The Wyandotte Thread

Craig'sHens :

Quote:
Sounds as if you have a good system that works for you and that is the real key, we have a "Brooder" Building with 7 brooders preset so that the birds can move by weeks of age together, then a series of 6 cages with wire bottoms, and roosts they roll through week by week, then outside they go. The LF go outside (during warm months) fater the 7 th brooder, bantams stay in till the sixth cage. During the cold months the LF stay in till fully feathered and roosting well and are integrated into outside a-frame type pens

That is all very interesting. My system seems a bit amateur by comparison. They are in the brooder until they don't fit then my only option is the coop which is not complete yet. (I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.) I feed medicated crumbles until I either find another supplier or I start them on layena or grower. There aren't a lot of options here. The chickens don't seem to mind too much (yet) & I toss them greens and veggies once in a while to keep things interesting.

I seriously appreciate the info. I think I'll get the coop done and move them in in the next couple weeks.

Thanks,

Craig


Make a difference in a way that only you can.​

Craig,
The real key is find what works for you and your management and feed solutions, So long as the birds stay healthy its all good. I love sites like this on teh internet because you learn a great deal from folks all over the world and different management techniques. everyone is a bit different and none of them are wrong so long as teh birds are healthy and growing or laying you did it right
 
I actually have 1 more question. I read somewhere that you separate the roosters as soon as you can tell the sex. I think I'll be able to draw that line pretty soon based on size combs and wattles. What age do they need to be separated?
 
Craig'sHens :

I actually have 1 more question. I read somewhere that you separate the roosters as soon as you can tell the sex. I think I'll be able to draw that line pretty soon based on size combs and wattles. What age do they need to be separated?

ours all run together by age..... sometimes we take all the older cockerels and house them together when they start trying to breed the pullets. When they are raised together they do fine. Just have to make sure you have several feed bowls so all the roosters get food.​
 
Mrs. Turbo :

Craig'sHens :

I actually have 1 more question. I read somewhere that you separate the roosters as soon as you can tell the sex. I think I'll be able to draw that line pretty soon based on size combs and wattles. What age do they need to be separated?

ours all run together by age..... sometimes we take all the older cockerels and house them together when they start trying to breed the pullets. When they are raised together they do fine. Just have to make sure you have several feed bowls so all the roosters get food.​

That has been a similar experience with our LF we seldom seperate until cockrells begin to try assert dominance and begin trying to mate, with our bantams we raise them seperately as those cockrells become more agressive with the pullets and each other when pullets are around at very young ages.
In the big grow out pens I like the big auto dig feeders if you take the door off they will hold a 50lb bag of feed and they can come and go as they choose.​
 
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yup.... those bantam roosters are bad boys. They even run after the adult hens that are 3 times their size. Reminds me of a call drake that would get out and chase down the rouen ducks.
We had one bantam rooster get into a show conditioning pen with a large fowl white wyandotte about 3 years ago. Jerry had been growing the white out for almost a year and had him in show condition.....the show was only a couple weeks away. When we found the roosters the bantam had the large fowl rooster in such bad shape we had to put him down. That bantam worked on the pen until he had a little space to get into that big rooster
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Mrs. Turbo, I will agree with you about the tenacity of the bantam roosters. I had some LF and bantam SP in a pen one year, was done with breeding and had them in the large holding pen. Thought hey why not hatch some of the LF eggs.......all of them were out of the bantam SP rooster..and she was a BIG hen also! LOL! The good side effect was I got some absolutely awesome bantam pullets out of that cross. They were only slightly larger in size but they had awesome type and pencilling. The best SP male I have ever raised came out of that cross. Ah the fun stuff that happens when you raise chickens......I would do the cross again if I could find some good LF SP. I know it will work so why not right?
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