4 months should be fine. The closer to laying age the better. You might try putting him in the new coop soon with a couple of the hens till they’re old enough.

In the majority of cases a rooster will attack and kill chicks. No this isn’t a fluke. Get that bird away from the chicks fast and lock the chicks in a safe pen with their mother. When they get to half grown size they’ll be getting closer to being allowed near the rooster but not until then.

If your chickens are free-range, the best way to introduce them is to let the new chickens out first to free-range. Then, after a few minutes, open the existing coop up and let your existing flock join the new chickens to free-range.

Between 5-7 weeks

Happier Hens I’ve had flocks of just hens before, and I can say that my hens truly seem happier with one or two good roosters around. The dynamics between hens and a rooster seem to be very important for the girls. Roosters will look after the hens, alert them to food and even help find them good spots to lay eggs.

The average age when a pullet starts to lay is about twenty weeks. Some sex link birds start to lay at sixteen weeks, while Orpingtons’ can go to twenty eight weeks! Pullets continue to put on body mass between twelve and twenty weeks. If the pullet is about the size of an adult hen, she is near the twenty week mark.

Pullets’ bodies are still developing rapidly, getting ready to produce eggs. Grower feeds are specially formulated for the nutritional needs of pullets 8-16 weeks old.

6-7 weeks old

A dying chicken will hide their weakness as long as possible. So the first sign we typically notice is withdrawal from the flock and napping more than usual. During this time she will taper off eating. If you feel their body under their feathers, you’ll notice lost weight.

Of course, there are many reasons why a chicken might be standing on one foot. Maybe she’s just giving one foot a rest. Or maybe she has a sore foot, or a wound. If it’s not winter and your bird isn’t cold, watch to see if she limps when she walks.

The dying chicken passes alone. A grieving hen avoids interacting with the flock and sits in a corner with puffed-up feathers like a chicken that feels ill. Some mourn only temporarily, but others never seem to recover from the loss of a flockmate.

What are the clinical signs? When your hen is egg bound, your hen may appear weak, show no interest in moving or eating, have a “panting” respiratory rate, and may have some abdominal straining. One or both legs may appear lame due to the egg pressing on the nerves in the pelvis.

A broken egg can become infected and lead to peritonitis, which is caused by egg material stuck inside the hen and must be treated immediately with an antibiotic and probiotic powder to build up her good bacteria. Even if the egg is not broken, the condition must be treated quickly.

To try and prevent episodes of egg binding in the future:

1. Use a commercial layer feed as the main part of the diet, supplementing treats at no more than 10 – 15% of the total ration.
2. Offer a free choice calcium supplement (like oyster shell) at all times.

about 24 to 26 hours

The simplest answer to this is ‘no’. Laying eggs is as instinctive to hens as perching and scratching. It’s something they need to do, but they are not doing it with thoughts of hatching chicks, and will leave their egg as soon as it has been laid.

An unmedicated hen’s first eggs are perfectly safe to eat. They are often smaller when the hen is a young layer, and occasionally they will have an odd shape, but they are just as nutritional as the later eggs, and some chicken keepers say they even taste better.

Because these are among the first eggs ever laid by the young hens, typically less than one year old, they contain the vital essences of the chicken, stored up for her entire life. No subsequent eggs will taste the same.

A fresh egg will lay on the bottom of the glass. An egg that is two to three weeks old will start to rise up off the bottom of the glass. It is still perfectly good to eat, just not quite as fresh.

Seeing poop on eggs is not a sign that a chicken has worms. Worms can – and often will – transfer from one bird to another via their poop, however. Chickens are susceptible to various types of worms. Reduction in egg production.

In the United States, fresh, commercially produced eggs need to be refrigerated to minimize your risk of food poisoning. However, in many countries in Europe and around the world, it’s fine to keep eggs at room temperature for a few weeks. If you’re still unsure, refrigeration is the safest way to go.

Washing dirty eggs removes the bloom and invites bacteria to be drawn inside the egg. And washing eggs in cool water actually creates a vacuum, pulling unwanted bacteria inside even faster. (Of course, not all bacteria is bad, but you never know what may be lurking on the outside, so better safe than sorry.)

Simply fill a bowl with cold tap water and place your eggs in it. If they sink to the bottom and lay flat on one side, they are fresh and good to eat. A bad egg will float because of the large air cell that forms at its base. Any floating eggs should be thrown out.

With proper storage, eggs can last for at least 3–5 weeks in the fridge and about a year in the freezer. The longer an egg is stored, the more its quality declines, making it less springy and more runny. However, older eggs are still good for several uses.

about two weeks

2 to 3 weeks