New house came with a huge unmanaged flock. Help!

[aart]

Oy Vey!

What a mess! The hens are probably laying somewhere you can't find the eggs, or not laying at all because of too many roosters. The previous posters gave some good ideas for getting rid of them. Roosters go first, keep a few nice ones if you want to work with this flock but get rid of most. Inbreeding isn't a big problem for chickens, unless they have bred for many generations.

How big is the coop?

Good Question....agrees about inbreeding, but I'd get rid of all the males and just keep as many females as coop will comfortably fit.

 

[centrarchid]

Simply rebooting may not be enough. Resource limitations may require smaller flock than expected for other locations. No eggs not impossible this time of year, especially when supplemental feed only recently applied. Something or someone may be harvesting eggs produced. Their may be criteria to follow in terms of what birds are to be culled and it may not involve just sex, especially if birds more valued for egg production.

Giving advice without knowing enough can be counterproductive. So far not enough information is presented.

 

[bobbi-j]

With the information provided, I am surmising that OP has a feral flock of approximately 50 chickens, 50% of them being roosters. It appears that this flock is running through the neighborhood and OP has no control over them. I wonder if there is any way for OP to know the approximate ages of any of the females.

It would be helpful to know the size of the coop (in feet by feet) and the run if there is one attached. That information would help us give OP an idea of how many birds can comfortably be kept or how many OP could purchase if they start fresh.

What are your flock goals? "Why do you want chickens?" might be a more accurate question. Did you think about raising chickens before you saw the flock that came with the house? If so, why? Is it the idea of going out and picking fresh eggs for breakfast? (Personally, I love that) Or being more self-sufficient and raising your own meat? Both?

With the information given, what I think I would do if this were my flock is this (especially since you're new to chickens) - I'd start by getting rid of all the roosters. Mosey on over to the Meat Birds section of the forum and learn how to process them; or advertise on Craigslist or your local feed store or whatever; tell the neighbors if they can catch them they can eat them - whatever you need to do. While you're figuring that out, or while in the process of eliminating roosters, observe your hens. This time of year - at least in my flock here in MN - it's pretty easy to see the difference in the older hens and the pullets. The older ones are kind of rough looking since they're either molting or recovering from it. They're not laying so combs and wattles are pale and even their eyes aren't bright and perky. The younger ones, however, still look healthy and shiny and... well...fresh and perky. If you have a run attached to your coop, (I would recommend adding one if you don't), and if you want to salvage some of this flock, I would suggest keeping maybe a half dozen of the healthiest looking ones and keep them locked in the coop/run (if they are big enough for that many birds - if you give us dimensions, we can help you out with that, too) for at least a couple of weeks to "home" them to coop/run so they will roost there and hopefully start laying there. Of course, you are the only one who can decide. It may be easier and a better decision for you to just cull them all and start over.

Whatever you decide, I hope you will enjoy your new chicken-keeping hobby.

 

[AllynTal]

.....Giving advice without knowing enough can be counterproductive. So far not enough information is presented.

Really? Honestly, I don't want to start an argument, but I have to disagree. I think there is more than enough information given to offer advice. We have a person new to chicken-keeping who's had a flock of 50+ birds thrust upon them. The flock is feral, had no medical attention, and has not had basic nutritional needs met. A person experienced with chickens might be able to make decisions as to the condition and needs of the birds, but someone new to chicken-keeping would be overwhelmed trying to deal with this mess. Just having 50+ birds to deal with is a bit much for a new person. The flock would be a constant thorn-in-the-side of the OP because of all the problems. Just having to worm and treat them all for lice/mites is too much to think about having a new person do. It just makes sense to me to cull the flock and start from scratch with a clean coop and get a handful of chicks to start small and learn what it means to have a managed flock so the OP can actually enjoy the experience instead of being overwhelmed.

 

[Mrs. K]

I will give some advice from a different viewpoint.

On rounding up chickens, get a couple of people, but not more than 3-5. Put feed on the ground, a little tiny bit by the gate, a bigger pile part way in, and the rest far away from the gate.

Each person should have a stick, and should be quiet and move very slowly. Have the people positioned so that the chickens are between them and the coup.

Tap the ground, quietly say, "hut, hut" The birds should look at you, ignore you, but move slightly away from you. As long as they are moving, you and the other people stay still.

When they stop moving and begin to peck, again take one or two steps forward, saying quietly "hut, hut" stopping when the hens begin to move. This is truly a time where slow is faster.

Eventually, you will get close to the coup. If a bird tries to run past you, just tap the ground in front of her, she should turn, and return to the others, if she does get past you, leave her, just focussing on the main flock.

You will not get them all rounded up the first day, but if you do it a couple of days in a row, you will get most of them. Once you get them to roost in the coup a couple of times, they are more apt to roost there, once they begin to roost there, they are more apt to lay there.

Once you have some confined, you can cull birds. Personally, these birds are survivors in this environments. I think I would like to keep the strongest, healthiest of these birds. Reducing this flock to a dozen birds, should give you a pretty good starter flock. Free ranging birds, might have some parasites, but not necessarily. As you collect them, cull them by selling them, or harvesting them. Keeping the best birds, given a little good feed and some time, I think you might have a very nice flock. Do remember, that birds in molt LOOK TERRIBLE, when it just a natural stage they go through before they get their new feathers. To a newbie, they often look like they are near death or diseased or dying, when they are just getting rid of the old feathers.

Mrs K

 

[AllynTal]

There has been some good advice given from all sides -- the keepers, cullers, and sorters. I think my biggest concern is that chicks whose basic nutritional needs were never met will never be healthy adults. Surviving is not the same as thriving. To have a strong flock, you don't nurture weakness. I keep coming back to thinking, "Oh my, don't do that to yourself!" trying to hang on to a flock that could suck all the enjoyment out of it for you.

I hope the OP stays with the forum and lets us know the outcome and we'll all be here to support whatever decision is made.

 

[aart]

Not sure herding would work with birds that have been free range/feral for that long.

Might have to start putting feed out here and there and slowly bring it closer to and inside an enclosure.

I hope the OP stays with the forum and lets us know the outcome and we'll all be here to support whatever decision is made.

I hope so too......what a dilemma!

 

[centrarchid]

What breed(s) involved. A couple breeds will impact approach on a major way. Breed most problematic is one most likely to pop up if you searcj net with "feral chicken".

 

[Mrs. K]

I respectfully disagree. Survivors will most generally thrive if given good food and clean water. These birds are savey to the area, by culling down to the best birds, I think you could get some very thrifty birds. Nature herself, has taken care of any weakness, those birds are gone. If they have succeeded on their own, I am pretty sure they are going to do very well with a little additional care.

As you say, this is up to the poster, I just tried to give some ways of rounding up the birds, so to be able to make some decisions. I myself, knowing full well, that a bird is in molt, thought she/he looks like they are near death, only a couple of weeks later to see a brand new bird.

Mrs K

 

[centrarchid]

Free range forage is tuff to beat when it comes to general health of bird. Where feed comes in is it supports sustained egg production.


Edited to add feed.