I have 20 chickens who are approximately one and a half weeks old now. After the usual nervousness, things have settled down. However, some of the chickens a lot farther along in feathering out than some of the others. I know that the still fluffy ones are eating and drinking, no pasting, anyone got a clue? Most are getting their tail feathers in, (up to about 1/2 inch) and are getting feathers around their shoulders now. Buy the way, I plan to separate the chickens into 2 groups in tractors, should I separate them now? Is this a problem of not getting enough by being low on the ladder? Not freaked out, just curious. annette

-- annette (j_a_henry@yahoo.com), April 11, 2000

Answers

Chickens do have a pecking order. It wouldn't be a bad idea to seperate the more aggressive ones anyway. Once they start getting their feathers more, you should be raising the heat lamp.(if you're using one)

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), April 11, 2000.

I've only raised the one flock of chickens we have now but, if memory serves, I think my roosters fledged before the pullets. I know they started getting their combs earlier. Just a thought. You will need to separate them by gender as soon as you see any sexual activity, or better as soon as you can tell gender. I had a divider in one tractor and the roosters really had some fights before we got all but the one lucky fellow butchered. If you are concerned about all getting enough to eat, be sure you have enough feeders and see that they are never emptied.

Marilyn

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), April 11, 2000.

Marilyn is correct, you need to separate them by sex as soon as you can determine it. Our roosters also feathered out first, so that may be what is happening. If you don't get them separated they will beat each other up, as well as the hens. I made the mistake this year of keeping too many roosters for too long and my hens really took a beating. None have any feathers on their backs at all, But we solved that yesterday and put the rooster away for winter.

-- Jan B (Janice12@aol.com), April 11, 2000.

I too had read that roosters feather out first .I thought I'd mark them this year to see how I did .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), April 12, 2000.

Don't worry, this is normal. Usually the cockerels will feather out before the pullets but I've seen it happen the other way around too. Provided you're not having problems with them picking at each other there's no need to seperate them before they're all fully fledged out at about a month or five weeks old. Even then it's usually not necessary. Picking at each other is often an indicator of over crowding. Once they're three or four months old you'll want to remove most of the roosters (into the freezer) otherwise they may start making problems for your hens as they become sexually mature.

I've got a box with ten Barred Rocks and two Gold Laced Wyandottes in my guest bedroom right now. The Rocks are just now about a month old and I'm becoming fairly sure which are hes and which are shes. The Wyandottes are a week to ten days older, both nearly fully fledged, and I'm *still* not sure if one is a rooster or not. Neither is showing much comb development but one fledged out way before the other and their coloration is coming out much different. This is odd considering I bought them at the same time and they're both the same breed.

I feed mine a big handful of greens (small leaved stuff) out of the yard twice a day and they love it. It also keeps them kind of occupied so they don't get into mischief. After the first week I started giving them fine grit (just a few shakes) and rolled oats mixed into their chick starter (about 15% or so) and they're as vigorous as can be. Just make sure the feeder always has feed in it and keep the water clean and plentiful and you should be OK.

Two books that I've found very useful are Carla Emery's The Encyclopedia of Country Living and one whose author I've forgotten but is called Chickens In Your Backyard. Both have done well by me.

..........Alan.

The Prudent Food Storage FAQ, v3.5

http://www.ProvidenceCo-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@netscape.net), April 12, 2000.

The feed store said they were all pullets, but I am aware that they can make mistakes about that. I've gone ahead and separated them into their tractor groups, but I still have them in boxes right next to each other under one lamp. As for those books, I've got both, and they've been a big help to this newbie! The chicks are one aracona and 19 buff orptongtons. The aracona is much further along and I'm really hoping that its a she. She is turning out to be a really pretty bird. She is my 5 year old son's pet, his first. He is really excited, but not as much as I am! Thanks for the advice, annette

-- annette (j_a_henry@yahoo.com), April 12, 2000.

I think you should separate them now because my Auracanas are fighting ruoughly and they are just peeps. I cant tell which ones are hens and my father needs to know. Hes keeping them for the eggs. Will you please E-mail me as soon as possible and try to find info. on them. Curios kayla

-- Kayla Marie Bell (kayla.bell@angelfire.com), April 18, 2001.

I went nuts this year and bought a variety of chicks. 58 12 different I have 10 buff orphingtons....they are 5 wks old now and fully feathered out. They are the furthest along of all. I still can't tell how many roosters I have. I was hoping for at least one rooster from each variety. All my chicks have been together from day one and are getting along fine. The 21 cornish cross are getting picked on a bit, but they are so fat and lazy they deserve it. I have a 8x8 ft coop and a outside area, so if they have enough room to roam you won't have a problem. I had 5 New Hampshire roosters together last summer and they did not fight or tear up the hens. I think if you crowd them then you start to have problems.

-- Kent in WA (kent@premier1.net), April 18, 2001.