Chicken coops plans

We had a problem with the older hens pecking one of the younger hens when a broody hen hatched a clutch of eggs. I kept the runt and even full grown the older hens pecked her all the time. We have a huge chicken run area, the coop is real big for all the birds but the pecking went on for a few months.

The runty hen would even go and roost on the feeding station part of the coop and at night we’d go out in the dark and place her on the roost with the other hens, this went on for almost a month and then they accepted her and only chase her off now and then fighting over goodies like a banana peel or other treats.

We don’t supplement their diet, we use a layers mash, and toss them dry corn and wheat now and then. We have to sequester the rooster in his own run area and also his own divided off part of the coop where he has food and water because our hen to rooster ratio isn’t enough and it took almost a year for one hen to grow all her back feathers in after he kept hopping on her viciously.

In about a month, we’ll let the rooster run with the hens now and then to get fertile eggs to increase our flock, we can make the hens go broody real easily by putting golf balls in their nesting boxes. Once we get a hen to lay on the golf balls, then we switch the golf balls with fertilized eggs.

Once we get a good ratio of hens to rooster, then we won’t have the problems of the hens getting feathers torn out. Roosters are not gentlemen LOL.

What hens love are sugary baked goodies. I had some pineapple cobbler that didn’t get all eaten and after a few days gave it to the chickens, they loved it! Sometimes too I’ll mix up chicken feed and strawberry yogurt and put it on a feeding tray for them, they go absolutely nuts over yogurt!

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