Newbie!!!

Date sort Score sort
mother hen 6

mother hen 6

In the Brooder
5 Years
Sep 27, 2014
17
1
24
Hey everybody!!! My family of 8 just began our venture into backyard chickens!!! I told my husband I wanted to get chickens back in the spring but the timing wasn't right for our family so our plan was to get them next spring. Fast forward to three weeks ago...my mom called and asked if I still wanted chickens because a fellow she worked with didn't want his flock any longer. He GAVE us 50 roosters that he had gotten for meat, 11 laying hens, and the coop!!! Talk about being thrown into the deep end if the pool! We are having a blast as we learn and the best part is how much our kids are enjoying the chickens. Our 17 YO son already has a favorite and our 6 YO daughter wants to handle all the feeding and watering (of course she's too small to do it all by herself yet), our 4 YO daughter loves getting the eggs out of the coop, and our twin 2 YO daughters love to sit in the chicken pen and play with the roosters! It amazes me how none of the kids are scared. You would think we've had chickens their whole lives!!! I still want to get some chicks so that they will be a little more like pets but right now this has been a good opportunity to make sure backyard chickens is "for us!"
 
OOOH, that is a tremendous amount of roosters, I would think it is total chaos at your coop., especially with only 11 hens. A rooster can handle 10. You would need 500 hens for them. Are you filling your freezer, and everyone else's in town with them or trying to sell them?
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Sounds like you did get thrown into the deep end! Have you decided what you will do with all the roos yet?
 
We have put 16 in the freezer and hope to put a few more there in the next couple weeks. I wanted to try raising our own meat because I cook with chicken a lot and I'm kinda a naturalist. I don't want to feed my kids all the hormones and junk from store bought chicken.
 
Sounds like you got a really nice deal with that many roos so close to ready for the freezer, sure is a great way to find out if you want to raise your own next year. Should have a lot of nice chicken dinners this winter!
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. As drumstick diva indicated, you're going to have some serious problems ahead if you don't do something with all those roosters. As they mature that 10 to 1 ratio will become very important as too many roosters will be very hard physically on your hens; over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their backs and necks, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in doing something with all those roosters.
 
We have the boys separate from the girls. Currently there are no roosters in the hen house
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I didn't even want to keep a rooster but the buff boys are soooo pretty I'm thinking I might keep one.
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
frow.gif


Wow, you sure got a good deal, and lots of food too! Enjoy your lovely new flock. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask.

Welcome to our flock!
 

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