Need help with my chickens

[Sahar7]

Hi everyone,

I am currently having only three hens and one rooster. they are about the age of 4 months now. Two of them (hen+rooster) was together since they were born and two weeks ago I just added the two other hens to them. They are getting well along together now, eating and playing together, but still I can see they are sometimes still separated two by two. So I am wondering if I take away the rooster, would that cause them Stress? how should I do that?

My second question is about one of the hen, she is new-hampshire red, finished her 19 weeks almost, but still very small and doesn't seem to be ready for laying eggs. can it be because of the backyard be in shade most of the day? Is there any type of food that I can give her to grow faster or to make her ready for laying eggs?

My last question is that once in a while they start making a sound that it is not familiar to me. The rooster starts like a continuous clucking sound (not crowing) and then the other chicken does the same. I check their environment but I couldn't find anything that would bother them. they continue it until I put them in their coop so they become calm and will be back in the area again. I am just curious what causes that?

Thanks for your help in advance

 

[Skippersnh]

nothing that your asking is making sense to me

 

[sourland]

quadruple

 

[sourland]

Inadvertent

 

[sourland]

They have only been together 2 weeks. As long as there is no fighting they will eventually integrate into one flock.

She/they should be on an all flock commercial ration with oyster shell supplementation.

It almost sounds as if they are alarming to the presence of a predator.

Hopefully this will post as a single post this time.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hi everyone,

I am currently having only three hens and one rooster. they are about the age of 4 months now. Two of them (hen+rooster) was together since they were born and two weeks ago I just added the two other hens to them. They are getting well along together now, eating and playing together, but still I can see they are sometimes still separated two by two. So I am wondering if I take away the rooster, would that cause them Stress? how should I do that?

My second question is about one of the hen, she is new-hampshire red, finished her 19 weeks almost, but still very small and doesn't seem to be ready for laying eggs. can it be because of the backyard be in shade most of the day? Is there any type of food that I can give her to grow faster or to make her ready for laying eggs?

My last question is that once in a while they start making a sound that it is not familiar to me. The rooster starts like a continuous clucking sound (not crowing) and then the other chicken does the same. I check their environment but I couldn't find anything that would bother them. they continue it until I put them in their coop so they become calm and will be back in the area again. I am just curious what causes that?

Thanks for your help in advance

Where are you located? That will dictate the food to a point. Meaning what types of feed are available in your country and the type of forage if they free range.
If you are in the northern hemisphere, we are a week away from winter solstice when days will start getting longer. That eventually stimulates production.
The steady clucking of the cockerel is likely that he is calling the pullets to food he has found.

 

[Skippersnh]

what are we talking about im lost

 

[rosemarythyme]

No reason to remove the cockerel unless he's causing problems. It's completely normal for birds that grew up together to stick with the bird they know. Even once they're grown they'll be more likely to stick with their "buddy."

Your NH Red, not all chickens grow at the same rate and she may never be as big as the others. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with her, as long as she's healthy overall and has no problem getting food (i.e. the others aren't chasing her off) she'll be fine. I have some hens that are almost half the size of others, it doesn't impact their egg laying, they're just smaller birds.

 

[chrissynemetz]

I would also add that the yard being in the shade most of the day shouldn't hurt them at all. It won't cause your hen to grow slower, and it won't mess with her egg laying. (As long as they aren't in complete and total darkness all day) A bit of shade can actually be good, especially during the hot summer months.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are getting well along together now, eating and playing together, but still I can see they are sometimes still separated two by two.

That sounds great to me, a successful integration. No one is being hurt. As others said it is pretty normal for them to sometimes "hang" with buddies when first integrated. As time passes they will become more of one flock.

can it be because of the backyard be in shade most of the day? Is there any type of food that I can give her to grow faster or to make her ready for laying eggs?

I've had pullets start to lay as early as 16 weeks of age. I've had some not lay their first egg until 9 months. Both of those are rare for me. Most of mine start to lay between five and seven months. Different things can influence that but the main thing is just differences in the individual chickens, even if they are he same breed. It is still a little early for your 19-week-old to be laying.

Light can play a part in laying but not the difference in shade or in bright sunshine. It's when the sun comes up and sets that matters. They can tell the difference even if it is shady. Shade is not a problem.

I don't know how you are feeding them now. They need a certain amount of nutrition to lay so that might have something to do with it. But generally that affect the size of the eggs laid much more than number of eggs they lay or age that they start. If you wish you can feed them some extra protein but it's not likely to start her laying any earlier.

In general a pullet will start to lay hen she is ready. There is usually not a lot you can do about it. But there may be an exception if you are north of the equator. Days getting longer can trigger them to start to lay. We are a week away from the equinox so days will start to get longer anyway. Since they are going to soon get longer I would not worry about it, but some people use artificial light on a timer to make the days get longer to start them laying or keep them laying instead of molting. If you are interested we can discuss further.

The rooster starts like a continuous clucking sound (not crowing) and then the other chicken does the same.

Chickens make a lot of different sounds. Some are alarm calls, some tell the others "I found food". Some are asking where are you. Some like a broody hen tell other adults to "leave me alone" or tell her chicks "come here". Some are sounds that they are content. I don't know which of these or others you are describing. As long as there are no predators I don't worry about it.