Newbie again after not having chickens for a decade

blutenstaub

Chirping
Aug 17, 2022
51
86
63
Rosarito, MX
I moved back to the west coast to be with family recently after wandering around for about a decade. Now that I'm stationary I decided I want to have chickens again! Previously I had chickens in shared coops with friends, this is my first time being a Solo Chicken Owner. I impulse bought a couple of adolescent birds at a swap meet a month or two ago, and don't know anything about their age, breed, sex.... I estimated they were 4-6 weeks old, they already had pretty much grown out of their chick fluff. Now their combs and wattle areas are almost completely red, so I'm expecting some crowing soon! One of them has more "masculine" behaviors, like he raises his hackles and blocks the other one inside the coop when he thinks it's dangerous outside, and inside the coop is usually between the other teen chicken and the door. I was worried he was bullying "her" into staying inside until I put something extra delicious just outside of the coop and she raised HER hackles at him and told him to back off. "I'm coming OUT!!" Then she chased him around for a bit. Hmmm maybe they'll both end up crowing.

My chickens are sharing a small front yard/garden (idk, maybe 20x40 feet?) in Rosarito with a fluctuating number of cats (up to six at any given time). Most of the cats aren't very interested, I think the chickies are big enough that they're past the danger phase. From the tame cats, at least. The strays are more hungry and motivated, but they only come by around/after sunset, when the chickies are locked up. Is it cruel that I'm thinking of starting a little breeding colony of quail, so the neighborhood cats have something to eat besides hummingbirds?
 
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Welcome to BYC! Thanks for joining.

Be very careful with the chicks and cats. It's not very common for cats to attack adult chickens, but young chicks are an easier target.
Oh, I'm keeping an eye on them. Their coop is right under my window and I know what the "RED ALERT!!" chicken noises are. At this point they are at least two months old and big enough the cats have to think twice. They don't have a protected area, but they don't wander very far from the coop and are also probably a game breed and more on high alert than an eggy breed.
 

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