We've done several iterations of chicken coops and runs over the years. The current coop and small run are permanently placed (not mobile) but we have 3 larger runs that we rotate the flock through. Their favorite day is the first one after changing runs, like today. This particular run is the favorite of the 3 as it is closer to the direction the humans come from to give treats.
Do you house your roosters with your hens? We're keeping our separate right now and were thinking of building a coop just for the boys.
@jennifer
We generally only have 1-2 roosters and they stay with the flock. A good rooster keeps an eye out for predators, calls hens for treats, etc. When we've gotten more roosters from hatching eggs we tend to sell them before they get to an age where they start jockeying for position or otherwise being a nuisance.
Classically, our 2nd rooster right now was supposed to be a hen we purchased with a batch of pullets. We've been hanging onto him because the head roo can be aggressive to humans and we've discussed replacing him. Plus it doesn't seem like he's ever worked out mating, but the new roo definitely has, haha
Same here. We keep a rooster for every fifteen hens or so. I like the setup. We use those electric netted fences but we don't have a mobile coop for them. So they stay close to the barn. We hope to solve that problem soon.
Ah, we have 12 hens and when we tried hatching some fertilized eggs, we got 3 roosters. No hens. Next time I'm making my husband pick which eggs to incubate!
They get along okay but definitely have a pecking order and they get more aggressive with one another when the hens are around.
AO Smith
Jennifer
Loop Farmer