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microchick said:
I have a bachelor pen and no, my boys can see the girls through the fence. They say it's better if they can't but no way that is going to happen with my set up. Does it cause trouble? No. Do they still fight with one another? Not any more. They were pretty scrappy with one another when I first segregated them but once they worked out their pecking order they settled down nicely and everyone now gets along.

One word of warning. If you keep the bachelor pen as a permanent feature, do not try to add new roosters to that pen. From my own experience trying to do that, it does not end well for the newcomer. The tribe will beat him up.

So far I have 7 or 8 roosters in a bachelor pen and 7 (I think) cockerels from this spring and summer's hatchings. I will not be able to integrate the young cockerels with the 'old' birds in the bachelor pen. I'm not sure what I will do with them, they are all nice boys, One SDW, Three Fayoumi crosses and one SDW bantam crossed with an Amish Barnyard. This summer I was able to hatch one full blooded Fayoumi rooster and there are three who's gender is still up for grabs. The way my luck runs they will be roosters.
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I find it interesting that fowl fight so much and why they have such strong emotions towards pecking orders, and roosters towards roosters etc. I wonder how many other animals are like that! I just got a beautiful new palace with run for my 16 week old pullets and it's as if their pecking order fights got worse. I should have left them in their old beat up coop! I l allowed them to free range all day today while I worked near by and at dusk in their new run, the fights began again! I feel so sorry for the ones that are getting hit on. Their new house i's a queens palace and they struggle to escape! Their old coop had lots of Windows, the new one has one above the nest box and last evening all 6 pullets squeezed on top of the slant-top nest box to sleep as close to the window as possible! Maybe I need to remove the door of the palace and add a window??? There was enough room above the nest box that I nailed a board several inches higher then the nest box so they can get close to the window. Why do so many chicken coops have just one window?? Because of predators? I think my pullets are claustrophobic😉
 
lovesfarms said:
I find it interesting that fowl fight so much and why they have such strong emotions towards pecking orders, and roosters towards roosters etc. I wonder how many other animals are like that! I just got a beautiful new palace with run for my 16 week old pullets and it's as if their pecking order fights got worse. I should have left them in their old beat up coop! I l allowed them to free range all day today while I worked near by and at dusk in their new run, the fights began again! I feel so sorry for the ones that are getting hit on. Their new house i's a queens palace and they struggle to escape! Their old coop had lots of Windows, the new one has one above the nest box and last evening all 6 pullets squeezed on top of the slant-top nest box to sleep as close to the window as possible! Maybe I need to remove the door of the palace and add a window??? There was enough room above the nest box that I nailed a board several inches higher then the nest box so they can get close to the window. Why do so many chicken coops have just one window?? Because of predators? I think my pullets are claustrophobic😉
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Windows cost money and take time to install. I like lots of windows! This is my goat house we built.
20200707_173148.jpg

It has 5 windows.
 
CapricornFarm said:
Windows cost money and take time to install. I like lots of windows! This is my goat house we built.
View attachment 2335528
It has 5 windows.
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They like to look around too, not be locked in a closet! I will just have to add a window, else they won't use the coop when we have snowy weather and it's lost space. I was figuring they would like to be dust bathing in their new coop!
 
lovesfarms said:
They like to look around too, not be locked in a closet! I will just have to add a window, else they won't use the coop when we have snowy weather and it's lost space. I was figuring they would like to be dust bathing in their new coop!
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I have used shower doors for skylights in some of my coops.
 
CapricornFarm said:
I have used shower doors for skylights in some of my coops.
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That is a good idea! We gave a nice penny for this coop and I thought it will be ready to go. They did a beautiful job. It's like buying your own house, it looks beautiful in every way you could think but once you move in you discover the disadvantages.
 
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lovesfarms said:
I find it interesting that fowl fight so much and why they have such strong emotions towards pecking orders, and roosters towards roosters etc. I wonder how many other animals are like that! I just got a beautiful new palace with run for my 16 week old pullets and it's as if their pecking order fights got worse. I should have left them in their old beat up coop! I l allowed them to free range all day today while I worked near by and at dusk in their new run, the fights began again! I feel so sorry for the ones that are getting hit on. Their new house i's a queens palace and they struggle to escape! Their old coop had lots of Windows, the new one has one above the nest box and last evening all 6 pullets squeezed on top of the slant-top nest box to sleep as close to the window as possible! Maybe I need to remove the door of the palace and add a window??? There was enough room above the nest box that I nailed a board several inches higher then the nest box so they can get close to the window. Why do so many chicken coops have just one window?? Because of predators? I think my pullets are claustrophobic😉
Click to expand...
It sounds like they are doing great!

Make sure there is plenty of ventilation
 

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