sexing my chicks! - Picture Heavy

[MagicPidge]

Why thank you! I've tried to give them as much space as possible I've got a few other little bits to build . . Going to put an outside perch in the middle and maybe a little shelter somewhere with a corrugated roof

but of shade etc what you think?

Sounds like a great idea!

Also, if your chickens are anything like mine were, you won't have any grass left in there by a week.

 

[Burgs]

This is exactly why I didn't bother mowing the grass HA!

 

[novastar]

Only thing I'm certain of is that you need more chickens to fill that beautiful pen!!

 

[Burgs]

Yeah I really do :-/ I want a couple more buffs and maybe some other large chicken like a leghorn

 

[MagicPidge]

I'm just going to put a word in here for my favourite breed of chickens: the light sussex.



They are lovely, calm, docile chickens. They are also massive.

 

[Burgs]

Yes I've had them in the past they were friendly but I definitely prefer the buffs

 

[rebrascora]

Hi.
I'm going to buck the trend and suggest you don't look for another cockerel just yet as I'm with you on Hubert. I see wattles showing and at that young age I would be suspicious of that. I'm not 100% sure of it by any means, but leaning more towards male than female. It's still pretty early days though..

Yes it's a lovely pen but the first thought that hit me was lack of fox protection! It's out in the countryside and right next to a covert by the look of things, so a fox would have plenty of opportunity to come and check things out without being seen, before making it's move .
In the past I've had foxes come through the day.... sometimes even when I was there!!..... and take chickens and I'm in the centre of a village, so don't assume they will be safe because they are locked in at night. I hate to be negative, but forewarned is forearmed.

Good luck with them

 

[MagicPidge]

Yes I've had them in the past

they were friendly but I definitely prefer the buffs

I've always wanted to own buffs too, but there were no breeders in my area (in fact, the closest one was over 7 hours away). I've heard they're lovely birds.

 

[Burgs]

Hi.
I'm going to buck the trend and suggest you don't look for another cockerel just yet as I'm with you on Hubert. I see wattles showing and at that young age I would be suspicious of that. I'm not 100% sure of it by any means, but leaning more towards male than female. It's still pretty early days though..

Yes it's a lovely pen but the first thought that hit me was lack of fox protection! It's out in the countryside and right next to a covert by the look of things, so a fox would have plenty of opportunity to come and check things out without being seen, before making it's move .
In the past I've had foxes come through the day.... sometimes even when I was there!!..... and take chickens and I'm in the centre of a village, so don't assume they will be safe because they are locked in at night. I hate to be negative, but forewarned is forearmed.  

Good luck with them  

I've dug the fence into the ground and out so if a fox diggs up against the fence all it will dig up against is fence

Tbh I get far less foxes in the country and I know it's nasty but there is a pheasant shoot around my house and I think they don't really tolerate foxes :-/ I'm fortunate in the fact that I've never really had a problem with foxes in all the time I've had chicken :-/

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, I know what you mean about the shooting syndicates. It's certainly improved my chances of keeping chickens free range without so much fear of foxes. I got wiped out by them last time,,,, about 10 years ago.... and didn't have the heart to restock. So fat this time I've had more problems with people's dogs. Thankfully that has settled down for now.
The fence just looked very low at first glance and I thought there was a good chance of a fox coming over the top, but when I've looked at it more closely, it's perhaps higher than I thought.
Good luck with them anyway. I think I may need to add some Buff Orps to my flock in the near future.