OllieBollie
Chirping
So we have 6 Cornish cross broiler chickens, 6 months old. As they grew we noticed 3 of them had shorter combs and wattles, and 3 had larger ones as well as brighter red. Initially we were concerned these 3 could be roosters, but were not certain. The flock continued to get along well, cuddling at night and when it’s cold. 2 weeks ago one of the bright red comb and wattle chickens, named Sassafras (Sassy for short) injured her leg. We kept an eye on her and watched for bullying behavior. Sure enough, we opened the coop one morning and she had blood on her wing where the other 2 bigger chickens had pecked her feathers out. We scooped Sassy out of there and into a chicken hospital to recover. Yesterday we started the process to reintroduce Sassy to the flock. We brought her out for breakfast in the run, going back out after about 30 minutes to check on them. I found one chicken upside down , still don’t know how that happens, and Sassy was under the coop with the other 2 larger girls standing over her. Sassy had a cut on the back of her head and her comb. I brought her immediately back to her little hospital to recover yet again.
We are unsure whether the flock will accept her at all, or if we have to keep her in her own “flock”?.
We have also noticed the 3 larger girls have started a quiet garbled crow from time to time. Does that mean we have 3 roosters then? I’ve researched how to tell the difference from rooster to hen in Cornish crosses, but have come out still wondering which gender they are. Worth noting we are not raising these girls for meat. We ration their food and so far they are all quite active going up and down their ramp daily as well as dust bathing and running around the run.
We added on to our coop, doubling the size, so we could put up a wall halfway across the coop to split the flock, if they can’t all get along. Does that work even? Since the 2 larger girls/boys are the ones picking on Sassy, and the 3 small girls as well lol
Any tips and advice is GREATLY appreciated. We want to provide our birds as happy and healthy a home as we can for as long as they have on earth. So for those who have had similar issues, advice and tips are welcome.
The photo below is of two of the three larger chickens. Are these roosters you think?
The bottom pic is one of the three with paler and shorter combs and wattles.
We are unsure whether the flock will accept her at all, or if we have to keep her in her own “flock”?.
We have also noticed the 3 larger girls have started a quiet garbled crow from time to time. Does that mean we have 3 roosters then? I’ve researched how to tell the difference from rooster to hen in Cornish crosses, but have come out still wondering which gender they are. Worth noting we are not raising these girls for meat. We ration their food and so far they are all quite active going up and down their ramp daily as well as dust bathing and running around the run.
We added on to our coop, doubling the size, so we could put up a wall halfway across the coop to split the flock, if they can’t all get along. Does that work even? Since the 2 larger girls/boys are the ones picking on Sassy, and the 3 small girls as well lol
Any tips and advice is GREATLY appreciated. We want to provide our birds as happy and healthy a home as we can for as long as they have on earth. So for those who have had similar issues, advice and tips are welcome.
The photo below is of two of the three larger chickens. Are these roosters you think?
The bottom pic is one of the three with paler and shorter combs and wattles.