Silly question, new at this!

[twincreekfarm]

My husband and i have 13 baby chicks. We have 6 Aracanas and 7 Rhode Island Reds, one of the Reds is a Rooster and the rest are pullets. Will my Red try to mate with my Aracanas?

Also, these guys are only 10 days old, how big should they get before I enter them into a coop? Right now i transformed an old port-a-crib to hold them in my house til they are ready to go into our coop.

Thanks, Tina in Ohio (I'm not a poultry farmer just a backyard chicken raiser! We're raising our chicks for eggs)

 

[Southern28Chick]

Once your chickens reach mating age then yes your roo will mate with everybody. Breed doesn't matter to a roo.

I let my chicks out at 4 weeks old. I had 24 so I really had no room for them inside once they got to be 4 weeks. They did well. They get bored being in a brooder after a while so they were very happy to get outside

 

[twincreekfarm]

Thanks so much for the reply! I am new to all this and I am wanting to learn so much! How big will they be at 4 weeks? I tell you at 10 days they have changed sooo much, I'm shocked!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

At 4 weeks they will be reaching the "alien" stage. Part fluff part feathers. Think teenager, long legs, arms and not sure where it's all suppose to go.

 

[blue fire]

THIS BIG

 

[Wolfpacker]

Mine went out at about 4 weeks. I moved the henhouse onto the back deck right outside our backdoor and they stayed there at night and when we weren't outside. I gradually introduced them to the yard by putting them in my tractor for a few hours. WATCH THEM CAREFULLY. At this stage, they're prime critter fodder.

Blue fire - is that a Barred Rock or little Dominecker on the far right?

 

[twincreekfarm]

ok, now . . .when is a good time to introduce bugs to them? An ant got in the brooder the other day and they had a ball trying to catch it and the one that did, played keep away. I must say it was a source of enjoyment! My kids were playing with a large rubber spider near them and they went nuts, they were wanting to eat the legs off the thing. Are they still too young to feed bugs?

BTW can anyone tell me if there is a good anti biotic or supplement to give these guys to prevent them from getting sick? I didn't have them vacinated, you know the whole "organic" thing, but i don't want them sick either. On hind sight, I think I would have. These came froma hatchery (local, but has online business too) and they say they have the healthiest chicks.

 

[chickonaroost]

Bugs any day, any time. Dig up a few little worms or grubs and watch them go ape nuts!
You can feed them medicated chick starter until they reach about 8-12 wks, then switch them over to a scratch mix. I've had great sucess with this. Never have lost 1 chick and have great, healthy, productive hens.

 

[Jillie]

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I want to know this too. I also have one that is 3 weeks old that looks just like that!

 

[GoodEgg]

Quote:

I just thought that was hilarious! Thank you!

We had ant invasion several weeks ago, while the chicks were still inside. One day there were so many ants on the kitchen floor, I went and got some of my best bug-eaters from the brooder and just turned them loose in the kitchen. Quicker and safer than poison!

I did have to clean the kitchen floor after that, but it needed scrubbing anyway. And the chicks enjoyed it so much!

(Oh, and my chicks used to eyeball the gerbils and the tiny kitten ... especially the tails. I think they thought the gerbil tail was a worm? They wanted to eat them!)

trish