So far this year I have had a huge problem with my flock. My roo was killed on a Sunday (in March) on Monday my dog (husky) flipped my coops and killed my 7 girls. One of my cats got one of my EE chicks that were brooding in the house. So my other 10 chicks went to my moms house to finish feathering out. Built / remodeled our winter coop and moved in 13 chicks...my Rotwieler went through the side of the coop and 10 of my girls were killed. So I replaced them again!! And have "dog repellent" (undergroumd fence with shock collars) around my coop. So now I have 10 chicks anywhere from 12-16 weeks old. Today I picked up a new already established flock someone wanted to get rid of. My chicks are a huge variety , the new birds are about 2 years old. 6hens and a roo these guys and gals are all buff orpingtons. I penned my chicks in a small coop inside my big coop (8'x8'). I know this coop is to small and we are in the process of putting a 10x30 coop in our pole barn.
We have had a huge flock drama this year but my kids are excited to eat "yummy" eggs again!
So the question becomes how long do I need to keep the flocks seperated like this. They can see hear and are really penned together. But the buffs are really flighty. The roo seems to be doing okay. He was really calm when i went into the coop to feed and water everyone tonight. I figure I probably wont get eggs before next week but we are going to check daily just in case.
And just one more question are my chicks old enough to switch to layer feed? Several of the birds in the new flock are molting so I know the higher protien chick feed won't hurt them any. And will it be okay to break out the bigger oyster shell grit combo that the bigger girls need or should I continue with just plain grit.
Sorry for all the questions. I didn't plan to do this but couldn't stand to see the birds put into the stew pot!!
We have had a huge flock drama this year but my kids are excited to eat "yummy" eggs again!
So the question becomes how long do I need to keep the flocks seperated like this. They can see hear and are really penned together. But the buffs are really flighty. The roo seems to be doing okay. He was really calm when i went into the coop to feed and water everyone tonight. I figure I probably wont get eggs before next week but we are going to check daily just in case.
And just one more question are my chicks old enough to switch to layer feed? Several of the birds in the new flock are molting so I know the higher protien chick feed won't hurt them any. And will it be okay to break out the bigger oyster shell grit combo that the bigger girls need or should I continue with just plain grit.
Sorry for all the questions. I didn't plan to do this but couldn't stand to see the birds put into the stew pot!!
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