Thrilled to be here!

[janiedoe]

Welcome to BYC. Your chickens need grit to help with digestion. If they are free ranged they will find their own, but if they stay locked in, just provide a couple of bowls and they will eat it when they like.

Is your rooster aggressive to you? To the hens or the other roosters?
I like having multiple roosters but it can be a challenge, and impossible to keep them together without injury, if the roosters don't get along. It is also a challenge if they get along with each other, but get too aggressive with the females. They can injure a hen badly.
Tell your husband that you may need to build a seperate enclosure for the roosters. It's sometimes best to keep them seperate from the hens until they mature.

 

[Roxadee]

Welcome to BYC..
On your rooster situation,,, If there is no conflict between the roosters,, then keep both. If there is,,,, Then do what you need to do. Rehoming,,,, usually means rooster becomes someone's meal. That is reality of chicken keeping.
No idea on feeding grits.. Maybe you read where they were feeding baby chicks cooked grits. This way chicks were getting hydration along with food.
Ask anything you need to know.. That is what we are here as a BYC community for. To help each other.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

Thank you for that. I will not be rehoming my rooster; I don't want him on a dinner plate.

 

[Roxadee]

Welcome to BYC. Your chickens need grit to help with digestion. If they are free ranged they will find their own, but if they stay locked in, just provide a couple of bowls and they will eat it when they like.

Is your rooster aggressive to you? To the hens or the other roosters?
I like having multiple roosters but it can be a challenge, and impossible to keep them together without injury, if the roosters don't get along. It is also a challenge if they get along with each other, but get too aggressive with the females. They can injure a hen badly.
Tell your husband that you may need to build a seperate enclosure for the roosters. It's sometimes best to keep them seperate from the hens until they mature.

That is really good to know. I let my chickens free range a few times a week. Is that enough for the grits? My rooster that is mean isn't always mean; if I am moving him out of the way, he seems to want to challenge me. He once just came after me for no reason. I just don't like having to keep a hoe with me every time I'm around him.

 

[Roxadee]

Welcome to BYC! It's nice to meet you! Could they have been referring to chick grit?

I've never heard of it.

 

[Roxadee]

First, welcome to BYC from someone who also has chickens, ducks and geese!

Was the reference to chicken grit? That helps the birds digest food; actual grits, while made of ground corn, wouldn't be an ideal choice for chickens, in my opinion. Grits would be far from nutritionally complete, and I'm not sure how much processing the corn has to go through.

I have not had much luck with keeping more than one rooster at a time. When there was conflict, I rehomed the more aggressive rooster. He now lives in a rooster flock. Without hens to incite them, roosters can live peacefully with each other.

I rarely say no to getting more chickens, but I don't think that would solve your rooster problem. IF you want to keep both roosters, MAYBE you can house them separately, each with their own group of girls. For a few years, Sir Henry the Loud, a gorgeous Iowa Blue boy, lived in his own coop and run with two hens. Had I let him loose with Billy Boy, a cocky but small Cochin Bantam who "free ranged" with the other hens during the day, there would have been blood.

Best wishes with working out your rooster situation. I, personally, would lean toward keeping John Wayne.

Thank you so much for your response. My husband will not let me get rid of rooster cogburn, which is a shame. I spoke to him this morning about it. We are in the process of making more coups; my chickens need a home of their own; my ducks sleep at night under the chicken boxes; no problem there. The pilgrim geese are separated inside a locked door, and in the morning everyone comes out happy, healthy, and alive. I want everyone to have a separate home. The ducks need their own house, and so do the geese. I wasn't prepared when I had all of my children.

 

[Roxadee]

Welcome to BYC..
On your rooster situation,,, If there is no conflict between the roosters,, then keep both. If there is,,,, Then do what you need to do. Rehoming,,,, usually means rooster becomes someone's meal. That is reality of chicken keeping.
No idea on feeding grits.. Maybe you read where they were feeding baby chicks cooked grits. This way chicks were getting hydration along with food.
Ask anything you need to know.. That is what we are here as a BYC community for. To help each other.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

I don't know about the grits, someone said they can get their own if they free range and mine do about 3 times a week, I'm hoping that is enough. Thank you.

 

[Roxadee]

Welcome from Pennsylvania

Thank you!

 

[Roxadee]

Welcome from Pennsylvania

Thank you very much.

 

[Roxadee]

I've never heard of it.

Thank you for the reply.

 

[Roxadee]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Don't keep the dominant, aggressive cockerel. He should be rehomed ASAP. I would also pen him up separately from the flock so he cannot injure anyone and to reduce the stress on the pullets.

I wonder if my hens are stressed. How would I know?