Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[brumtom]

Hello,

 

New to the forum so hello. We recently inherited 3 chicks and have been looking after them since week 6 of their lives. We had the unfortunate situation 2 weeks ago when one of our chicks 'Cissy' who became a cockerel had to go to a local smallholding to be looked after there, he was a juvenile cockerel but was capable of crowing and was nearly fully crowing when we gave him to his new owner. All three chicks are now 15 weeks old.

 

All was fine until we got home and 1 days later what we expected to be a female hen 'Ginger' started crowing as well, she is doing this most mornings and its not a full crow but more of a strangled crow but it's pretty close. I have read up on cockerel behaviour and this chicken shows none of it, she is held, stroked, will take food from our hands and also doesn't shy away from us like the cockerel did. She/he is a big girl but doesn't have a large tail and she squats when we touch her which our cockerel would not do. She is the easiest going of the three and if I was going to show a visitor how tame they are I would definitely choose her. Ginger and Cissy never fought, however Cissy now and again would peck Ginger in a non aggressive way but would still peck. Ginger and she doesn't strut like the cockerel did. I also felt was in charge of the 3 hens, but Cissy did the strutting of the group.

 

To be frank the heartbreak of sending the cockerel to the small holding was a lot to deal with, I worry that we are in denial about this one now. What do people think ? I'd be interested to hear other peoples opinions. There is a lot of conflicting information on the net.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[Chickabee]

Can you post a photo ?

[brumtom]

http://s120.photobucket.com/user/tombelte/slideshow/

[brumtom]

Hope that is useful !

[Chickabee]

Sorry I think it is a cockerel

[Plum]

Sorry I agree

[Egluntyne]

I agree, it's a cockerel.

[sparkysmum]

I'm sorry, but I also think cockerel. pointy rather than rounded saddle feathers def suggest cockerel to me. Also beginning to see downward sweep of saddle feathers. large red comb and wattles for me confirm gender. Sorry.

[miller30]

I cant see anything leanne

[Beantree]

Cockerel for me as well Brumtom. On one of the photos I thought I caught a glimpse of a spur growing?

[Egluntyne]

Here he is.

 

[Chickabee]

No doubt in my mind. They're tree trunks not legs. The feathering and the wattles a give away

[miller30]

I can see lol yep deffo boy leanne

[brumtom]

Thank you very much for your feedback and help.

 

Ginger is going back to his brother now at the small holding, we will be getting another couple of hens to keep our lonesome hen company when her brother goes away.

 

The lesson here is to not get chicks unless you have the capabilities to house a cockerel, I would never do it again but I must say watching the little dudes grow up has been an absolute pleasure and we will be glad to see them going to a really big free range with lots of other hens to hang around with.

[Plum]

Glad there's a happy ending for your fabulous boy

[brumtom]

Hello All. We are having to say goodbye to our Ginger who is a boy and not a girly. He is going to a nice free range small holding near by and will have a lovely life. However, that leaves us with one hen who is 16 weeks old. We have an eglu and we want to introduce one more hen. Does anyone have any tips please? How old should the hen be? There is lots of conflicting stuff about- some people are saying put the new one in a roosting time, others are saying introduce over 3 weeks! The issue is we have is only having one eglu.

 

Her two brothers will have both moved house by then and I don't want any more stress or upset for me or her.

 

We are new to this so any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Luvachicken]

I'm sorry that Ginger turned out to be a boy.

I can't offer much advice about what age any new ones should be that you introduce to your other girl, but I just wanted to say that having chicks at 6 weeks or so is so nice, and that the best breeders know the sex of their chooks.

I got my chicks from an excellent breeder in Milton Keynes and she knew they were definitely girls.

I hope you manage to find your lone girl some new friends soon.

[Plum]

I can only talk from personal experience and would choose a hen of similar maturity. So she's probably not laying yet at 16 weeks so one coming up to point of lay.

 

If you can divide the run for a few days so they get familiar without being able to fight it helps. Having said that I introduced a lone hen. She jumped over my back and got on with it without problems You can put a cat box at one end of the run and then stick bamboo canes across the run through the bars to make a divide. Someone will post a pic to show how it's done. It's a lot less stressful than putting them in at night and watching what happens.

 

What sort are you going for? another little red hen they are the best

[Chickabee]

A couple of years ago I had a black rock die suddenly. I went straight out and got another one that looked the same. The integration was seem less. I would suggest you get another ginger one ASAP (or 2)

[brumtom]

Thanks very much for being so kind, it will be the sticks introduction and we will go from there. Will keep everyone updated.

[brumtom]

We have introduced a new hen and after much upset(from myself and Robshaw) and biting (not me) it has all turned out ok! Phew, its ben an emotional 12 weeks! Thank you for everyones advice.