Ok, we have 3 chickens, plan to get more in spring. We have a speckled sussex roo, a white leghorn hen, and a light brown leghorn hen. They are laying excellent eggs now that things are in full swing with them. My questions are... If we decided to hatch some of their eggs in the spring so there could be more hens for both the roo and for upping egg amount... what can we do about the roo babies? Is it possible to keep roo's together if they are raised together and no hens around them, or would they fight to death. And if we can't keep them together, our only option would be to get rid of them, and my guess would be that no one would want them for anything but meat birds because they are "mutts". So would the roo mutts be good meat birds for those who want that? I want the hens, but not the roos... and I'd like to let them (the new hens) be the babies of the chickens we have now, since all we want are the eggs. We personally would not kill a chicken for meat or otherwise, but if people who purchase them for that want to.... And since the chicks would be cross breeds, would there be a color (sex-link) thing to tell genders apart other than looking at wings and combs?
And the chickens we plan to purchase in the spring are silkies. I know there are different colors of silkies. If there is a mixed color flock, then would the babies be considered mutts even though they are still silkies no matter what? Like if a blue silkie hen had chicks with a black silkie roo... would they be mutts? The reason I ask is because the person closest to us with silkies has blue and black hens with a black roo. So we're trying to decide whether to get them from this person or somewhere else.
Our plan is to purchase a good sized shed this February and have it professionally installed in the yard. Then in the spring we will be fixing it up for the chickens, with fenced walls to keep the breeds separate from each other. And I am also considering keeping another fenced off area where we can safely keep a heater for next winter. We would keep the small flock we have now on one side of the shed, and the silkies on the other. Thanks for everyone's help and advice. I look forward to hearing back from you.
1) Can roos raised together with no hens be housed together?
2) Would a leghorn/sussex mutt be a good meat bird for those who want that?
3) Do people use roos as meat birds or just hens?
4) Would there be a color (sex-link) thing to help tell genders apart in these crosses?
5) Would the chicks of 2 different colored silkies be considered mutts?
And the chickens we plan to purchase in the spring are silkies. I know there are different colors of silkies. If there is a mixed color flock, then would the babies be considered mutts even though they are still silkies no matter what? Like if a blue silkie hen had chicks with a black silkie roo... would they be mutts? The reason I ask is because the person closest to us with silkies has blue and black hens with a black roo. So we're trying to decide whether to get them from this person or somewhere else.
Our plan is to purchase a good sized shed this February and have it professionally installed in the yard. Then in the spring we will be fixing it up for the chickens, with fenced walls to keep the breeds separate from each other. And I am also considering keeping another fenced off area where we can safely keep a heater for next winter. We would keep the small flock we have now on one side of the shed, and the silkies on the other. Thanks for everyone's help and advice. I look forward to hearing back from you.
1) Can roos raised together with no hens be housed together?
2) Would a leghorn/sussex mutt be a good meat bird for those who want that?
3) Do people use roos as meat birds or just hens?
4) Would there be a color (sex-link) thing to help tell genders apart in these crosses?
5) Would the chicks of 2 different colored silkies be considered mutts?
