Newbie struggling with flock management

[Chicalina]

my gut tells me that the docile rooster is more of a keeper than the dominant or gammy foot one, if you decide to just choose one out of the three.

Did you raise gammy foot from a chick? If it happens again in the future one day, you can splint their feet for a day with tape when newborn and it usually fixes any weird toes.

 

[SnowflakeMama]

my gut tells me that the docile rooster is more of a keeper than the dominant or gammy foot one, if you decide to just choose one out of the three.

Did you raise gammy foot from a chick? If it happens again in the future one day, you can splint their feet for a day with tape when newborn and it usually fixes any weird toes.

That's my feeling too, deal with the cockerel with the gammy feet, then possibly the dominant one, and finally the docile one if he becomes an issue. I'm still hoping he's actually a pullet and he's young enough yet that I could be wrong so I'm in no rush to rehome him. And if I'm thinking about preferred breeds (for breeding, if we ever do) he's the only one I would breed anyway. Plus, he's super sweet and gentle so far, it's too early to say that's how he'll always be but I can hope!

We did raise the boy with bungled feet, we noticed his toes too late unfortunately. I'm chalking it up to a newbie mistake, and we're prepared for any future issues, and know to watch more closely now. I had thought we were checking everyone over often enough but we still missed him somehow.

 

[Flockincrazy]

Hi all,
I'm hoping for some advice here and I'll apologize in advance for the long-winded post I'm about to type, I'm over-thinking things as I go so I'm just going to share all my thoughts.

I'm new to chickens this year and while some things are going quite well (lots of delicious, beautiful eggs already!) others are not. We first purchased 14 straight run barnyard mix from a local farm. All went well, we eventually got them into the new coop and built a nice big run. We ended up with too many roosters and had to get rid of 5. I thought (hoped) after that the two we kept would be able to get on fine.

In addition, I had a friend who gave us two extra Americauna/Easter Egger mutt hens. They were younger than our birds so they were kept with the flock but separated by a wire barrier until they were big enough and everyone had ample time to get used to each other. I suspect I may have rushed fully integrating them with the flock though, as they've never been accepted and they actively work at staying away from all of the other birds. They do roost with one of our two roosters but he has also been shoved out by the rest of the flock as well so I worry that all three of them are being kept away from water, food, and play time in the run. Every time I go into the coop the three of them are hiding in there, it's just sad. They have no injuries or missing feathers, they're just living a crappy life as far as I can tell and I really want to change that. We're also now thinking that one of the younger Easter Egger mutts is actually a cockerel, which might not be helping things even though he's very quiet/gentle and definitely doesn't act like a roo.

To make things worse (first timer's mistake here... ) I have 5 more young pullets waiting to join the flock. I've decided to actually build them a separate coop for now, and have their run adjoining the main one, just in case they can't integrate with this flock when it's time. They're moving into their mini-coop this weekend, and will remain in their separate space until I get the rest of this sorted and they're old enough to join the other birds.
So here's what I have, and I'm hoping some of you can share with me how you would manage the situation:

8 hens (one of which is the rejected EE mutt)
3 roos (one very dominant, one very docile and clearly not liked by anyone but me, and one EE mutt also not accepted by the flock)
5 young pullets, nowhere near ready to join the big girls/boys

My gut says to rehome the dominant roo but I've hesitated because he does a fantastic job of protecting the girls when they're free ranging. He fought off a fox the other day and didn't even ruffle a feather in the process. However, he is clearly keeping the less "popular" birds from eating/drinking and generally enjoying an easy life. He also crows 24/7... I live semi-rurally so no one has complained yet but I know my neighbours can hear him so it's only a matter of time.

It would be nice to keep the EE mutt roo, in case do decide to hatch eggs down the road. He's a beautiful, gentle boy, easy to catch and check over, and generally just a really lovely pet.

As for the very docile older roo, he's beautiful but skittish and I definitely can't breed him because of his feet. I'd love to just keep him as a pet but I wonder if just his presence is throwing off the balance in the flock as he does fight with our dominant roo, and he's clearly not accepted and living his best life either. I would happily rehome him as a pet, but I think that would be next to impossible because of his feet. So if I don't keep him then I'm looking at culling... and that would totally suck.

I feel like I've rushed things, adding too many new birds in the first year, keeping too many roos, and just generally making rookie mistakes. So far no birds are injured or suffering and the hen pecking seems to be an acceptable level (thank goodness) but from here on out I want to do better.

