Okay all of you poultry experts...A couple questions for you...
1-Do pullet's only go into the nesting boxes when they are ready to lay??? Our's use the top which is sloped as a stepping stone to their roost...they fly up to the top of the nesting boxes and then fly over to the roosting bars...
2-Do you put your feeding trough outside of the coop or leave it inside??? I have our's inside the coop...but was wondering if I should keep it outside the coop during the day versus inside the coop???
3-Is there a problem having more than one rooster??? Not that I plan to get another one, but just wonder if they would fight if there was more than one???
4-Do ducks roost or do they stay on the floor of the coop???
5-Do ducks use a nesting box like chickens???
I notice with my pullets about a month or so before they start laying they will start nesting occasionally. SOme will never use it!
ReplyDeleteI leave my food trough inside because I dont want it to get wet. As long as they have access to it they will find it.
On the roosters it depends on the roos.. I have about 7 right now.. WAY to many.. But the younger ones all obey the big rooster. But it can be hard on your hens sometimes because the roos will try to prove dominance by mating with all the hens he can reach and alot of times it will be the same little hen all the time. Most of my roos are in a pen or cant get to the main house. I have 3 that run loose one in with the main flock and 3 banties roos. One wont even crow because he is so submissive to the others..
The only ducks I know anything about are Muscovies and they are tree ducks and roost where all other breeds are a mallard type duck they dont roost. I would say they would stay on the floor. When we had Muscovies we built a little 3 sided house on the ground for them. But we only had 2 females out of 8 and a stray dog got them and several of the males..
Our chickens were rather strange (like us ;) when we first put them in the coop they didnt use the roost noooo not them. They decided to all sleep in one nesting box all 8 of them. After they got onto the roosting thing then they didnt go in the nesting boxes until they started to lay and now they fight over just the one they used to sleep in even though they have two others to lay in. Ours are Golden Comets and dont get broody so I guess it depends on your breed. We leave the food in the coop so it wont get wet and put both waterers outside. It's just better to have the waterers outside so you dont have a wet area on the coop floor. Dont have a rooster and dont know a thing about ducks sorry.
ReplyDeleteHere's been my experience:
ReplyDelete1-Do pullet's only go into the nesting boxes when they are ready to lay???
I have a few old hens that sleep in their nesting boxes.
2-Do you put your feeding trough outside of the coop or leave it inside??? I have our's inside the coop...but was wondering if I should keep it outside the coop during the day versus inside the coop???
We do both -- inside during the warm months (we have several feeding pans scattered inside the netted coop area for the chickens, who mainly stay inside or they tend to lay their eggs where I can't find them.) Outside trough for rainy, cold weather. It's easier to keep it cleaned out of old feed and off the ground.
3-Is there a problem having more than one rooster??? Not that I plan to get another one, but just wonder if they would fight if there was more than one???
It depends on whether you want chicks and how many hens you have. A rooster can only service so many hens in a day. If you have two or more roosters in the same coop area, they will fight for dominance. I would suggest keeping them in two separate fenced areas with their own harem of hens if you plan on having more than one.
4-Do ducks roost or do they stay on the floor of the coop???
We have mallards, pekins and magpies. They do not roost, but stay on the floor. That could be because we put everyone in at night under the netted coop area to keep them safe from predators and basically, so they don't wander or fly away.
5-Do ducks use a nesting box like chickens???
Yes, they will. We use wooden rectangular nesting boxes on the floor with some nesting material placed inside. Whether the hen will use it depends -- some will, some won't. Introducing the nesting boxes early will probably increase the likelihood they will be comfortable with it. Kind of a trial and error thing.
Good luck!!
Nancy, Tonia and Denise, thanks a million for taking time to respond to our questions, we appreciate your advice!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have chickens or ducks but found the questions and answers quite interesting!
ReplyDeleteOne question...how long do laying hens lay for? Does it depend on the breed?
Hmmmm, I may get a few chickens in the future!
Hunde Haus...I will defer your question to the experts that so graciously follow my blog...Nancy, Denise, Tonia and Small Farm Girl...thoughts to Hunde Haus's questions???
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I can say is... GET CHICKENS..they are a blast to watch...very fascinating, pretty and at times comical in their escapades!!!
Hens can live to be 12 yrs old or so I have heard. My friend has a couple that are 4 yrs old and still lay just not as often. The best laying years are before they are three years old at least that is what the books say but there are always exceptions to any rule. We are going to keep our current chickens until they die of old age. We even are planning on having an old chick house and a new chick house course this all depends on whether we can get some acreage. Subdivisions are kinda small lol.
ReplyDeleteDenise, great idea...old hen's home... :-) Gotta love em' right...they are pets for goodness sake!!!
ReplyDelete