Welcome, I, too, have just rebuilt my flock. I had a wonderful flock of 20 a couple of years ago but after getting a second dog, my Maxie (7 year old lab mix) who loved my birds and would sit out back with them when they were out roaming, started attacking and killed 2 birds over the course of a few months. So I rehomed them to some friends and neighbors. Last Aug I ordered from a hatchery and got 8 chicks. In Nov, I adopted 4 birds ( thinking they were pullets). They were about 3- 4 months old. That was my first mistake. I didn't keep them separated long enough and soon enough a cough and resp symptoms spread through my flock. I separated 4 of the sickest and treated them with PetRX and waited. About a week they were so sick so I culled them. 3 of my original, and 1 of the adopted. Just as I cleaned out that coop I noticed 4 more with symptoms so I separated them and this time treated them with antibiotic. After a few doses they were perfectly healthy and I returned them to the others. By now I have discovered that 1 of the adopted is a cockerel as he started crowing out of nowhere. The other adoptee was concerning because the neck feathers and the comb were saying rooster but never crowed and has only occasionally attempted at mounting my pullets. I was thinking bully alpha hen but today it was confirmed on this sight to be a cockerel. LOL. Last week I added 4 6-week old chicks to the family and put them in another coop for now. So I'm enjoying this journey very much. Today I got my 1st 2 eggs from my summer birds!