Any and all advice is welcome as for which roo to keep, what to do with the two we don't keep, and even how you would integrate the 5 newer pullets eventually. And I will absolutely not be insulted if you point out where I've gone wrong so far - I really just want to learn and improve things for the whole flock.

Thank you in advance!

Honestly I would put the rejected one's in with the younger ones and leave them there i have 2 coops one for rescued roo's and my main coop their runs butt up to each other but my rescues are safe from my king of my main coop King Rooroo is a brat

 

[Chicalina]

We did raise the boy with bungled feet, we noticed his toes too late unfortunately. I'm chalking it up to a newbie mistake, and we're prepared for any future issues, and know to watch more closely now. I had thought we were checking everyone over often enough but we still missed him somehow.

No need to beat yourself up. I would worry that he may be in constant pain, and that is why he looks miserable and takes himself away from the flock, so he doesn't appear vulnerable to them. And he will no doubt be a prime candidate for bumblefoot surgery his whole life because of the uneven weight distribution on his foot pads. As much as I usually stand up for the underdog, given you have so many other chickens to take care of, I would honestly consider culling him for his own good.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The docile cockerel's feet have curled up toes, the outer (what would be our "baby" toes, I guess) are the worst. I had to build him special ladders and keep modifying until I got them right for him to be able to climb anywhere. He won't jump or fly much because he knows he can't land and grip. I also had to give him really wide roosting boards so he can just keep his feet flat while roosting so he's more stable (and able to defend himself when the nightly roosting tussle begins). I considered culling him months ago, I just didn't have the heart, but now I feel I've done him a disservice anyway. It would be one thing if he could remain our pet and be safe but clearly he's not.

I really do not have plans to ever breed our birds, but who knows... things change, right? I might just be able to convince my DH that I need all those extra coops one day and then all bets are off! In any case, I am going to take good advice and start by removing any birds that don't fit my goals - first of which is just a peaceful, healthy flock. Everything after that is gravy.

We're fortunate to have a lot of space handy and were able to quarantine all new additions for a month before even thinking of integration. However, we're all tapped out now, no new spaces left and there's no way I'll convince DH I need another coop/run this year. We do have an old coop that's clear across our property that we could use in future years for quarantine if necessary, it needs a bit of work and it's only good for summer use but everything is doable. That would give us the setup you've suggested - two linked coops and one very distant one.

However, I definitely have no more plans for new birds for at least a year or two! It's time to relax and enjoy what we have.

Curled toes could be from incubation anomalies or from genetics. At any rate, you don't want him to breed. But since you have no intention to breed, get rid of all the roosters.
You are now a farmer, not a pet person, so you need to develop the heart to do what is needed. Put your big girl pants on or raise dogs.
Having to do extra work because of physical or health problems negates any joy of haaving chickens.
One should strive for perfectly healthy and physically solid birds in the flock. If that is your benchmark, there is very little work that needs to be done except feeding, watering and the occasional handling by plucking them off the roost shortly after dusk.
Otherwise, they don't need any attention. They are hardy and self sufficient.
When you eventually acquire another rooster

You have no intention to have more birds for now so lose the roosters.
If you do plan on breeding for new birds, I highly recommend a rooster of the same breed as all or the majority of your hens. Otherwise you are hatching barnyard mixes (mutts) that have virtually no value to most people.

 

[SnowflakeMama]

Curled toes could be from incubation anomalies or from genetics. At any rate, you don't want him to breed. But since you have no intention to breed, get rid of all the roosters.
You are now a farmer, not a pet person, so you need to develop the heart to do what is needed. Put your big girl pants on or raise dogs.
Having to do extra work because of physical or health problems negates any joy of haaving chickens.
One should strive for perfectly healthy and physically solid birds in the flock. If that is your benchmark, there is very little work that needs to be done except feeding, watering and the occasional handling by plucking them off the roost shortly after dusk.
Otherwise, they don't need any attention. They are hardy and self sufficient.
When you eventually acquire another rooster

You have no intention to have more birds for now so lose the roosters.
If you do plan on breeding for new birds, I highly recommend a rooster of the same breed as all or the majority of your hens. Otherwise you are hatching barnyard mixes (mutts) that have virtually no value to most people.

Very good points! The shift from pet owner to farmer is a big one, but we're game. Eventually we'll have a sick or old hen to deal with too, may as well get used to doing what's best for the flock despite our personal feelings.

As for breeding, not wanting to sell barnyard mix is the reason I'm holding off. That's what we started with and it's really a saturated market here - they seem to sell okay but they're available everywhere. If we ever do breed it will only be after careful thought for what breed might do well in our climate and what might sell well.