Minnie&Moose Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 We're pretty sure that of the 5 chicks hatched in early May we have 4 males and only 1 female . The female will stay but the males that haven't got good homes to go to are destined for the freezer. They're currently just over 8 weeks old and their 'mum' still seems happy to stay with them. So, thinking about trying to introduce the young pullet to the rest of the flock in a couple of months time - would it be better to try and keep her and her mother together until then, and then introduce the 2 of them together to the main mob, or find a similarly aged young pullet to bond with our youngster, and then introduce the 2 young hens to the rest of the mob? Not sure if it makes any difference but the young pullet is an orpington and her 'mother' is a cochin - Magda the mum isn't a particularly feisty hen but usually holds her own in 'handbags at dawn' just because of her size (though our pekins can give her hassle but don't cause any damage because they can't reach the vulnerable spots ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Adding one pullet is fraught with problems. She needs to be big enough to defend herself, but invariably she will be bullied and lonely anyway. Stress causes illness, so there may be lots of problems later. I would get her a like companion and introduce the two at about 24 weeks. Chickens do 'buddy up' for life and we have many pairs that go everywhere together. We haven't been able to reliably sex Buff Orpingtons until 26 weeks. We've had two apparent pullets become cockerels overnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 It is likely that Mum will become fed up with them quite soon anyway and want to go back to the flock. So when that happens I'd let her go back and keep the remaining youngsters together (and away from the adults for health reasons) for as long as possible, certainly until somebody starts crowing. As Beantree says it is hard to sex orps, and even if you're right you may get away with a quiet period for at least another couple of months and possibly longer. You'll want them to be a decent size for the table in any case. At that stage I would look around for a similarly aged young female, assuming you do have just the one pullet so you can introduce them together. Youngsters are invariably put in their place by older birds and orps are particuarly prone to this. On the bright side, again as Beantree says, 2 orp pullets (or even hens) do seem to like to waddle about together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnie&Moose Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 We haven't been able to reliably sex Buff Orpingtons until 26 weeks. We've had two apparent pullets become cockerels overnight. eek! I hope this doesn't happen - that will mean 5/5 males Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
