New chicken owners

[kcardounel]

Hi I'm new to raising chickens, we bought 3 white leghorns and 3 barred rocks for my daughter's 3rd birthday in March of this year they were bought as pets with no intention of using them for eggs, however now they have been laying for about 2 months now and we get 5 eggs every day and all 4 of my kids love going out and collecting the eggs and my 3yr old loves to go out and hold her chickens but I'm just wondering all my chickens have fresh laying mesh and water available every day but they are constantly eating our pitbull's food is that bad for our chickens? I was actually wanting to get a few more hens now that we are used to having chickens now and someone suggested we get a rooster a Rhode island red is that a good idea or not just wondering since we are new to this chicken thing, also my 6 hens are free range they have a coop that they can be kept closed up in but they just go in there to lay eggs and eat mostly they are in the yard foraging on our 5 acres with our 2 pitbulls

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[snoopysflock]

Chickens will eat almost anything the dog food is fine for them and will not hurt them. Roosters are great but some of them are mean and Rhode island red roosters tend to be mean and incubating or tending to a nesting box can be a messy and hard job. There are many hatcheries out there and I recommend sticking to hens sense you are beginners. I own an Americana rooster and he attacks my daily but being in boots on the farm it is not a problem. But when I was 4 I got hurt by a bantam rooster on my parents farm. If you insist on a rooster I recommend buff orphington they make great roosters and are almost always nice and are kid friendly.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I agree with the previous poster. Roosters tend to be aggressive. Some breeds are known for being less aggressive, but personally, I would never trust any rooster, especially around small children. They are too unpredictable to me.

Rhode Island reds are a breed known for their aggressive roosters. Currently I have a golden Sebright rooster with 2 inch long, sharp spurs. Even though my sebright weighs less than two pounds, he can do serious damage. I always keep my eye on him when I am around my flock, because as soon as I turn my back he often times will flog me, leaving two punctures in my skin from his extremely sharp Spurs. I could only imagine what a larger rooster triple the size of mine could be capable of.

Enjoy your lovely hens. Best of luck to you.

 

[donrae]

When we free ranged our chickens, the dog food was fair game. I thought for sure they'd choke on those large chunks (large breed dog food), but they swallowed them right down. Thing is, we buy spendy dog food and I didn't want it to go to the chickens, one of the reasons we quit free ranging.

I'd pass on the rooster for now. Your kiddos are so young and are enjoying your birds so much. Don't take a chance on getting a mean rooster and spoil that for them. Just continue to keep a nice flock of hens and everyone will be very happy.

 

[b.hromada]

When we free ranged our chickens, the dog food was fair game. I thought for sure they'd choke on those large chunks (large breed dog food), but they swallowed them right down. Thing is, we buy spendy dog food and I didn't want it to go to the chickens, one of the reasons we quit free ranging.

I'd pass on the rooster for now. Your kiddos are so young and are enjoying your birds so much. Don't take a chance on getting a mean rooster and spoil that for them. Just continue to keep a nice flock of hens and everyone will be very happy.

Great advice.

 

[kcardounel]

Thank you everyone for the information and replys I really appreciate it this is a nice site and y'all have been very nice answering questions also I wanted to add some more hens to our flock and have access to Rhode island red hens would those be good to bring in to my flock and how should I go about introducing them some are just chicks which will be kept in the house but some are 16-18 weeks old?