FunClucks
Crowing
I hatched 20 of my own eggs and came up with at least 14 cockerels. They are Production Red x Prairie Bluebell mainly, and are flighty, active, and a number of them are aggressive to each other and me. They are only 5 weeks old, and about the size of a songbird, not quite the size of a pigeon, so the people aggression, though annoying, isn't hurtful yet, but the more aggressive ones are already pulling feathers off the backs of the others.
I have them in a 150 sq foot bachelor pad, with some hides and perches. I have the ~6 females in an XL dog crate inside the bachelor pad as I try to determine if they really are female, and in an attempt to avoid males fighting over them. I plan to give the males and females more room as they grow - there's another 150 sq feet I'm using for meat birds for the next few weeks, and then they'll be out of there - I can divide that up as needed to grow out the female eggers and cockerels.
I was hoping to raise these cockerels to 4-6 months in order for them to have enough meat to be worth the time/effort to butcher. But the fact that they're already aggressive and feather picking has me worried. I might try and rehome/sell a few of the nicer cockerels, but being in such an environment will probably not do great things for their personalities.
I could conceivably put the 3-4 worst bullies in another XL dog crate or a double XL dog crate inside the bachelor pad, to try and reduce the stress on the remaining cockerels.
The bullies of course will be eaten first, but what do I do for the next 3-5 months? How can I raise them all with a minimum of injury to each other in a peaceful environment? Or is this just what the bachelor pad will be like?
What would you guys do in this situation?
I have them in a 150 sq foot bachelor pad, with some hides and perches. I have the ~6 females in an XL dog crate inside the bachelor pad as I try to determine if they really are female, and in an attempt to avoid males fighting over them. I plan to give the males and females more room as they grow - there's another 150 sq feet I'm using for meat birds for the next few weeks, and then they'll be out of there - I can divide that up as needed to grow out the female eggers and cockerels.
I was hoping to raise these cockerels to 4-6 months in order for them to have enough meat to be worth the time/effort to butcher. But the fact that they're already aggressive and feather picking has me worried. I might try and rehome/sell a few of the nicer cockerels, but being in such an environment will probably not do great things for their personalities.
I could conceivably put the 3-4 worst bullies in another XL dog crate or a double XL dog crate inside the bachelor pad, to try and reduce the stress on the remaining cockerels.
The bullies of course will be eaten first, but what do I do for the next 3-5 months? How can I raise them all with a minimum of injury to each other in a peaceful environment? Or is this just what the bachelor pad will be like?
What would you guys do in this situation?