Frequently Asked Questions About Chickens
Can I mix chickens of various ages?
Differences in size can cause problems, especially in enclosed spaces. I mix lots of ages on the farm, but the smaller chickens have lots of room to run away from more aggressive adults. I provide areas that small chicks can run into or under that the bigger guys can't squeeze into.
I use fencing spaced off the ground by a 2x4 to allow access to small guys, and keep big guys out. The little ones can slide on their belly under the fence, but the big guys can only get their head in. In enclosed spaces, I've made platforms out of plywood and whatever scrap wood is laying around to raise the plywood off the ground like a roof, just tall enough to let the smal guys under. It needs to be weighted down heavy enough to keep the big guys from pushing it over, or pushing their bodies under.
Both of those methods are handy in providing shelter for the little guys in the event they are getting pecked, but only if the little ones are smart enough to figure that out. Chicks younger than 4 weeks may not realize that the platform or fencing provides a safe haven. In those cases, you may need to keep the younger ones isolated until they can figure this out.
How are your chickens raised?
You can call our chickens free-range, or pastured, but those term are open to lots of definitions. Basically, our chickens have never been trapped by fences or cages. They leave the coops at day break, and choose to return to them at night. The only fences they have seen are to keep them out of the garden or to keep bigger chickens out of the spaces made for chicks. They are fed locally milled grain feeds, grass, and what they can catch in the field. They are not medicated. Most illness is handled by good management practices, and in the case of illness that still get through, we isolate the ill chickens and relocate the healthy chickens. In general, we try to give the chickens a safe place to live, let them grow without forcing them to do so, and treat them with respect until the end.
At day one, they are placed into a brooder coop with a grass floor and heat lamps that has been moved to a fresh area of the field. For the first few days they are enclosed in the brooder coop to keep them warm and let them gain strength after hatching. When they have their wits about them and aren't in danger of getting chilled we open a coop door that has been made to allow the chicks in and out, but to keep bigger birds from getting in. From this time on, they have free access to the outdoors, and the only time they are sealed in, is to protect them from bad weather or nighttime predators. We don't give them antibiotics or medications, but rely on them to thrive on their own.
As they grow up and get closer in size to the other chickens near them, the gate to keep adults out is removed, and males may be moved to a more remote coop to prevent their adolecent affection for the females from becoming an issue. Hens are kept with some selected males for breeding reasons, but too many males will cause injury to the hens. On a regular basis, we relocate the coops that protect the birds at night to fresh plots of grass. They fertilize the area in and around their coops, and have fresh grass and bugs to eat.
At some point most chickens will be sold to the public for food or to start their own flocks. This is usually the only time a bird from our farm will be caged, and they are not treated cruely, cramped or kept caged for long.
How warm do I need to keep my chickens?
See: winter coop temperatures for a good bit of information on temperature controls for your coop.
The answer is, not very warm at all. Chickens that have feathered out are generally very cold hardy, and will be fine at freezing temps if kept dry and out of the wind. They usually feather out by 8 weeks of age. Prior to that, they need to be kept warmer: 95F their first week of age, dropping 5F per week until they are feathered out. As chicks, they will let you know they are cold by cheeping very loudly and often.
What chicks come from the cross breeding of Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks?
| male/female | BR Rooster | RIR Rooster |
|---|---|---|
| BR Hen | BR/BR | Mutt/Black Sex-link |
| RIR Hen | Mutt/Mutt | RIR/RIR |