- Mar 20, 2019
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We originally got 4 chicks from TSC. This was about 1.5 years ago. Having moved from a city to the country, we didn't have a lot of knowledge about chickens. We knew we wanted them though, so we prepared and went to TSC. We got two bantams and two barred rocks- both from straight run bins. Turns out we got 2 roosters and 2 hens (1 silkie roo, 1 silkie hen)(1 barred rock rooster, 1 barred rock hen). A few months later we got four more chickens (this time we ordered them a hatchery, trying our best to make sure they were hens). Our silkie hen was picked on so badly by the other chickens that we put her in the baby chicks (who at this point were not actual small chicks anymore). We then had 2 roosters to our 1 BR hen. That didn't work out. We put our BR hen with the silkie and other chicks. That worked for a bit but then the roosters started fighting so bad that there was blood everywhere. So we took our BR rooster out and put him with the girls. He is very protective of them but he is also very rough.
This left our silkie roo alone. He had been very rough with the girls in the beginning so we didn't think it'd be good for him to have hens. That was probably a year ago. In the meantime we've gotten more chicks (March 31st). Those chicks weren't put in with the Br rooster/hens because as it turns out one of the hens we ordered turned out to be a rooster. So for now, that rooster (Lu) is with them. However, as I mentioned before- our BR rooster is very rough with his girls. He has injured two of our hens. First, the silkie ( he tore her side open when jumping on top of her ) which required her coming inside to get some TLC. Vetericyn healed her up really nicely. She did end up spending almost two months inside though ( she became quite the diva too. her time was spent in my bathroom and in the morning she'd stand at the bathroom gate and scream until I made her her morning eggs ). During that time inside, we did get those new chicks I mentioned previously. She was in the bathroom while they were in the brooder (which is also in the bathroom). They were put outside a while back (or it feels like a while back lol). A few days after we put them out, our silkie girl was ready to go outside. But we knew we weren't going to put her back with our BR roo nor our silkie roo. So we tried her with the baby chicks and it worked perfectly. I don't know if it was because she was used to their noises from the brooder or what it was, but she blends with them perfectly. At night they all crowd up to her for warmth. It's very cute.
Right after she went outside, our cross beaked EE got very sick. We thought we were losing her. We brought her inside fully thinking she wouldn't make it through the night, but she did. We put her on medicine and she spent probably close to a month inside. After she was better she was put back with our BR roo and the other girls. THEN we noticed that our BR hen was missing a lot of feathers on her neck and sides because of the roo. We brought her inside and she spent a little under two weeks in my bathroom. We tried putting her with the newest chickens (the group that our silkie is now with) but that didn't work out. We tried putting her back with the BR roo and he immediately jumped on her and was VERY rough. He kept going after her really violently, so we took her out.
Finally, we tried her with the silkie roo who hadn't been with any hens for over a year. To our surprise, he took to her like a duck to water. For the past two days he's been standing guard near her as she gives herself a dust bath and lays under their coop. He stood next to her for most of the day yesterday and didn't bother her one bit. It surprised me (and the rest of the family) how gentle he's been with her.
This was very long, but there is a question at the end. We have six chicks in a brooder (2 OE, 2 Isa Browns, 2 silkies) and we're wondering whether you all think it would be safe to put them with the two of them when they're old enough. I know it's better to have more hens to one rooster, but he seems to happy with her. Would it disturb the peace to add them there? What do you guys think?
This left our silkie roo alone. He had been very rough with the girls in the beginning so we didn't think it'd be good for him to have hens. That was probably a year ago. In the meantime we've gotten more chicks (March 31st). Those chicks weren't put in with the Br rooster/hens because as it turns out one of the hens we ordered turned out to be a rooster. So for now, that rooster (Lu) is with them. However, as I mentioned before- our BR rooster is very rough with his girls. He has injured two of our hens. First, the silkie ( he tore her side open when jumping on top of her ) which required her coming inside to get some TLC. Vetericyn healed her up really nicely. She did end up spending almost two months inside though ( she became quite the diva too. her time was spent in my bathroom and in the morning she'd stand at the bathroom gate and scream until I made her her morning eggs ). During that time inside, we did get those new chicks I mentioned previously. She was in the bathroom while they were in the brooder (which is also in the bathroom). They were put outside a while back (or it feels like a while back lol). A few days after we put them out, our silkie girl was ready to go outside. But we knew we weren't going to put her back with our BR roo nor our silkie roo. So we tried her with the baby chicks and it worked perfectly. I don't know if it was because she was used to their noises from the brooder or what it was, but she blends with them perfectly. At night they all crowd up to her for warmth. It's very cute.
Right after she went outside, our cross beaked EE got very sick. We thought we were losing her. We brought her inside fully thinking she wouldn't make it through the night, but she did. We put her on medicine and she spent probably close to a month inside. After she was better she was put back with our BR roo and the other girls. THEN we noticed that our BR hen was missing a lot of feathers on her neck and sides because of the roo. We brought her inside and she spent a little under two weeks in my bathroom. We tried putting her with the newest chickens (the group that our silkie is now with) but that didn't work out. We tried putting her back with the BR roo and he immediately jumped on her and was VERY rough. He kept going after her really violently, so we took her out.
Finally, we tried her with the silkie roo who hadn't been with any hens for over a year. To our surprise, he took to her like a duck to water. For the past two days he's been standing guard near her as she gives herself a dust bath and lays under their coop. He stood next to her for most of the day yesterday and didn't bother her one bit. It surprised me (and the rest of the family) how gentle he's been with her.
This was very long, but there is a question at the end. We have six chicks in a brooder (2 OE, 2 Isa Browns, 2 silkies) and we're wondering whether you all think it would be safe to put them with the two of them when they're old enough. I know it's better to have more hens to one rooster, but he seems to happy with her. Would it disturb the peace to add them there? What do you guys think?
