Primary school Science teacher new to this site and needing advice on roos or hens?

[Chickadee64]

I am a primary school Science teacher who recently undertook a chicken hatching program for my students. 12 eggs were delivered in an incubator and to my (and all 400 students' delight) 12 gorgeous baby chicks hatched! I actually cried when I saw those gorgeous wee fluffballs! I felt like I'd given birth to them myself! We got 6 hens and 6 roosters and this was evident in the colours of the chicks as they were Hyline Browns (I'm not sure if they are just available in Australia, but the chicken hatching program use this particular breed so that they can tell the sex straight from birth. Anyway, the chicks went into a brooder box and for two weeks we observed their cute and playful antics and we were AMAZED at how quickly they grew. At the end of the two weeks, we had to give them all back to the program owner who rehomes them. the children were all very sad to see them go and so was I. I asked my principal if it would be ok to get our own chickens and he agreed. We bought a wee coop and I started to look for some chickens. I felt like I'd won the lotto when I found an ad advertising a mummy hen and 4 1 week old baby chicks! What could be better? No brooder box needed and even better, we could observe how a mummy hen takes care of her chicks. Mummy was advertised as a Light Sussex and babies Australorp. I asked about the sex of the chicks and the owner said she very confident that they were hens due to the tails. Gullible and trusting I went to collect them and was only a wee bit disappointed to find that the chicks were clearly not a week old, more like 3 (I've learned that from looking at the pictures posted here). I also think that I've been sold 3 roosters and only one hen, and possibly even 4 roosters. I am so upset, not just for myself but for my students as we will not be allowed to keep them as our local council doesn't allow it. I've been perfectly honest with them about my concerns about the fact that IF they are roosters, we won't be able to keep them. The little kids will be especially disappointed as they love them and have named them and they draw pictures for them and such. From a scientific point of view, it has been interesting watching the changes in the chicks and how the mother hen protects them and cares for them. the mummy is a beautiful big hen who I was told was 2-3 years old and would still be laying eggs after her babies had grown up a bit. I'm not so sure now as from what I've read, hens stop laying about this age, and tbh I don't know if I was even told the truth about her age. I have tried to contact the lady regarding my rooster concerns and surprise surprise, she's not answering my texts or calls. I feel so stupid and duped! I'm not sure what the best thing to do is, get rid of the roosters now before the kiddies get even more attached, or, wait and see for sure and then get some pullets? I think the chicks are about 6 weeks old now and you can clearly see very definite red combs and wattles in two of the chicks, there is one with a defined pink comb and one that has a smaller paler skin coloured comb (hopefully a hen).

I am sorry for the very long introductory post but I have no one else to ask for advice. I will post some recent pictures and I realise that they are not the best quality but hopefully you can see enough to either give me hope, or confirm (what I already suspect) that I have at the least two out of 4 roosters. If/when I take the rooster back am I best to take the mummy back too and start again so to speak? if I kept the mummy, would she take to some unfamiliar pullets?

 

[janiedoe]

You definitely have at least two cockrels on your hands. I personally would keep mom and hold out hope for at least one other female in the bunch. Mom is likely to go broody again in a few months. She will probably continue laying a couple of times per week. She doesn't look old to me...maybe 2 to 3 years.
You need a regular plan to deal with males chickens. Unfortunately as heartbreaking as it is, you will have to deal with males in every hatch unless you have uncommon good luck. You're also going to eventually run out of room for females if you keep hatching.
The lady who sold them to you couldn't possibly know if their sex at 1 week. At 3 weeks she may have suspected some were cockrels. I'm sure she did since she isn't responding to your calls.
Good luck to you and your classroom.

 

[Callender Girl]

First, I'm sorry someone apparently took advantage of you and now won't respond to you.

I am not very adept at knowing the sex of chicks. I have more than one hen that I would have sworn was a roo when she was little.

As far as the kids go, if I was in your position, I think I would let them enjoy the chicks as long as possible; maybe not all of them are roos. And, if they are, there's probably a life lesson that could be taught about pets. Sometimes, you get to keep them forever, sometimes -- for a variety of reasons -- you don't. But that doesn't mean you can't love them while you have them and love new pets when they come along.

While younger hens are more productive, some of my girls are laying well past 3 or 4 years. I wouldn't give up on her yet. If the council won't allow roos, she can lay more eggs, but she's not going to produce more chicks. Some hens will adopt other brand-new chicks, some will not.

I hope you get everything worked out for the best.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Certainly at least two cockerels. Where will you take them back?
I would just keep the mother and her pullet daughters. Your coop isn't large enough for more than that. It isn't really large enough for three chickens. You need a much larger run (at least 12 sq ft per bird) and a coop that offers 4 sq ft per bird.
Good luck with the brood.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUNomenal Community!

Best Wishes & Be Well!
As stated before, you have at least 2 cockerels.....
Good luck!

 

[Chickadee64]

Wow! Thank you all for your support and prompt and very helpful replies. I now have hope and also confirmation that my suspicions are founded. I will live in hope that at least one of the chicks is a hen and of course I will keep mum. I love her and whether she lays eggs or not isn't an issue, I was more concerned that she might not take to any new pullets we might get. as for the size of the coop/run, we are in the process of planning a working bee to build a much bigger run for the chicks, and we only plan for 5 chickens at the most. If 2 or 3 of the chicks are roosters, that will free up more space. If we get some yummy eggs in the future it will be great!

 

[swampfox440]

Welcome to BYC ! Nice Birds !

 

[N F C]

Thanks for joining, it's nice to have you here!

 

[Grammy60]

Hello and welcome to BYC We are so happy you have joined us.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

@Ribh @MaryJanet @LozzyR @Aussie-Chookmum stop by and say hi when you have a sec.