A rooster will not protect the girls from predators, you really need to build a secure area for your chickens if you want to keep them alive in their current environment. Your chickens are behaving like chickens, they need to be protected especially in such a rural area. Even having a secure covered run we still lock up our chickens every night, I don't like taking chances. If this isn't possible start out by using a taller fence.

I wouldn't introduce the adult roo until the girls are close to laying age, I think 6 weeks old is too young.

-Sheila

Oooh...I like that tent effect! Our fence is 6 feet tall and the coop is higher than that over in the middle of the pen. If we cover the whole thing it will probably rest on the roof of the coop in the center.

There is concrete under the fence all the way around. I think you would have to blast rather than dig under.

Sheila, thanks for your information. I've already passed it along to dh. He is convinced that the rooster will help protect his "girls" because he once had a rooster with a flock of free range birds he kept in Washington state who actually fought off a hawk!! He said it was amazing to see that rooster flip his spurs up and go after the hawk...I bet it was!

I don't have any real experience with chickens except for trying to avoid my Gramma's very mean rooster back on the farm when I was a child. Good thing this is dh's project for the most part - but it is still a learning experience for both of us.

Thanks for the suggestions all...keep 'em coming!

I am wondering why the rooster was kept separate to begin with, but I do agree with your hubby that a rooster definitely helps protect the flock. Our chickens are free range and the roosters let their girls know immediately if there is a predator in the area. The hens are completely in tune to their roos and jump to it when a call comes out -- whether it be food or danger. They have a vocabulary all their own.

The kind of nylon poultry netting we used is made by Toprite. It's tough as nails and shows no signs of wear after three seasons. It's easy to cut to size too. I think it should work great draped over your coop and attached to the top of your fence. And you can't beat concrete as a dig deterrent :-).

It's true your roo may immediately take to his calling and work hard to protect and 'provide' for the girls. However, he 'll likely do what comes naturally as well, which would be a bit rough on little six week olds. I assume he's much bigger than they are since he's at least a few months old, right? His hormones probably aren't raging now that we're getting into summer the way they would have been a few weeks back, but it still may be too harsh for the pullets. I'd give them until 10-12 weeks if it was me.

Yes, he is considerably bigger than they are and even though he seems very mellow around dh and me - and doesn't even get upset when our dogs greet him through the fence of his pen - I'd be concerned about him roughing up the "girls".

Carmen, he is separate because he was already fully feathered (except for a rather immature looking tail) and almost grown up when we got him while the chicks were only a day or two old. We had to keep them inside for warmth for a while...well, and also until they couldn't fit through the mesh of the chain link fence around their pen. I'm very sure Arkie wouldn't have gone for spending time in that brooder box!

I'm not sure how old Arkie is but when we got him six weeks ago he did not have spurs at all, his tail was quite short and not nearly as impressive as it is now, and he was a bit smaller. I don't know why dh didn't find out how old he was.

From your description I'd guesstimate that Arkie is around 8-10 months old--certainly less than a year old, going by the spur buds and short feathers. So he's still a kid himself. :)

I never put my chicks out in the flock until they are 8 weeks old, so yours might still be a little young and really clueless as to dangers. As others have said, chicken wire absolutely WILL NOT keep out a predator. If you search this site you'll find all kinds of stories from heartbroken people who wish they'd never used it. We use hardware cloth on our coop, and we have it buried 6 inches underground and curved outward to foil digging predators. Also, your chickens need to be very securely cooped at night, and that includes a roof or some other covering. Predators are very patient and have all night to get a chicken dinner.

You can help your girls learn where home is by making your coop and run the most attractive place to live and roost. I'd certainly clip their wings (and clip them back plenty, but do it safely), right now they are all wing and horsepower and aren't heavy enough to keep on the ground. Once they mature and fill out a bit they'll stay sensibly grounded and you won't have to clip them again. Also, unless you want them to run wild, remove any low branches on trees or anything else you don't want them to climb and roost on. Help them learn where home is and how wonderful YOU are with food--feed them their goodies in the coop, keep their food, water and nests there.

I have a chicken info site here that might be helpful, including instructions on how to safely clip wings:

http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChick.htm

Arkie is a cutie. Enjoy your chicks! :)

Velvet ~:>

Thanks, Velvet! We sure think he's handsome! And thanks for the other information and the links. I'll show all that to dh when I get home later.

The coop dh built for the chicks is very sturdy (even if it does look a bit unique) and has a solid roof. However, it did not have a lockable door! It may have one by the time I get home...LOL...and I'll certainly agitate for one if not!