Having 1 rooster and 5 hens with 13 in the grow-out pen and 36 chicks on order, I had some serious chicken math issues. Okay, I need to downsize my flock. (If you are having chicken math issues yourself, the minus sign is a valid operator, but you will not find it on any chicken math calculator.)
I had 4 great hens that were not part of my future plans, nobody else was selling hens locally, so it was a good time to sell.
Local ad, interested buyer, 4 hens gone the next day, cash in the pocket, happy buyer.
Okay, but I was just not prepared to take the blame for reducing my rooster’s hens down by 80%! He is actually a good guy, 10 months old, and I did not want him to be angry at me. Who knows what goes through their tiny little brains!
So I ushered him and the remaining hen into a separate part of the coop, with its own window, food and water and where he could not see the dastardly deed. I then came back later to snatched the hens. Of course he could hear all the commotion and he was vocalizing his concerns.
A day later, I am walking around like nothing is out of place other than asking him: “Where are your girls?” He seems to be crowing a lot more though.
I had 4 great hens that were not part of my future plans, nobody else was selling hens locally, so it was a good time to sell.
Local ad, interested buyer, 4 hens gone the next day, cash in the pocket, happy buyer.
Okay, but I was just not prepared to take the blame for reducing my rooster’s hens down by 80%! He is actually a good guy, 10 months old, and I did not want him to be angry at me. Who knows what goes through their tiny little brains!
So I ushered him and the remaining hen into a separate part of the coop, with its own window, food and water and where he could not see the dastardly deed. I then came back later to snatched the hens. Of course he could hear all the commotion and he was vocalizing his concerns.
A day later, I am walking around like nothing is out of place other than asking him: “Where are your girls?” He seems to be crowing a lot more though.
