Starting over with new hens?

[tcarter]

So is it assumed that the two buffs are doing the picking or have you witnessed others as well.? It is boggling my mind as to why these ladies shouldn't be thriving. As to egg production, i wouldn't ask for better, it did pop into my mind about my parents free range flock not having a roo for over a year. Hens seemed to be fine but at the top of the pecking order was a few hens that didn't mind taking over as leaders. We had noticed a hen to take on the flock as a roo would, even mounting other hens and watching for predators., I wonder if a rooster would balance the flock.? Also they are super easy to come by, and maybe the same type of one of your hens so could hatch a few also

I believe it may be the size of my hen house, as the other chicken owners are telling me. Since I have had the flock separated with just 5 in the main hen house and two in my barn (to grow feathers back), the feather eating was greatly reduced. I have not seen new feather loss at the rate I had before. And, when the hens are out in their yard there is no feather picking at all. I wanted to wait a while longer to be sure, but this appears to be the case. My two Buffs are as sweet as can be with this scenario. Also, the two Silver Laced Wyandottes I gave away to a friend a couple months ago are thriving well! Their owner said they are the most friendly birds in his group, wanting to hop in the car! I hand raised them, and knew they were sweet to humans. They were so aggressive here, but at my friend's farm they are free range only. They are quite happy and sweet. I thought I had a happy chicken home here, but apparently 9 chickens may just be the unlucky number. That could be the answer.

 

[hardscaper87]

Is there any room to add another roost in your coop?

 

[Kikiriki]

All very good advice, though I think Mrs K makes an extremely good point that releasing the old birds to free range on your property is like chumming for a shark. That shark will stay around and might get a chance to make another meal out of your new birds. Then you would be faced with perhaps killing the predator, because once they've found easy meals, many times the only real solution is euthanasia.

Either find new homes for your birds or convince your wife to make stew. If she doesn't budge, you might ask her to consider the new flock becoming stew in 3 years, she might find it easier to grapple that if from the beginning of a new flock.

Easy to say now, but when the time comes, it will be chicken not dinner, part 2. Same thing happened with my DH. Annoying as all get out to go to the store and buy chicken meat because he is too....whatever it is....to give our hens a useful end.

 

[pdirt]

Quote:
I feel very fortunate that my wife and I discussed this BEFORE we got chickens. We were on the same page that they would be food for us, eggs first, then meat. Never would they be pets. We care about them a lot and some of them have names, but even with names, they're not pets to us. They get treated as good as our dog (who we will never eat!) but still, they're not pets to us. I realize many folks who raise chickens DON'T raise them for food, but for pets and this can be the source of many squabbles on BYC...pet owners aghast that some folks EAT their chickens and food raisers equally lacking compassion for those who would never do such a thing. My point being, if my wife and I weren't on the same page, I don't think I would ever have wanted to get chickens, because it could be the source of lots of fights and upset between us. Not worth it, IMO.

I used to think I would never be able to kill an animal for food. I grew up fishing and learned from my dad to kill the fish immediately after catching it if intended to keep for eating. At some point, I gave up fishing because I couldn't kill the fish anymore. It was too hard on me emotionally. That phase lasted for several years. My wife inspired me to pick up fishing again and I never caught-then-released again, unless it was illegal to keep the fish. Then I met this farmer at a farmer's market where we would buy eggs and chicken from. She had this "look"...the type of look I interpreted as, "She has the heart of care for her animals and the distanced ability to kill them as humanely as possible". I never asked her about this, as I didn't really know her, but it gave me confidence that I could do it. And I have...it wasn't easy the first couple times, but as I learned, it got easier. And it feels incredibly good to know the good life these chickens have had.

 

[Mrs. K]

They are quite happy and sweet. I thought I had a happy chicken home here, but apparently 9 chickens may just be the unlucky number. That could be the answer.

One can look at the measurements, but once with a bit of chicken math I was getting way too crowded, until a predator helped me out. A day later, I could just feel that there was a lot less tension in the coop. What seems like almost too much space when they are little, rapidly gets smaller when they grow. But the daylight also has a play in it, as in the early spring, my numbers bloom, but the chicks are small, the day is long, and the whole flock is out and about most of the day, every day. Come the fall, I HAVE to reduce my numbers, because as the day shortens, they spend more and more time on the roost in the coop. There are many days where they don't leave the run, and sometimes they are all huddled tightly together. They need enough protected space. You will get a sense of a happy flock, and you will recognize the tension before the feather picking starts the next time. Very seldom is it just bad chickens, most of the time it is space.

Mrs K

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree with you MrsK. Since moving my flock into their new quarters, there is very little bickering. And the girls that I considered to be somewhat aggressive have toned down, so that they are no more aggressive than any one else in the flock.

 

[hardscaper87]

Great to hear!

 

[Mrs. K]

Space is critical in the winter months. Many people post on here confused that a flock that was getting along beautifully, all of a sudden are showing horrible aggression. What they often over look, is that the birds themselves are bigger, and the coop/run did not grow with them. Space is critical for happy chickens.

Mrs K

 

[hardscaper87]

I would agree with mrs k, a lot of people
Say you need 1 ft of roost per bird, I have always has 2 ft plus but tight run space and never had issues, gotta keep them satisfied tho! Happy new year

 

[21hens-incharge]

This week here has been brutal. We have had overnight lows hitting -20 degrees. The ladies have been stuck in the hen house for days now. So far no fights have broken out. I am so glad I pushed for the bigger hen house. I have 20 hens in an 8x14 house and the attitudes have changed dramatically. I used to have 20 hens split into 5 smaller coops.
When I suggested last spring to DH that I wanted ONE large hen house I got the sigh that told me he was not happy about it. BUT I kept pushing until I had it done. I built the walls prefab style and painted everything before final assembly. It was a bummer to have to tear everything down but I am so glad we did.
Once I got the structure up they had to stay in the house for a few days while we worked on the new run. It was tense for me not knowing if the big gals would attack the bantams. When I could let them into the run again I found that many of them actually preferred to stay in the new house and just hang out.

It has made my gals so much happier.

Hoping for the best for your gals too.