After 14 years living in the city, my husband and I (and our 3-year-old son) moved out to the country this summer for a more peaceful pace of life and better schools. My husband always had chickens as a child (he grew up in Costa Rica), and I worked on a farm one summer during college and took care of chickens there, but other than that we're new to this. We have three beautiful acres (mostly wooded) and are loving our new quality of life.
We got 7 baby chicks almost 2 weeks ago. 5 are Buff Orpingtons, and 2 are Barred Rocks. I'm scared that one of my Barred Rocks might be a rooster (the two have very different feathering, and one seems "cocky".). My husband would want to keep the rooster, but I wouldn't (mainly because I think our only neighbors already don't like us...I don't know about adding a rooster to that mix!). If we did decide to get rid of it, how would we do so? Are there places that take roosters? And would I basically just be sending the poor little guy off to be slaughtered? I do eat chicken, but I don't want to eat my chickens or think about them being eaten! Also, if we keep it, does it affect egg production and/or the quality of the eggs? I don't want to open an egg to see a little fetus (sorry...as I said, I'm new to this!).
Another question: How much range does a chicken need in order to be considered "free-range"? Or is there a certain amount of time they need to spend outside each day? We are building a big coop and a chicken run, and we plan to have them hang around the yard when we are gardening, etc. However, we have raccoons, foxes, etc., and we can't have them running around when we are not outside.
Thanks!
We got 7 baby chicks almost 2 weeks ago. 5 are Buff Orpingtons, and 2 are Barred Rocks. I'm scared that one of my Barred Rocks might be a rooster (the two have very different feathering, and one seems "cocky".). My husband would want to keep the rooster, but I wouldn't (mainly because I think our only neighbors already don't like us...I don't know about adding a rooster to that mix!). If we did decide to get rid of it, how would we do so? Are there places that take roosters? And would I basically just be sending the poor little guy off to be slaughtered? I do eat chicken, but I don't want to eat my chickens or think about them being eaten! Also, if we keep it, does it affect egg production and/or the quality of the eggs? I don't want to open an egg to see a little fetus (sorry...as I said, I'm new to this!).
Another question: How much range does a chicken need in order to be considered "free-range"? Or is there a certain amount of time they need to spend outside each day? We are building a big coop and a chicken run, and we plan to have them hang around the yard when we are gardening, etc. However, we have raccoons, foxes, etc., and we can't have them running around when we are not outside.
Thanks!