Vocal chicken

[Lorna]

Hello everybody,

We started keeping chickens almost a year ago, with a rescue Rhode Island red and then got a young Scottish Grey for company. The young one went into her first moult about October/November time and just this week has started laying again while the 3 year old Rhode Island is still losing feathers rapidly.

Since she started laying again, the Grey has become very vocal and we wondered if this is normal. We have been giving them a poultry tonic in their water over the winter months and they are fed a mixture of layers pellets and grain, with the odd treat such as scraps of green vegetables from time to time. They have the run of the garden when we are at home and can look out for Mr. Fox.

We plan to get another couple of youngsters this year and possibly a young cockerel, but we don't know if this will upset the balance as the two have become best of friends and enjoy nothing more than hunting and foraging trips around the garden together.

Any thoughts?

[Clarea1]

Adding a new hen can be touch and go - sometimes it really work and other times it absolutley doesn't. I Think it is a risk you take, hens are damn nasty when they want to be. How practical is it for you to be able to seperate them while you do the introductions? Ths could take a while.

If you get a cockeral you will undoubtadly have chicks. What will you do with them all, especially the cockeral chicks. Also have you checked your deeds of covenant about keeping a cockeral. If you neighbour complained about the noise you may have to get rid as it most residential areas they are not allowed.... as my neighbour found out. He had 5 from some eggs he hatched and they all had to go due to a complaint. They were very noisey.

Just a few points to consider from my neighbours experience!

[Lorna]

Having said that they are the best of friends now, The Rhode Island didn't take too well at all to having company at first. For such a good natured creature, we were amazed at how aggresive she was. This may have been because she had been on her own for some time at her previous home, the rest of her pals having been had by fox or mink. This was why her owners wanted her to have a new home, so that she didn't meet the same fate.

We don't have the problem of neighbours here as we are surrounded by fields housing cows and sheep, so we thought that if we did have chicks, especially male ones as you say, they could make fine poussin...

Regarding the original point of this, we wondered if the Grey is now looking for a male.

[Clarea1]

Sounds like you have all avenues covered!

I don't know about the vocal bit - mine are always vocal in a morning but not so at night, not sure why this is, maybe they are tired come the evening!