Need advice

[trudyg]

I have a rooster and 4 hens, all over 2 years old. Only one is laying, probably due to heat, and they all have had issues with scaly leg mites and dreadlock butts (not the roo). I've been bathing, dipping, etc to manage these issues since last end-of-July. The butt issue was better until we got this terrible heat and could be due to heat stress.

I also have 4 buff orpington, 7 red ranger and 1 egyptian fayoumi chicks that are almost 11 weeks old. I think there is at least 1, possibly 2, rangers that are male and the fayoumi is definitely male.

I had gotten the red rangers for meat but now DH is saying maybe keep the pullets for layers and butcher the older birds instead, kind of start fresh without issues. The scaly legs are under control (castor oil once a week for 3 weeks) and the dreadlocks are not lice/mites and I've clipped feathers and bathed/checked for bugs, sanitized the coop, etc. So, I don't think those issues will transfer to the chicks.

What do you all think? My roo is great with the girls, good protector, so I'm inclined to keep him (don't know what to do about the egyptian), how long would he live do you think? Also, I don't know if egyptian would be as good as Roscoe (cuckoo marans). I will butcher all males but the one I keep. Should I do all 4 hens or just the ones not laying? Or would you do all the adults, keeping the egyptian, to eliminate the possibility of issues continuing with the new ones? I really don't need 15 females.....unless they hatch me out some more birds for meat. What's a good ratio, 1 male to 8 females? I'd like to do whatever I decide to do this weekend and get it overwith, so please advise me.

 

[Kwimmer78]

I would wait until your four-week-old chicks become full grown to see if they are roosters. I think a good ratio is 1 male to 6 females... but that's just me. If the two do turn out to be roosters, it could be best to butcher the rooster you have now, unless the two new ones are really scrawny and would be bad mates for the hens. But if you want to keep your rooster that you have now I would butcher the hens, but keep at least one so that it is not just the rooster and the juveniles. Roosters are not very good with young chickens so you should have a hen in there just to make things a little safer. I am not super experienced with using birds for meat, but I hope my suggestions can help a little

 

[snow5164]

Red rangers are sex links? Or are the broilers for meat ?

 

[Geena]

If you want to hatch out some meat birds, I would butcher the older girls and keep the new pullets. I would also butcher the fayoumi, he'll be too small to produce good meat birds for you. The red ranger cockerels I've grown out have been huge, sometimes have leg issues and often don't have the best disposition as they mature, so I'd butcher them as well, and keep the older tried and true rooster.

 

[Geena]

I would wait until your four-week-old chicks become full grown to see if they are roosters. I think a good ratio is 1 male to 6 females... but that's just me. If the two do turn out to be roosters, it could be best to butcher the rooster you have now, unless the two new ones are really scrawny and would be bad mates for the hens. But if you want to keep your rooster that you have now I would butcher the hens, but keep at least one so that it is not just the rooster and the juveniles. Roosters are not very good with young chickens so you should have a hen in there just to make things a little safer. I am not super experienced with using birds for meat, but I hope my suggestions can help a little

It's been my experience that mature roosters are excellent with young pullets, and that the cockerels who grow up with them are the ones most likely to mate aggressively and before they are ready. Also if you keep an original hen with the rooster they might form an alliance against the youngsters, whereas if you just keep the rooster the integration should be smooth and easy. JMO

 

[trudyg]

Thanks, Geena, that's good advice. All of the chicks are 11 weeks old, so I have a pretty good idea which are male. As a matter of fact, I've already butchered 3 of them. I don't know if DH thinks it's too hard for me to butcher or if he really wants to keep all the pullets, he often says what he thinks makes it easier for me. My plan was 5 buff orpingtons as layers (and broody's eventually) and 10 red rangers as meat birds, with the egyptian thrown in as a packing peanut.

I'm running an add in my work bulletin to give him away, so I hope someone takes him. He's small and petite, very pretty. One of my buff orpingtons was attacked by a hawk, healed up but was blind and then, recently, one of my older hens attacked her. she was so bloody that we culled her, even tho I think she could have survived the attack but then who knows if Rosie would get her again? So why chance it. She was buddies with our egyptian and he really misses her

I'll plan on keeping Rosie the bully, since she's the only one laying, and butchering the other older hens and then butcher Rosie when the pullets come into lay this fall. I wonder if red ranger pullets mature faster--they sure grow faster! But, let me also so, these rangers forage very well. I filled the feeder yesterday morning and it was barely touched when I got home last night.

Thanks all for the advice.

 

[trudyg]

I just read your next post, Geena. hadn't thought of the elders ganging up on the youngers. I may just do Rosie, too, and let Roscoe wait for the pullets to grow up. He's a really good rooster, finds them treat, protects them, is nice to me and the grandkids, easy to handle.

 

[Geena]

Thanks, Geena, that's good advice. All of the chicks are 11 weeks old, so I have a pretty good idea which are male. As a matter of fact, I've already butchered 3 of them. I don't know if DH thinks it's too hard for me to butcher or if he really wants to keep all the pullets, he often says what he thinks makes it easier for me. My plan was 5 buff orpingtons as layers (and broody's eventually) and 10 red rangers as meat birds, with the egyptian thrown in as a packing peanut.

I'm running an add in my work bulletin to give him away, so I hope someone takes him. He's small and petite, very pretty. One of my buff orpingtons was attacked by a hawk, healed up but was blind and then, recently, one of my older hens attacked her. she was so bloody that we culled her, even tho I think she could have survived the attack but then who knows if Rosie would get her again? So why chance it. She was buddies with our egyptian and he really misses her

I'll plan on keeping Rosie the bully, since she's the only one laying, and butchering the other older hens and then butcher Rosie when the pullets come into lay this fall. I wonder if red ranger pullets mature faster--they sure grow faster! But, let me also so, these rangers forage very well. I filled the feeder yesterday morning and it was barely touched when I got home last night.

Thanks all for the advice.

The red ranger pullets do mature fast. I kept one last year for my meat bird project and she was a wonderful gal and an excellent layer, 6 to 7 eggs a week.

 

[trudyg]

How fast would you say a red ranger pullet will reach point of lay? Murray McMurray says they reach maturity at 12 weeks, but I think that means for meat. The reason I ask is that I had several that were cockerels, getting red combs and wattles very early, and now I have several at 11 weeks old that are getting red combs. Not red red, but definitely redder than my buff orpington pullets (who are still just yellow barely tinged with pink). I butchered the 3 that were definite boys, held off on one that was red but iffy as to sex, and now that one is red and a couple of the others are coloring up.

I plan to butcher all the older hens and, if some of these chicks end up cockerels, then I'll do them, too, at that time. I've put the egyptian fayoumi in the bulletin at work so, if no one wants him, he'll go at that time as well. I have a big family thing coming up first weekend in August, so don't know if I'll get to them before then or not. Will make time for it if they act up but so far so good.

I don't know if it means anything or not, but the egyptian cock and chick that I think is a cock sleep on the lowest roosting pole, lower than the adults and lower than the other 11 week old chicks. I wonder if the adults are making them sleep there? My main roost is 12' long with a ladder at each end to get up to, all the adults stay at one end and all the pullets stay at the other, with about 5' clear space separating them.

 

[Mosey2003]

I would be more worried that your "dreadlock" situation is actually vent gleet. Washing alone will not get rid of it, and the rooster breeding hens with it will continue to pass it around to un-affected ones.

Agree that an older rooster is actually a better breeder, the young ones tend to be aggressive and sloppy for about a year/six months at least.