My chickens are falling apart...HELP!

[jannellynn]

Thanks everyone for all of the advice. We only intended on having one roo for the flock, but 2 of the chicks we got we were told were hens turned out to be roos. All of these chickens have been together since babes, which has now been just over a year. Does that make a difference at all?

We now have 8 baby chicks that I hatched 2.5 weeks ago. When I add these to the current flock will 3 roos still be too many for 13 hens? Should I seperate the roos for the time being?

On another note...no, my chicks are not normally 'greasy' looking lol!

It has been raining all day and they decided to play in the rain rather than stay in their roost today when I went to take pics.

 

[Kittymomma]

A 1/10 ratio +/- is good for a backyard flock so I'd still eliminate two of the roos. At a year old this is their first full breeding season, they breed year round, but I notice a more, shall we say concentrated effort in the spring....In the meantime you may want to do a search for hen saddles. I know severel byc members make them for sale and I believe that there is a no-sew fleece pattern on here somewhere too.

If you haven't added to your flock before now be sure to do a search on integrating chicks, it's worth reading up on.

 

[cocosandy]

I haven't seen pox in my flock (thank god!) but I was thinking that the pics look alot like the scabbed combs of fighting roos...and that the feathers missing look alot like what happens when an agressive roo grabs a hen by the scruff of the neck and spurs scrape her.....Believe me, I have had roos fight here, and it looks like that.
Those combs look like they are scabbed. If its a viral pox, its also possible that they are run down because of stress and thats why you are seeing it return.
I have too many roos but I also have many, many hens and some land....so the only problem is the neighbors.
You have way, way too many roos. I believe that each roo needs 10-12 girls to be happy. The poor hens must be so stressed and the roos as well.
I would at least separate the roos and rotate them through the flock and see what happens.
Last year I had a bunch of little fighting roos...I ended up bringing them to a petting zoo that has many chickens free ranging on 10 acres, but before I could get there I kept them in separate cages andwent through an elaborate rotation schedule. The ones who had to stay in a rabbit cage in the barn were unhappy, but it gave everyone a rest.
In any case, you have to move some of those roos on....so either look for a petting zoo or cull them...I dont know if you can move them looking like that.
If you dont cull, you can ask at your feed shop; sometimes the guys at the feed shop will take them for meat.
If you cant stand that, then do the cage rotation until they are looking good again and see if you can pass them on as pets or breeders.
try listing them on eggbid and craigs list.
Good luck....too many roos is a problem

Oh, another thing Ive tried is to tie them by on leg in separate corners of the yard so they can come within a foot of eachother but not touch eachother. They will jump at eachother and try to fight for an entire day...or longer...and they will probably will give up eventually.
You will still have a problem with the hens tho...but a pecking order will be established and they will tolerate eachother....repeat as necessary.
That worked with my 2 original pet roos when I started out. It worked like a charm.

But if you wanted then to keep them you would need many more hens...equalling 30 hens if youre keeping the 3 roos.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Good good, I figured they were wet, but ya just never know from pictures. Mine look like drown rats after a good rain, but they don't care! lol

I had 2 roosters with 8 hens for a short time, and it was really really bad on the hens, especially the favorite one. She's still avoiding the remaining rooster when she can --- and I've already got her in a hen saddle that she wears with pride!!
I intend to keep a couple of extra roosters of specific breeds, but I'm gonna do a bachelor pen or maybe a tie out program, because they aren't going to be allowed to tear up my girls like that again!!

 

[jannellynn]

Oh my goodness...a HEN SADDLE??!! LOL I have never heard of that but will def look into it today. I hate to have to get rid of any roos, but at the same time with all the other animals and kids we have I for sure do not have time to dedicate to any type of rotation system. Our neighbors just got a couple hens to start their farm so I will ask if they are interested in a roo.

I'll keep updating...