Any help would be appreciated. I’m just not sure how to proceed with my flock. I’ll keep my story to the point.
I ordered 8 fayoumi hens online 11 weeks ago. We fed them very well. 8 weeks after I got them, I saw 4 Rhode Island red hens on Craigslist that needed a home and they just happened to be the same age as my chicks, according to seller). I coincidentally had read some interesting studies online about mixi mg fayoumi and reds so I thought it was perfect because 12-15 was my flock size goal from the start.
Here’s the thing. One of my hens had an overdeveloped comb which I ignored at first but it tried these lame attempts at crowing early in the morning for about 5 or so days at the 6 week mark. It also did another 3 lame (but improved) crows the minute I brought the reds over to add into the run/coop. To complicate matters however, one of the reds had an overdeveloped comb when I got it. Seller assured me it was a hen and I took her word. I’ve NEVER heard the big combed red crow.
So I’m at 11 weeks now for them. The 8 fayoumi are awesome and well sized. They come up to me when I’m there and graze the run comfortably as intended. My 4 reds however are EXTREMELY timid. They flee from me. They avoid the fayoumi altogether and spend what I would call an excessive amount of time in the coop. When I shut the coop down at night, the fayoumi are in a row on the roost, the reds are all on the ground level despite the fact there is another roost for a total of at least 8 feet of roost space.
Please advise on rooster/hen between these two. I see indicators leading me both ways. Also, what’s my best step forward? My ideal flock is 1 rooster and up to 14 hens. I want to incubate eggs next spring. At this point, I have no intention of doing any harvesting till the end of next summer unless I see fighting and/or injury where Id try and go after the cause. Thank you in advance -Tim
I ordered 8 fayoumi hens online 11 weeks ago. We fed them very well. 8 weeks after I got them, I saw 4 Rhode Island red hens on Craigslist that needed a home and they just happened to be the same age as my chicks, according to seller). I coincidentally had read some interesting studies online about mixi mg fayoumi and reds so I thought it was perfect because 12-15 was my flock size goal from the start.
Here’s the thing. One of my hens had an overdeveloped comb which I ignored at first but it tried these lame attempts at crowing early in the morning for about 5 or so days at the 6 week mark. It also did another 3 lame (but improved) crows the minute I brought the reds over to add into the run/coop. To complicate matters however, one of the reds had an overdeveloped comb when I got it. Seller assured me it was a hen and I took her word. I’ve NEVER heard the big combed red crow.
So I’m at 11 weeks now for them. The 8 fayoumi are awesome and well sized. They come up to me when I’m there and graze the run comfortably as intended. My 4 reds however are EXTREMELY timid. They flee from me. They avoid the fayoumi altogether and spend what I would call an excessive amount of time in the coop. When I shut the coop down at night, the fayoumi are in a row on the roost, the reds are all on the ground level despite the fact there is another roost for a total of at least 8 feet of roost space.
Please advise on rooster/hen between these two. I see indicators leading me both ways. Also, what’s my best step forward? My ideal flock is 1 rooster and up to 14 hens. I want to incubate eggs next spring. At this point, I have no intention of doing any harvesting till the end of next summer unless I see fighting and/or injury where Id try and go after the cause. Thank you in advance -Tim
It looks like you have two cockerels.
