The 26 meat birds that are basically all roosters are proving to be a problem for our egg laying hens. Egg production has dropped significantly since we integrated the flock to only 3 or 4 eggs a day. In addition the number of damaged eggs has gone way up. Also, 26 roosters trying mate with only 7 hens has been taxing on the hens. Our three really calm, good natured australorps have taken the brunt of this. The feathers on the back of their heads are basically gone from the roosters biting them with their beaks during mating. The 4 sex link hens don't put up with it, but the australorps are just too submissive.
So, we have to go back to a segregated flock. Roosters on one side and hens/turkeys on the other. It will only need to be for a few week until we start processing the roosters. This will also allow us to put the rooster on a meat bird feed to bulk them up before processing. So, it is not all bad, just a little more work for us that we were not necessarily planning on.
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