Never touched a chicken before in my life. Gave up city life and headed to the mountains of BC Canada where the elk roam through our yard. I was planning on getting a few hens this spring to feed the 2 of us eggs. As I was pondering all the different options of coop, breed...I stumbled on the opportunity to chicken sit for a neighbour for 8 weeks while he is away. Great chance to gain some experience. Just days before him leaving, something got in to the run and guzzled his roo. Nothing left but feathers. The 4 gals were untouched. He had no time to do much. Just told me the basics on feed and water and said if the ladies are still there when I get back that will be great . So here are some of my questions: 1. Will the hens lay without a rooster present 2. If I get a new roo, does it matter the breed 3. If I get a new roo, do I just toss him in 4. Given it is not my coop, is there anything I can do to deter another predator attack. The run has 5 foot fencing aroun it, but no top. There were tracks inside similar to a small dog. The fence isn't buried. It looks like the assassin crawled underneath. 5. The snow in the run is a foot deep. I shovelled out an area to give them some space. We have been getting temps a little above freezing lately. Should they be venturing outside in this weather The coop itself is well insulated and heated with a crockpot under the watering can. There is no light on a timer so not sure if the birds will lay at this time of year. He couldn't remember their breed, but they look like buff orps and he did say they were dual purpose. It's been 2 days and I haven't seen an egg yet. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would really like to keep these gals safe and happy. Cheers! Fric
Welcome to BYC! I hope you like you're country life, elk in your backyard sounds cool. 1- In order to produce eggs a hen does not need a cock (a male rooster over a year) to produce, this is only needed when you want fertile eggs 2- It all depends, if you want chicks and you get a different breed you'll hatch out crossbred chicks which is okay for a backyard flock or a project breeder but not for show. 3- Normally no especially adult birds, because sometimes you can introduce problems like mites and some diseases, that's another reason you do not want mixed breeds especially ones that are dramatically different in size because when the rooster treads the hen it can cause injuries 4/5- I wouldn't let them chickens out in freezing cold temperatures because frostbite becomes a major problem. On a coop to prevent predator attacks make sure it's fortified with a roof I would put some more strength where the last visitor got under
Twisted Feather gave you very good advice. On flock integration issues, you just cannot throw a new bird in with the established flock, -there will be blood (usually) . Quarantine first. Then partition off with fencing so the new & older birds can see each other without blood shed. Good luck. Check out the predator forum to learn now to prevent attacks and how to figure out what type of predator you had.
Hi Glad you could join the flock! Great advice there for you from Twistedfeather and drumstick diva. So I will just Hi and hope that you enjoy BYC
Thanks so much for the info. I will leave the replacing of the roo up to their dad when he gets back.
I'm glad you joined us! The other members have given you some good advice. Good luck with the remainder of your chicken-sitting!
Welcome to BYC! We're glad to have you. You've received some good advice already! If you have any other questions, just ask- we're all here to help in any way we can.