ON OUR OWN

[TitiBebbs]

Dad and I got spring chicks that have grown up to be mostly roos. Aggresive and scary roos. They mount everything, the few hens, the younger chicks, the guineas, even the ducks! When we got them originally, dad had brought home a "shed" of sorts. It had been a clothing drop box for a charity which had been prdered on numerous occasions to remove, but didn't. It measures about 4' x 4' x 6'. I managed to install a roost, and now a nest box. BOY IS IT CRAMPED IN THERE! Anyway, we have a 3' x 4" x 4' converted doghouse, and a 2.5' x 3' x 3' chick pen that has an attached 4' x 5' x 5' chicken wire run. This last one is too small for any of the birds now, however the young ones do hide in it on occasion. It is all surrounded by a large electrified poultry net fence. I need and want to separate the hens and roosters and everyone else. Dad wants everyone free-range. We have limited supplies, but sufficient. I need a SUPER-SIMPLE hen house with an enclosed run big enough for 3-5 hens now with 7 younger birds some of which may also be hens in a month or 2. Maybe about 5' x 8' x 6' or so.

 

[DuckLady]

Let the roosters free range. They can kill or seriously wound your other birds. You definiely need more room. If you let your roos free range that should help.

 

[TitiBebbs]

Some of the roos do leave the 'yard' during the day. The dogs like chasing the white leghorns. I guess that is because those 2 are brave enough to go into the shed sometimes. I don't know but it seems one or both of them are decent mousers.

How do I get the rest of the roos to leave the yard/run? I'd rather the dogs be penned wuring the day when I"m at work, so the roos can come out further than they do. BUT one of my dogs has a sense for when it is time to go inside, esp. in the mornings. He hears us come out in the AM and runs into the woods like he's on a mission. The dogs don't bother with the chickens (much) that I see. They do chase the wlh on occasion, but . . . I like to leave them out at night to keep away predators. However, I don't know how effective they are. 2 weeks back, we found one of our 2 turkeys by the back door, gutted. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the dogs that got him, but they did bring him back to the house for us, I think.

Dad suggested building a small hen house inside the dogs' run (it's rather large) and moving someone there. How would I go about moving them there if I did that? And could I move the boys there if I don't have a shelter built first. I'm thinking I could fashion together a couple open-aire shelters for the roos. Might that work? I hate that we are scared of the roos, but I'm starting to smell fried chicken every time I go out to feed the flock. But that's another problem.

Thank you for any advice!
Beth

 

[Chelly]

Fried chicken sure does taste good!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Hi Beth,

Wow, i don't think i would want to keep any aggressive animal. i had a little silkie 20 years ago that turned into a very aggressive roo. He would come flying at me spurs first whenever i got near. i got rid of him pronto.

Currently we are using a Costco dog kennel as our chicken run. It has a tarp cover but i ran chicken wire under that just to be safe. Then i wrapped hardware cloth around the bottom three feet. Inside are two converted rabbit hutches - one i got from Petsmart and the other was a handmade one i scored from craigslist. We put perches in the taller larger one for the two hens, and our silkie chicks pile up together in the other one. Once they get bigger i will add perches. They don't seem to want them now.

Do you need to have roosters? If so, maybe find one that has a better temperament?

Good luck whatever you decide.

Colleen

 

[TitiBebbs]

Quote:
Are you talking kennels like for taking your (larger) dog travelling? I've got 2 of those collecting rust out back. I think I can picture making those work! I'm getting excited now.

Quote:
We don't need roosters at all! We are first timers and we bought straight run from the feed store. When Dad mentioned that wer had 15 roos from 21 birds (last week-we got them in March) the excuse he got was that a woman had come in the day before and chosen all the females. I don't believe that but I also know that buying straight run is not a good idea.

Thank you for the good idea. I'm going to try setting that up after work tomorrow. However, there is still the question of how to get them from one pen to the other - the 2 areas are about 100 yards apart.

Beth