Pamcake, ...
Do you move their pens around much or put them in chicken tractors by chance? How big of an area do you give them?
Well, I measured yesterday. The grassy area is 25' x 55', not including the area under the eave on the side of the barn. there is nothing movable/tractor. There are 27 chickens, and hopefully 13 guineas (saw only 11 just now). The guineas fly in & out to free-range all over, but the chickens haven't figured that out yet.
I will see if the grass in this trial "pen" lives or not with that much traffic and poo. ..."This is only a test..."
The killing them part must suck. At least a little.
Especially for a candy :moon: like me.
I have a question for the chicken people here. We have had 3 hens and 1 rooster for about 1.5 years now. I am going to add 3 more RIR hens next month. My question is do I really need my rooster? I am not planning on hatching any baby chicks. I was told if I had a rooster it would up the amount of eggs I get. The 3 hens usually produce 15-21 eggs a week so almost 1 egg per bird a day. Do I really need to keep him?
There is no need for the rooster.
Your hens will like life better!
No relationship between (presence of rooster) and (egg laying).
Just like humans that ovulate regularly ("monthly"), hens ovulate "daily" or so, on their own internal cycles.
Think about the commercial egg factories... all those hens in a cage their entire lifetime and no rooster... the most egg production there is!
I am interested in a small setup, just 2-3 chicks to start. More a project for my daughter. What do we do in the winter time. I'm looking at making a small portable setup for the backyard but at a loss on what to do when it gets cold out. Thanks