Ribh's D'Coopage

[MaryJanet]

7 new chickens to share the pecks. I reckon they'll get through just fine. Especially at nighttime when most are sleeping. Daytime will be nastier, but even so sharing the pecks between 7 is not too onerous.

I can't recall how big your run is - if a chicken needs to run away will she have enough space or will she run into the fence?

 

[Ribh]

7 new chickens to share the pecks. I reckon they'll get through just fine. Especially at nighttime when most are sleeping. Daytime will be nastier, but even so sharing the pecks between 7 is not too onerous.

I can't recall how big your run is - if a chicken needs to run away will she have enough space or will she run into the fence?

I'm not sure. Math is not my strong suit. However it is set up so there are escape routes. There are 4 large logs positioned so a small hen can escape a larger one, ie Lottie . The coop has 3 roosting bars & about a 10X10' floor space. There is a sand pit for dust bathing under the coop. I will do it when I am home as I will put my big girls in the run proper ~ which is something like 20sq' ~ probably bigger. That way the new girls will only have each other to deal with for the majority of the day & there is ample space. As soon as it cools down a little we are going to extend the run & put the cover over it. I will add roosting bars to the outside run then too. Hopefully I have enough shrubbery, tree coverage, & things to amuse them.

 

[Ribh]

I just saw the funniest thing ~ too late to get the picture! Lottie facing of with an arauncana! Hackles up. Eyeball to eyeball. In the end she bowed but she tried.

 

[Kris5902]

I can't advise you Kris. I'm dealing with a similar problem and I don't know how it's going to pan out.
Before it's been relatively simple. Dads and sons have managed to come to some arrangement, or none at all, and the dad won't even let the younger rooster in the coop. As you mention, it seems looks have some role in it. Treacle doesn't look much like his dad at all while Tyle does. Tyle is still too young to know if this is what the problem is. I suspect not, or at least it hasn't been with other families. I'm at the close my eyes and walk away with my fingers crossed at the moment.
What I think is if they were for processing then that is what you should do.
Brutal though it may seem I know when a hen sits that probability is only one of her male offspring is going to remain in the tribe. While it is possible to keep more roosters they need housing and I don't have that option. There are 7 hens in Tribe 1 that's 3 for each rooster and none for the cockerel or whoever ends up most junior.
I've found 1:3 works best.
1:1 works well if housed separately, or allowed to roost in the trees. A problem arises if that hen dies and when she sits. When she sits the rooster will actively seek another hen.
If the rooster dies the hen just joins another tribe or a junior rooster from another tribe sets up with her.
1:2 is good but it doesn't leave much margin for error and predation.
1:3 works very well and allows for a hen to be sitting and one predation.
1:4 can work but the most junior hen is likely to look for another single rooster and become his senior hen.
All the ratios upwards from here are keepable but noone is exactly happy about it. Junior roosters end up as what are called satellite roosters and hang around the edges of the group hoping to mate when they can get away with it. The junior hens don't get the same level of protection and attention from the senior rooster, plus the more senior hens will make their mating difficult.

Thanks for the info, you have far more experience with this sort of thing, and it was all very helpful. I’m not married to the idea of keeping the two Cockerels, though they are mostly shaping up decently. I’m tempted to try popping the troublemaker in with Barney. Sammy has even been letting the other White boy mate some of his hens

 

[Kris5902]

@Ribh in regards to the integration, I say go for it! Especially if it might actually relieve some of the space pressures.

 

[BY Bob]

Bob, I love your sunrise but my gosh! It looks cold!

It felt cold as well.

 

[BY Bob]

After talking with MJ I am going to move my new girls sooner rather than later. My thinking goes like this:

• I've already screwed the quarrantine so it's not an issue.
• I need somewhere for my broody who is now @ 3 weeks & counting
• By Wednesday, the earliest possible time I could do this, the girls will have had 5 days of seeing each other through the wire with no major issues.
• The little coop is too small & hot for the number of birds I have in there. Luckily they are mostly small so it's not major but more room for everyone would be better.

Anyone think I'm insane & should wait a little longer?

I believe that I integrated Maleficent and Aurora at a similar age. If you saying oh well to the quarantine, why not? I can see doing it now.

 

[BY Bob]

No. She's a mature Silver Campine hen. They have a big single comb that usually flops to one side.

Big handsome combs!

 

[BY Bob]

7 new chickens to share the pecks. I reckon they'll get through just fine. Especially at nighttime when most are sleeping. Daytime will be nastier, but even so sharing the pecks between 7 is not too onerous.

I can't recall how big your run is - if a chicken needs to run away will she have enough space or will she run into the fence?

The campines will just fly over the fence. You cannot contain them! [Cue evil laugh] Muhahahahahaha! FLY MY PRETTIES! FLY!

 

[Ribh]

@Ribh in regards to the integration, I say go for it! Especially if it might actually relieve some of the space pressures.

It will have to wait till Tuesday night @ the earliest. Tomorrow is a mainland day & everyone will be confined till I get home. I can manage my spaces better if I have my new girls in the big coop as even if I have run escapees I can catch them all ~ even the Campine. It will take some of the pressure of the young pullets if I can give their elders more room.