I wondered where to post this and decided "chicken behavior" is best.
I started with 22 chicks. They are now 7 - 8 months old. 8 pullets (Group A) were from the Farm store and 14 (Group B - 9 pullets and 5 cockerils) were from a local farmer. The two groups were raised in separate brooders. When I was sure which were cockerels, I culled four of them, leaving 1 cockerel and 17 pullets.
I had bought two identical made-in-china coops, and when I moved the birds outside, Group A roosted in coop A and Group B (with the remaining Cockeril) roosted in Coop B. I lock the coops at night and open them in the morning. The chickens free-range in a big, fenced back yard during the daytime.
Over the past few months, the pullets from group A have been migrating to coop B to roost, even through there really is not enough room there. Last night, there was a lone pullet roosting in Coop A and 16 pullets crammed into Coop B with the Cockerel.
However, egg laying is about evenly distributed--1/2 the eggs are laid in coop A and 1/2 are laid in coop B. Eggs range from 12 to 14 per day.
I've been working on building
a bigger coop, but I am not a carpenter and progress is slow. Heres my question: Should I just let the birds roost in whichever coop they want? Coop B gets filled with poop pretty quickly. Or should I force some of the birds to sleep in Coop A (by closing the door and locking down Coop B early.)
Any thoughts?
I started with 22 chicks. They are now 7 - 8 months old. 8 pullets (Group A) were from the Farm store and 14 (Group B - 9 pullets and 5 cockerils) were from a local farmer. The two groups were raised in separate brooders. When I was sure which were cockerels, I culled four of them, leaving 1 cockerel and 17 pullets.
I had bought two identical made-in-china coops, and when I moved the birds outside, Group A roosted in coop A and Group B (with the remaining Cockeril) roosted in Coop B. I lock the coops at night and open them in the morning. The chickens free-range in a big, fenced back yard during the daytime.
Over the past few months, the pullets from group A have been migrating to coop B to roost, even through there really is not enough room there. Last night, there was a lone pullet roosting in Coop A and 16 pullets crammed into Coop B with the Cockerel.
However, egg laying is about evenly distributed--1/2 the eggs are laid in coop A and 1/2 are laid in coop B. Eggs range from 12 to 14 per day.
I've been working on building
Any thoughts?