dearmeghann
Songster
We're raising chicks for the first time. Last year, we got our girls at 8 weeks old. I love them so much, but after raising these little peepers, I can now say that I've missed out on such a fun time in their growing process! 
That being said, when do you KNOW know that you have pullets or cockerels? I had some assumptions about mine, our ermine ameraucana definitely seems like a roo, but now that they're all doing the fun pecking order neck dances - everyone seems like they could be a roo. Especially, if you believe all of the stereotypes (feathers, comb, thickness of legs, etc.) Am I just waiting until they start to crow?
The reason I ask isn't because we can't have roosters. I love these little peepers, so they'll be ours. I just want to prepare for spacing and to keep everyone happy and safe.
Current Set-up: We have two coops, the new, bigger one and the old, smaller one. They are set up to share a semi-covered run. They each have their own covered run. The plan is to integrate the chicks into the smaller coop so they can be neighbors with the big girls. And then hopefully, they'll all want to sleep in the big coop after they've gotten used to each other and became one big happy family.
If we end up with more roosters than 1 or 2, would you keep them separated in a Bachelor Flock in the smaller coop? We're willing to see how everyone likes each other, but I've read some fun puberty (rooberty) stories and want to be prepared lol!
Note: we have four 1-year-old hens, and five chicks (5-6 weeks old) The weather is being kinder, so we're going to start field trips outside this week.
That being said, when do you KNOW know that you have pullets or cockerels? I had some assumptions about mine, our ermine ameraucana definitely seems like a roo, but now that they're all doing the fun pecking order neck dances - everyone seems like they could be a roo. Especially, if you believe all of the stereotypes (feathers, comb, thickness of legs, etc.) Am I just waiting until they start to crow?
The reason I ask isn't because we can't have roosters. I love these little peepers, so they'll be ours. I just want to prepare for spacing and to keep everyone happy and safe.
Current Set-up: We have two coops, the new, bigger one and the old, smaller one. They are set up to share a semi-covered run. They each have their own covered run. The plan is to integrate the chicks into the smaller coop so they can be neighbors with the big girls. And then hopefully, they'll all want to sleep in the big coop after they've gotten used to each other and became one big happy family.
If we end up with more roosters than 1 or 2, would you keep them separated in a Bachelor Flock in the smaller coop? We're willing to see how everyone likes each other, but I've read some fun puberty (rooberty) stories and want to be prepared lol!
Note: we have four 1-year-old hens, and five chicks (5-6 weeks old) The weather is being kinder, so we're going to start field trips outside this week.
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but I feel pretty confident between 6-7 weeks to know- 8-9 to be safe on questionable ones! Longer though for certain breeds like Olive eggers where you don’t know what you’ll get lol.
