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Brizi said:
a Black Jersey Giant, a Buff Orpington, a New Hampshire Red, and a Silver Laced Wyandotte...We decided on those breeds because, while they may only lay 2-4 eggs a week, they're apparently pretty hardy and have longer natural lifespans.
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Were you also considering those points when you picked the breeds for your first flock?

Because in the photos of your first flock, only the brown one with a white tail is a high production type.
 
DobieLover said:
1 cockerel to 3 pullets may or may not work. It depends on the flock dynamics. Many people keep breeding pairs and trios without the hens getting bare backed.

I would never house him alone with the pullets in an adjacent pen where he couldn't be with them. He would need a flock of his own to be happiest.

How high is your net?
Mine is 42" and it stopped the GSD that killed one of my hens when they were still free ranging.
Got him again when he peed on the net. He received a nifty jolt to his man parts! :D
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That's a good point, we'd probably need to rehome him then. The store we got them from said they get their chicks from Hoover's and "local farms." They were labeled as pullets, and we got lucky last time, but... I'm worried. I know you can't really tell the sex until 4-5 weeks of age at least, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Our net is 42" tall as well. It was actually a GSD that got ours. 😥
 
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NatJ said:
Were you also considering those points when you picked the breeds for your first flock?

Because in the photos of your first flock, only the brown one with a white tail is a high production type.
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Nah, we didn't consider that the first time around. We were just looking for good laying breeds that we liked the look of. After doing more research, I understand that Dolly (the ISA Brown) probably would have developed complications. She was 3 years old and giving us nearly an egg a day. I can't imagine the fallout from that.
 
Brizi said:
Nah, we didn't consider that the first time around. We were just looking for good laying breeds that we liked the look of. After doing more research, I understand that Dolly (the ISA Brown) probably would have developed complications. She was 3 years old and giving us nearly an egg a day. I can't imagine the fallout from that.
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I think you made a pretty good choice of breeds both times :)

Whether Dolly would have developed problems is a good question. The problems are more likely with the higher rate of lay, but can affect or skip any chicken. Since she had already made it to 3 years old, Dolly might have been one of the ones who do fine for a long time. She obviously was not one who has problems at age 2!
 
Brizi said:
A few years ago, my fiancé and I got 4 hens. They were our beloved pets and trusted egg layers. Honestly, they produced more eggs than we could use, so we ended up giving a lot of eggs to friends and family. Unfortunately, last week, some dogs from a couple blocks over got to them. Rest in peace, my girls. 😞

So we're starting over. We're building a completely new run, 20x10 or 30x10 welded wire + hardware cloth. We're going to secure everything really well this time around. We've got a 5x4 coop that's still in great shape. We picked up some chicks last week-- a Black Jersey Giant, a Buff Orpington, a New Hampshire Red, and a Silver Laced Wyandotte-- so we've got a solid month to get everything ready. We decided on those breeds because, while they may only lay 2-4 eggs a week, they're apparently pretty hardy and have longer natural lifespans.

I'm having lots of doubts and worries. Will the run end up being secure enough to protect these new girls (err, hopefully girls) from the roaming dogs? What happens if these "pullets" turn out to be roosters? Was it a bad idea to go for all heritage breeds instead of more prolific egg laying breeds? Will my wallet survive this ordeal? These are the questions that haunt me. 😅
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Welcome to BYC!! Gorgeous hens! ❤️
 
I am sorry for the loss of your babies. Your speckled Sussex looks just like my Lucy. As well as others have expressed, I have hardware cloth everywhere. My 75 foot Chunnel that I move when the grass is gone, is made of steel welded fencing. Admittedly, the ceiling of the run is only two layers of chicken wire securely fastened for aerial predators. Half of the ceiling of the run is tarp covered for rain and shade. This is all inside my backyard fence. So, my girls go in the Chunnel and my two roosters that were supposed to be hens, roam the backyard. No ground predators can get to my boys that I love equally as much.
 

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