NY chicken lover!!!!

[Lynzi777]

UGH! My roo is running out of chances to be a good boy. I was playing with the kids today and I heard him run up behind me. I thought that he was with a hen until I felt him hit the back of my leg. I chased him around then when I couldn't catch him I hit him with a rock. He is going to get some cuddle time tomorrow morning! I wish that I could have cought him then.  QUESTION: When do you know if it is just him being a pain because of spring or is he just going to be a nasty bugger?. He has been so good till the last few weeks. I don't know if it is because it is spring or maybe cause my frizzle roo is in there too? The SS is the alpha. DH has already said that if he goes after the kids he is gone. So far he has only gone after me. Today makes 5 times in 2 weeks.

Anyone want to trade for a big Speckle Sussex Roo?!   

My KC drake has been ticking me off lately. He keeps after my two runner ducklings who are about the same size as him now but they don't fight back. He grabs the male by the neck and just stays on him. I threw a branch at him the other day but missed. Ugh he makes me so mad when he goes after my two babies!

 

[AbiLuv]

Not big enough!

Heheheh, I feel your pain...
My banty Nankin roo is so sweet around me, but he attacks my parents and sometimes my sis. But I'd never dream of getting rid of him, he's my baby <3

 

[WillowWispFarm]

I wonder if i'm going to get a roo. The 4 bantams I just got are straight run so I have no idea what they are. If I do I hope hes not to mean, I actually wanted to get one so I could try hatching eggs next year or something.

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

My KC drake has been ticking me off lately. He keeps after my two runner ducklings who are about the same size as him now but they don't fight back. He grabs the male by the neck and just stays on him. I threw a branch at him the other day but missed. Ugh he makes me so mad when he goes after my two babies!

I know the feeling I feel so bad when the drakes go after the girls. I have them set up with their own area so they don't have to deal with the boys. I made it bigger today so they have some more room. When I let them out together the boys will grab a hold of the girls and try to climb on them. the poor little girls don't understand what they are trying to do. The drakes pace around the perimeter of the girls fence till they either get tired or I open up the gate for free time. Now when everyone else is out on free time I open up their little run so that they have free time in the big run.

 

[Sweetpea3829]

Hey guys, what's the max age difference you would be ok with in putting chicks of different ages together? Oh my gosh, that sentence structure is terrible, lol!

I have a group hatching on Tuesday-Thursday of next week. But out of 29 eggs I set, I only have 14 that have gotten to this point, and of those, there are quite a few with terrible air cells. I'm not optimistic about those eggs successfully hatching.

So I'd like to set more eggs immediately after this hatch, which means the second hatch would be three weeks younger than the first hatch. And I only have the one brood box, so the two hatches would be mixed in together.

Am I better off waiting until the first group graduates out of the brood box before hatching the 2nd group? And if so, at what age can I graduate the first group? When they graduate, I'll be moving them into a separate pen in our chicken coop. They'll have access to a sectioned off area of the run, until they are big enough to hold their own with our established flock (which currently free-ranges, though I do have a pen that I can shut them in when I don't want them roaming around).

 

[rancher hicks]

Let them sit for 24 hours, and don't turn them in the incubator for a week. That gives the cells a chance to come together if they separated.

I did not do this with my last batch and this batch either. Should I turn the turner off ? Should I wait til they're sitting straight up? They're at a tilt right now. They just got started today. They sat for more than 24 hours.

Will you be coming this way anytime soon?

I have a Birchen Marans that is broody now. Anyone else get a lot of broodies?

 

[AbiLuv]

Hey guys, what's the max age difference you would be ok with in putting chicks of different ages together? Oh my gosh, that sentence structure is terrible, lol!

I have a group hatching on Tuesday-Thursday of next week. But out of 29 eggs I set, I only have 14 that have gotten to this point, and of those, there are quite a few with terrible air cells. I'm not optimistic about those eggs successfully hatching.

So I'd like to set more eggs immediately after this hatch, which means the second hatch would be three weeks younger than the first hatch. And I only have the one brood box, so the two hatches would be mixed in together.

Am I better off waiting until the first group graduates out of the brood box before hatching the 2nd group? And if so, at what age can I graduate the first group? When they graduate, I'll be moving them into a separate pen in our chicken coop. They'll have access to a sectioned off area of the run, until they are big enough to hold their own with our established flock (which currently free-ranges, though I do have a pen that I can shut them in when I don't want them roaming around).

Wow, three weeks. That is OLD! I really wouldn't try that- since, with chicks, three weeks is as good as five or six chicken years :3
I'd keep them separate.

 

[Sweetpea3829]

Wow, three weeks. That is OLD! I really wouldn't try that- since, with chicks, three weeks is as good as five or six chicken years :3
I'd keep them separate.

That's kind of what I thought. So how old do the chicks need to be before I can graduate them to the outside coop (separate from the main flock, but still...outside day and night).

I wonder if my husband would mind having TWO brood boxes in our living room...

 

[AbiLuv]

Only move them out after they've completely stopped making baby noises, and once they are fully feathered.
Two brooders is pretty much your only option if you are doing two hatches.
Good Luck!

 

[Sweetpea3829]

Only move them out after they've completely stopped making baby noises, and once they are fully feathered.
Two brooders is pretty much your only option if you are doing two hatches.
Good Luck!

LOL, hubby will flip his lid if I mention a second brooder. Our current brood box is gigantic. Honestly, though, it's bigger (taller) than it needs to be and we could utilize space better if we came up with something different. But he's already swamped with Honey-Do jobs around the house sooooo....I might be out of luck this year.