Big Red's Mom :
ti22girl - very fine looking roo. I love the banty attitude. They are just great.
Bloomie - I have had 19 - 23 hens with 1 roo. He is very happy just alittle on the slim side. My eggs are fertile just not all of them. My roo is 2 years old and I tried to add another roo and he broke his beak and jaw. So if you are gonna add another roo try to find one that is about the same age and do it soon. They have said 1 roo per every 10 hens is best for fertilization.
Oh about the roo....Do not let anyone poke at him or joke with him. He is small and cute now but I have had two friends that had kids to poke and joke with a rooster that turned out very bad. The roos remember and are mean. I held mine as much as possible and when he started to dance for me I would pick him up. He went after my son one day and broke his heart (my sons heart because they where best friends) It worked out well for us because I would make my son go down and face him then I would pick him up and give him to my son and have him walk around talking to the roo. I am lucky to have such a Great Rooster. Who by the was was a surprise too.
Thanks for yer input....I'll take it to heart in deciding whether to move the Roo and his 3 Australorp Gal-Pals to a separate coop since I wasnt planning on having fertile eggs, only wanted to collect eggs for consumption.
This turn of events has changed the program.
Not that I mind, a Roo is a welcum'd surpise.
Having raising him from a chick is much more preferable to me than locating another from somewhere. I'm hoping he turns out to have an agreeable personality. Reckon time will tell.
We have a second coop thats inhabited by 4 hens & 2 roo's. ( see my chicken page for photos if ya want)
They were my fist experience with chickens and I trusted the gal selling them to help in educating me.
I fear that I got birds with health issues and they're not as a young as I was originally told. The little black hen, Mattie, dies last week. Haven't a clue what happened. She showed NO signs of illness. I closed the coop for the night, went to open it the next morning and she was dead as a doorknob. We're sure she was laying eggs, and MAYBE the two brown bannie hens and the black & white hen, Miss Kitty.
They've been wanting to sit on any eggs that have been laid thats fer certain....very often broody!
Miss Kitty's sittin' on 6 eggs right now.
But we're definitely NOT getting ANY eggs from anybody now!!!
Anyhooooooo, the point of all that ramblin' was to say that I'm thinkin' that maaaaybe I should clean out the second coop, disinfect real good and re-home the roo and a few hens.
Its just what to do with the exisiting residents ??????????
