roost in the run?

[ChickenLover200]

I have two roosts in my run. My chicks go in to the coop by themselves before dusk...and stay in there till dark when I close the run door (unless they see/hear me coming...and think I have something yummy for them!)

They love to roost during the day...to take a nap, get some sunshine if it's not hot...and shade if it's too hot (it's sunny and shady at different times of the day).

nice roost

 

[donrae]

I have two roosts in my run. My chicks go in to the coop by themselves before dusk...and stay in there till dark when I close the run door (unless they see/hear me coming...and think I have something yummy for them!)

They love to roost during the day...to take a nap, get some sunshine if it's not hot...and shade if it's too hot (it's sunny and shady at different times of the day).

What are you going to do with all those roosters? Just wondering, if that's all the birds you have those hens are going to be miserable........

 

[MontanaDolphin]

What are you going to do with all those roosters? Just wondering, if that's all the birds you have those hens are going to be miserable........

LOL I would NOT torture my girls like that! No "gang banging" allowed on MY watch!

Three of those four cockerels you see will be dinner in, oh...about seven more weeks. They will be 18 weeks old then...just right for a nice cockerel dinner in the pressure cooker.

I do have 6 more that are not in that picture. I *think* they are all pullets, but I'm not positive because a few weeks after getting them as day old chicks, I discovered they aren't pure BR's. They are "Commercial Blacks" from Mt. Healthy hatchery in Ohio. So I can't follow the same rules when it comes to sexing. I have to wait it out with those 6. But...if they are all pullets...that means the roo I'm keeping, "Zeus", will have a harem of 8 girls all to himself.

Here's Zeus...the one I'm keeping. I think he's gorgeous. His comb is solid, not separate spikes like the rest, and I like that. He's been my favorite since I got him AS a cockerel...the other three were supposed to be pullets.
At 10 weeks:


Today at 11 1/2 weeks. His "Big Boy" feathers are coming in...you can see them on his neck and back. His tail feathers are getting long, too...and there's a LOT of white on some of his wing and tail feathers. Also, I think you can see it in the picture, that there is a "dirty" look to the base of some of those tail feathers...like there's a tiny bit of brown color to it? Is that normal?:


One of my other (soon to be dinner) cockerels is below. See how his comb is separate spikes? That's how all of their combs are, except Zeus.




Here are the 6 CB's that I'm unsure of gender. I think they are all pullets, but some do have pink combs, not yellow. However, they are small combs compared to what the 4 cockerels had at their age.



The two with the white chests (one bottom front, one back left) are my confirmed CB's...they both had brown around their eyes. The light color of those feathers is what's throwing me off. Their chests are REALLY light.



A picture of two of their combs taken today (7 1/2 weeks old). Pink comb on the left, yellow comb on the right: