Chickens???

Question

I want to have baby chicks, I have a small backyard, all I have right now is a hen which is in a really small cage, also how do you now what kind of rooster is right for the chicken, Ive tried to breed them with a rooster but then it killed the hen so I ate the rooster, I only have one hen and I dont want it to die. B reeding tips would be helpful also. I dont need an incubator or do I, will the hens take care of it for me?

Answer 1

First, you have to consider if you want to raise pure-bred poultry, or any-old-chickens-that-look-good.  If you want purebreds, then look for a rooster that is the same breed as the hen.

If the hen is a standard, find a standard rooster.  The rooster "should" be larger than the hen in this instance.  If your hen is a bantam (roughly 1/4 to 1/2 the size of a standard chicken), you MUST find a bantam rooster otherwise the hen will be killed by the size of the rooster.  

Place the rooster in the pen first.  Allow him to stay in that cage for roughly 24 hours until he associates it with "his" territory.  THEN, place the hen in the pen.  Once you see the hen covered by the male, her eggs will be fertile for up to 21 days.  

As for the chicks.  If the hen becomes broody (wanting to sit on her own eggs to hatch them herself) you can allow nature to take it's course.  However, this usually does not happen and you will have to use an incubator.  The incubator should be set anywhere from 99.5 to 101.5 degrees F and at 65-70% humidity.  

After the chicks hatch (roughly 21 days after you place the eggs in the incubator) you will need to place them in a brooder.  This brooder is the place where the chicks will be raised.  Feed medicated chick starter, water cleaned out every day.  And use a 60-76 Watt bulb with a reflector (often called a heat lamp).  In the brooder keep a thermometer so that you can measure the temperature.  It should be around 95 degrees F.  

If you have any further question, feel free to email me.

A broody hen can and will hatch her own chicks, raise them and allow them to become part of the flock.  A broody hen is a priceless asset to any flock and is sought after fervently by breeders.

Answer 2

First off, don't think I'm being mean I'm just going to give you a bit of advice!

Hens don't do too well in cages and should be kept with at least one other hen. Roosters should be kept with several hens else he will just keep on mating the same hen and nearly kill her! Maybe this is what happened.

Once you have seen the rooster and hen mate and you're sure she has fertilised eggs, separate the male and make sure the hen is sitting on her eggs. If she doesn't you'll have to find an incubator.

If she does sit on the eggs, try not to disturb her and make sure her food and water is not too far away.

If you want to tame her ( which i would else she won't let you handle the chicks and they will be just as scared!) persuade her with live meal worms and her favourite treats just before she goes to roost. She wil be more calm at this time of the day! Don't chase her round and take it slow so you build her trust!!

hope I helped!

Answer 3

I would start from scratch. Buy a half dozen baby chicks from a local flea market and let nature take it"s course. I would keep the hen but isolate it until the chicks are big enough to get away from it.(although it"s not likely the hen would bother them). Buy a how-to book on backyard chicken raising. It is helpful but a lot of the info is common sense.Also, it will give you ideas on an inexpensive coop and/or pen. I"ve had chickens for 4 years and really love fooling with them. It"s relatively cheap and easy hobby. It does"nt take long to develop your own ideas about how to go about it. I also have an incubator and it"s a whole lot more trouble than I thought it would be. Chicks that are hatched at your own place are safe there. Incubated chicks don"t have a mother hen so you have to keep them separate until they are bigger.

Answer 4

yes u do need an incubator because the hen is not warm enough for the chicks and u should get a bigger cage so that the hen has room to run a round. u also might want to get some chicken scratch so that she relaxes and do u have a roosts so that she is comfortable and is high enough off the ground.

Answer 5

Strange that a rooster killed a hen. . . suppose it's possible but I've not heard of this.

   I've had 5 different roosters over the years and the only thing one of my roosters was set on killing was another rooster. . . he's gone now for obvious reasons.

   Just because you have roosters/hens doesn't mean you will have a hen that is willing to sit on a nest of eggs until they hatch.

    I've had only 3 hens over the years that actually wanted to sit on a nest of eggs and after 4yrs of having chickens have I just this summer successfully had 2 hens to hatch out chicks.

    In the future I am considering an incubator because of the lack of hens that are willing to sit out a clutch of eggs.  The cost of chickens in our area has risen to as much as $12.00 a hen and the only way I will pay that much for a chicken is if I go to the Wal Mart Deli and buy a couple of BBQ'd chickens. . . LOL

    Right now I have 5 chicks and a hen sitting on 10eggs but if I had more sittin hens I could really replentish my flock. I currently only have 10hens and 1 rooster.  I want about 30 hens and maybe 2 more roosters. . . .As a rooster reaches the age of 2,he starts to lose his fertile ability. . . I found this out when last year I took 55 eggs to a friend of mine with an incubator and only 6 of those eggs turned out to be fertile. I got rid of that rooster and got a younger one which is the one that has fertilized the eggs I am hatching out now.

     I have a henhouse that is approx. 8ft by 10 ft  with 10 nesting boxes though the hens seem to pick out specific boxes that they all go to and lay their eggs. . . . my sitting hens hatched out eggs that weren't even their own because of the hens going to the same nesting boxes.

   Around that henhouse I have a pen that is approx 12ft by 25ft where the hens roam all day and the rooster is free to do his rooster thing all day.

  Yeah,incubating your own eggs is ALOT of extra work after those chicks hatch.  You gotta play Momma for about 6wks until the chicks are big enough to fend for themselves against the pecking that will go on until they establish their order but if you don't have a hen that is willing to sit and hatch eggs on her own you don't have a choice.

  Even hand raising a chicken is no guarantee that it will be friendly.  The 4 I had raised last year are just as skiddish as those that I bought or had given to me.

  Keep in mind that once a hen hatches out a clutch you gotta seperate them cuz other hens and roosters can and will kill those chicks.  This is a pain in the patoot as well cuz now I gotta feed in 2 henhouses. . . . Oh well,I just keep looking at what the end will bring when I have all adult birds and all of those farm fresh eggs and or fryers in the freezer. . . . I will keep the pullets (females) and intend to put the cockeriels (males) I don't need in the skillet/freezer.

Hope this helps. . . . . Good Luck