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Roxadee

Roxadee

Songster
Dec 30, 2023
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Hello everyone! I am new to owning chickens, ducks, and geese. I have 12 chickens, or 4 Wyandottes, 4 Buff Orpingtons, and 4 Brown Leghorns. All the hens are laying eggs (I think), and we have 3 Pekin ducks and 3 Pilgrim geese. I have so many questions. My main concern at the moment is that I have two rats. I wanted to get rid of the mean one (Rooster Cogburn), but my husband won't allow it. I have a calm one, and his is cool, John Wayne. Should I get more hens? Also, I read a post about someone feeding their chickens grits. I'm assuming those aren't breakfast grits, right? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
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 :welcome
 
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.
 
:welcome hello and welcome!!
GRIT is crushed granite stone. you can buy bags of it at the feed store. You can even order some online .. tiny little rocks. it comes in different sizes there’s chick grit and then there’s regular size grit. I leave a couple bowls full of grit out for my birds to take some at choice they do get grit from digging in the dirt, but sometimes they need better or more.
 

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