my new responsibility of 10 chickens

[invernessleander34452]

I inherited 4 roosters as a practical joke. I fell in love with them. Then a friend gave me a pullet. Then another friend gave me her 4 hens and a banty rooster because she had to move in to an apartment. I now have 5 roosters and 5 hens. 2 of the hens are laying eggs, the other 3 are too young. 4 of the roosters are bantys and the alpha rooster is bigger but I have no idea what kind he is, except he is orange and very fluffy and long feathered. They are free-range in my fenced back yard. I feed them well and give them laying mash and have built them a shelter from the rain. I live in Florida so I don't think cold will be a problem here. So I went from no chickens to 10 chickens in the last 10 weeks. The alpha rooster seemed to direct to two laying hens as to where to lay eggs, and I think he has plucked out their tail feathers surrounding their vent to facilitate mating??

Anyway, any information you could give me would be appreciated. They seem happy and healthy and the banty that came with the 4 hens has taken a passive role and is not playing with his 4 ladies anymore. I want so to care for them properly and I am clueless about chickens.
I have had cats and dogs but never chickens so I am at a loss as to what they need in the way of shelter, warmth in the winter (I am in Inverness, FL in zone 9) and do you ever reach a point when you can pick them up and pet them? They are so cute and come to me now when I feed them. At first, they ran away when I went out to feed them. I am not interested in raising little chicks, I just want the eggs for ourselves and neighbors. But i want to do all I can to give them the best care. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

[Mahonri]

Well, my first suggestion is to get rid of 4 of the roosters. That's too many roos for so few hens. Pick the one you love the most and try to re-home the other 4.

Tail feathers may be gone because of molting... or you have some green or blue egg layers!

It would be nice if they had some place secure to stay at night... not just a "shelter". They need roosts at least a few feet off of the ground.

Continue to feed them and give them treats... eventually they may warm up to you.

Do lots of reading on the forum here and you will be well educated on the care of chickens quickly. I google earthed Inverness and it looks far enough south that you won't have to worry about the cold, but you may have to be certain that they always have water available in the summer.

Good luck!

 

[momma's chickens]

Congratulations on your babies. I have to agree although that that is too many roosters. If you must keep them, you need to make a seperate pen for them otherwise they will terrorize the hens.

 

[gritsar]

Hi Inverness and welcome to BYC.
I answered your post in the behavior category.