Roosters

Well, I've done something I said I would never do.....get roosters! Yes, yes, never use the word "never"! It just backs one into a corner that you sometimes have to wiggle and squirm to get out of. So why in the world get roosters? Ah, the facts of life.....to make little baby chickens. 

I have quite a few hens. While most are young, some are older. The older ones are not great egg layers anymore, but one thing they are good at is getting broody. They find an egg and proceed to sit on it all day. So I figure I have two choices that I am comfortable with for dealing with older broody hens. Either make chicken tacos or have them incubate eggs. Since I can't have a store bought incubator (I'm on solar and very miserly with the kilowatts), I can turn to Mother Nature's incubator -- the hen. 

For right now the boys will be with the hens in one big pen. Since none of the hens are being broody at the moment, this will give me time to build several new pens, one for each rooster. Then as I identify some broody hens, they will go to their new digs where they can produce eggs and sit on them. I plan to actually build several new pens so that the boys can be moved to different pens, thus leaving the broody hens in peace. 

I don't know what breeds these roosters are, but for this experience it doesn't really matter. They came from a local mixed flock that produces very nice eggs. That's good because I shall keep some of the young birds that get produced and add them to the laying flock. Of course the young pullets will have to prove their worth in order to stay, but that's a future issue.