move her out. Is a month long enough for a silkie bantam, or does she need a little more time?
Any help on any of these questions would be sooooo appreciated! You guys haven't failed me yet. THANK YOU!!
1. Two of the chickens I have are cornish-crosses. You can guess that I don't have them for laying-purposes. My husband wanted a couple fryers. I've not gotten attached to them, but I have kept them with the other chicks through the brooding period. They are a couple of weeks older than my others, and probably should have been moved out a couple of weeks ago. My question is: should I even move them out with the layers? I am worried the eight of them will establish a pecking order with the two fryers, and things will go haywire when the two fryers are gone? Just wasn't sure how this worked.
2. I live in central Nebraska, the weather is gorgeous. As of now, we don't have a door that closes from the coop to the run. The run is all secured. But do they need to be shut in the coop at night?
3. One of my chickens is a silkie bantam. She's substantially smaller than all the others (They are all about a month and some days old). With her silly feathers, it's hard for me to tell if she's fully feathered yet or not. But she's SO TINY! I feel like it's too soon to move her out. Is a month long enough for a silkie bantam, or does she need a little more time?
Any help on any of these questions would be sooooo appreciated! You guys haven't failed me yet. THANK YOU!!
