I need to downsize ... 'cuz I wanna upsize! I currently have three decently sized coops/runs. The largest is shed-sized and houses my breeding Nankins and the two "Kindergarten Dropouts" - A NH red and a VERY large Jersey Giant. The two smaller runs (6X7 and 5X6, not including ) are currently full of bantam roosters - Nankins and a Silkie. We also have a large rabbit hutch with two strays in it - a solo hatch Nankin roo that I don't want to integrate yet, because the others will tear up his comb - and we want to show him this summer (It WILL be summer again, right? ... sigh ...) He has a friend at the moment, a Cochin hen that was rescued from a bullying situation ... but SHE was the bully!
We also have two babies from the Halloween Hatch-a-long - a very pretty pair of JG/Silkie crosses. The male will go to a friend who needs a larger rooster (Spooky's a moose, already!) while the pullet, Boo, will stay with the KDO's and Herman. That fills smaller run #1, but not until Spring, when the weather will break enough to put the babies out in the exposed run.
Spring works, though, because the current plan is to pass the extra (very tame!) Nankin roosters along to a local petting zoo. Since they're a critically endangered breed, the zoo is happy to have them as part of their education program, but since they weren't part of the seasonal plan, there isn't winter housing for them at the moment. So, Spring it is.
With the KDO's out of the larger set-up, we have room for the extra roo and the Cochin hen in there (she lays darker eggs, so there won't be any breed mix-ups.) Luckily, there's enough space in the bigger run for their hutch, so the see-no-touch system should be easy ... famous last words, I know!
That leaves a whole coop and run free as a brooder and grow-out pen! So once we start shifting birds around, we'll be chick-proofing one or the other of the lower pens and adding a brooder and creep. I am SO excited! We're starting to figure out some ways around the low fertility/high mortality hatching problems typical of rose comb Nankins, so we should start to get better survival rates ... fingers crossed! We were able to place three breeding pairs, last year - and all have been successful, so far. We have two more 4H families waiting for chicks, so we're hoping to add a few more breeders to the program.
So, it's a little early to say that we're on a roll, yet ... but we're off to a hopeful start .. and that's good enough for me, at least for now!
We also have two babies from the Halloween Hatch-a-long - a very pretty pair of JG/Silkie crosses. The male will go to a friend who needs a larger rooster (Spooky's a moose, already!) while the pullet, Boo, will stay with the KDO's and Herman. That fills smaller run #1, but not until Spring, when the weather will break enough to put the babies out in the exposed run.
Spring works, though, because the current plan is to pass the extra (very tame!) Nankin roosters along to a local petting zoo. Since they're a critically endangered breed, the zoo is happy to have them as part of their education program, but since they weren't part of the seasonal plan, there isn't winter housing for them at the moment. So, Spring it is.
With the KDO's out of the larger set-up, we have room for the extra roo and the Cochin hen in there (she lays darker eggs, so there won't be any breed mix-ups.) Luckily, there's enough space in the bigger run for their hutch, so the see-no-touch system should be easy ... famous last words, I know!
That leaves a whole coop and run free as a brooder and grow-out pen! So once we start shifting birds around, we'll be chick-proofing one or the other of the lower pens and adding a brooder and creep. I am SO excited! We're starting to figure out some ways around the low fertility/high mortality hatching problems typical of rose comb Nankins, so we should start to get better survival rates ... fingers crossed! We were able to place three breeding pairs, last year - and all have been successful, so far. We have two more 4H families waiting for chicks, so we're hoping to add a few more breeders to the program.
So, it's a little early to say that we're on a roll, yet ... but we're off to a hopeful start .. and that's good enough for me, at least for now!
Make sure that you come back here and tell us what they tell you! 
