Hi Allen, Congatultions all round. First building a coop, second getting
a real calm hen and third, but not last, on a brave 3 year old.
While I'm all for starting them young 3 is a bit young to be picking up
chickens. Production birds usually weigh between 4 and 5 lbs. Some of
the older breeds can go over 10 lbs. I would hate to discourage him but
a chicken is an animal with a very devious brain. One never knows what
goes on in there. If the bird is a Rhode Island Red it's plotting to
take over the world, one finger at a time. Roosters, IMHO, are dangerous
animals. Especially to small people. One of their duities is to protect
the girls. A good rooster will warn the flock of any suspecious
predators and in many cases will attack. They grow spurs that are
lethal weapons and can put them to good use. When attacking they go for
the face of smaller targets and sneek up on the larger ones from behind.
Needles to say a chickens feet don't stay in the cleanest enviornmet. So
without going into the gory details just keep an eye on the chickens
around the boy. Damage can be serious.
You can mix and match any breed of chicken, and a few that are
questionable. The barnyard can produce some pretty strange birds.
Ol' George
--- In CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com, "allen_moretsky" <a_moretsky@...>
wrote:
>
> Our chicken is spending his first night in his coop. I just made a 4x8
foot plywood coop out of scraps I had.
>
> 1. My 3 year old son finally got up the courage to pick up the
chicken. This hen seems docile. Might the chicken peck at my son's eyes?
>
> 2. If I were to buy a hybrid layer could I keep her with the other
dual purpose chickens including a rooster?
>
> 3. Similarly if I buy different breeds, I assume they will cross breed
if kept together. How's that work out for example if I were to have a NH
Red and a Marans of one kind or another?
>
> Thanks,
> Allen
>
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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