Last year we had a roo who was horrible to us and the hens and went to freezer camp. As soon as he was gone our egg production went up significantly.
This year I have 2-20 week old roos and 30 hens who are 1 1/2 years to 20 weeks old. Two of the older hens went broody two weeks ago but up until about a week ago I was still getting 6-8 eggs per day from the older hens and the pullets are laying an egg or two every few days. Since the roos have started mating (regularly) my egg count is down to 2-4 eggs a day! I've looked for hidden nests and even locked them in for a day to make sure I had all the eggs. No evidence of egg eating. No molting yet either.
Could this be because of the roos again? They aren't being as rough on the hens as the last roo. The hens either squat for them or they walk away and the roos give up and walk away. No chasing and biting stressing them out like last year. I really, really want a roo in the flock. The two I have will be replaced in the Fall (hopefully) with a good quality roo for a breeding program I want to start but until then I was hoping to keep these roos to be with the girls when they free range.
Any ideas? I can't completely separate them so it's either freezer camp or stay with the flock until they are replaced.
This year I have 2-20 week old roos and 30 hens who are 1 1/2 years to 20 weeks old. Two of the older hens went broody two weeks ago but up until about a week ago I was still getting 6-8 eggs per day from the older hens and the pullets are laying an egg or two every few days. Since the roos have started mating (regularly) my egg count is down to 2-4 eggs a day! I've looked for hidden nests and even locked them in for a day to make sure I had all the eggs. No evidence of egg eating. No molting yet either.
Could this be because of the roos again? They aren't being as rough on the hens as the last roo. The hens either squat for them or they walk away and the roos give up and walk away. No chasing and biting stressing them out like last year. I really, really want a roo in the flock. The two I have will be replaced in the Fall (hopefully) with a good quality roo for a breeding program I want to start but until then I was hoping to keep these roos to be with the girls when they free range.
Any ideas? I can't completely separate them so it's either freezer camp or stay with the flock until they are replaced.