I've been surfing around for info, but am hoping a fresh thread will shake out some fresh ideas.
I want to work on Olivers and New Hampshires and currently have a Marans roo, Ameraucana roo, Olive-egger roo, and some little New Hamp cockerels too young to choose from yet.
Hens: assorted Marans, Ameraucanas, New Hamp pullets, potential Olivers. I also have some older Barred Rocks that I may use to get some barring into my Olivers.
My New Hamps had a really crappy hatching rate, so I ended up with 4 that are German roo over Reece hens, and just 2 that are full German lines. Looks like 2 roo/2 hens and 1 roo/1 hen. Not much to work with, but I'm hoping for a decent trio. I'll probably have another go at hatching next spring, to get more blood.
So.
Should I pen all my roos together and pull them out for breeding? I saw one method like this where the roos were only with the hens during the day, and returned to the roo pen at night so the boys would stay accepting of each other. This would also allow me to keep the boys inside later to keep the crowing contained until a decent hour. I have neighbors a few hundred feet away, not to mention my own bedroom window
Or would it be better to run each breed/group with 1 roo/multiple hens in separate runs permanently?
I'm planning to mix up my Oliver combos though (try my Marans/Am/Oliver roos with different gals for some test hatching) so that could be a hassle.
Right now I have a main laying flock (BRs, cuckoo marans, welsummers, olivers) that get most of the free-ranging. Then a coop/run for the 3.5 month old marans/ameraucana/oliver flock. A pen for the 6 week old new hamps/olivers. And 2 new hamp peepers in the brooder coop.
I just sold my horse, freeing up her stable and corral for more chicken 'storage' and we have a small pasture I want to crossfence into rotating chicken runs once I figure out who's going where.
Thanks for any advice!
I want to work on Olivers and New Hampshires and currently have a Marans roo, Ameraucana roo, Olive-egger roo, and some little New Hamp cockerels too young to choose from yet.
Hens: assorted Marans, Ameraucanas, New Hamp pullets, potential Olivers. I also have some older Barred Rocks that I may use to get some barring into my Olivers.
My New Hamps had a really crappy hatching rate, so I ended up with 4 that are German roo over Reece hens, and just 2 that are full German lines. Looks like 2 roo/2 hens and 1 roo/1 hen. Not much to work with, but I'm hoping for a decent trio. I'll probably have another go at hatching next spring, to get more blood.
So.
Should I pen all my roos together and pull them out for breeding? I saw one method like this where the roos were only with the hens during the day, and returned to the roo pen at night so the boys would stay accepting of each other. This would also allow me to keep the boys inside later to keep the crowing contained until a decent hour. I have neighbors a few hundred feet away, not to mention my own bedroom window
Or would it be better to run each breed/group with 1 roo/multiple hens in separate runs permanently?
I'm planning to mix up my Oliver combos though (try my Marans/Am/Oliver roos with different gals for some test hatching) so that could be a hassle.
Right now I have a main laying flock (BRs, cuckoo marans, welsummers, olivers) that get most of the free-ranging. Then a coop/run for the 3.5 month old marans/ameraucana/oliver flock. A pen for the 6 week old new hamps/olivers. And 2 new hamp peepers in the brooder coop.
I just sold my horse, freeing up her stable and corral for more chicken 'storage' and we have a small pasture I want to crossfence into rotating chicken runs once I figure out who's going where.
Thanks for any advice!
