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TOO many chicks, different ages of chicks too-- help? Suggestions

post #1 of 4
Thread Starter 

Help I admit I am a chicken newbie but chose the Jersey Giant breed --- and now have a predicament-- have simultaneously ordered 15 hen chicks that arrive in a week-- and got a confirmation back from a local craigslisting ( I like to honor my committments) so will be getting 6 3 week old chicks as well the day after tommorrow!--

 

not sure how to do this-- my coop is for 8 standard chickens so I was thinking maybe 6 full grown giants would fit into it (we have an acre back yard so there is room to expand) and a second coop? How to mix the two-- and when-- I am assumming that in 3 weeks I can put the chicks outside by which time the older chicks will be 7 weeks--

also am thinking to trade off any roosters (the 6 from Craigslist are unsexed which is on reason I ordered hens online)...

 

Or trade some for another coop?

 

I was assuming there would be some chicken mortality as well so wouldnt have exactly 21 chickens... But still I will have too many...

 

Any thoughts, advice would be really really really appreciated-- I am in the Grass Valley, CA area!

post #2 of 4

How big is your coop???

Proud owner of a Shih Tzu dog (Snickers); 4 cats (Lindy & Lil' Kitty & Gizmo & Peppy),2 chinchillas (ChiChi and Chia), 4 guinea pigs (Zack, Ozzie, Baby Girl, & Freckles), a horse (Simba), 1 call duck (Sage), 1 Black East Indie duck (Whisper), 1 mallard duck ( Franny), a Partridge Cochin hen (Clover),an Easter Egger hen (Tilly), a Barred Rock hen (Savvy), ;3 younger chickens (Pinky, Bigfoot, and...
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Proud owner of a Shih Tzu dog (Snickers); 4 cats (Lindy & Lil' Kitty & Gizmo & Peppy),2 chinchillas (ChiChi and Chia), 4 guinea pigs (Zack, Ozzie, Baby Girl, & Freckles), a horse (Simba), 1 call duck (Sage), 1 Black East Indie duck (Whisper), 1 mallard duck ( Franny), a Partridge Cochin hen (Clover),an Easter Egger hen (Tilly), a Barred Rock hen (Savvy), ;3 younger chickens (Pinky, Bigfoot, and...
Reply
post #3 of 4

1. your chicks need to be feathered before going outside, usually 5-6 weeks, or at least a heat lamp provided.....

2.as long as they have plenty of room to get away from eachother integrating will be easier, an acre is alot, are you free ranging them or keeping them in a run?

3 you didn't say the size of your coop... my birds have access to 2 coops, so they have lots of space but they pack like sardines into 1 coop... figure a minimum of 2.5 sq. ft. per bird... most people say more, but you can get by with 2.5 especially if free ranging...

post #4 of 4
Thread Starter 

Well we built the Purina chicken coop-- its pretty big  about 4x5 ft and at least 5ft high but I think I need another one. I want to build a run (8x8 ft) attached (we have dogs too) so I can put their feeder and waterer in there but plan to leave the door open so they can free range during the day when I am around and once we have figured out the dog- chicken situation -- Because they are levelling the septic mound I have lost most of my fencing so the acre wont be available until I get it back /septic done (2-4 weeks )...

I think I was aiming for a flock of 8-10 birds to start, but just ended up with too many ordered birds-- I think I will have to put an ad on Craigslist or... may do a trade/sale on this forum to decrease my chick numbers...

Its in the 70's now during the day, but still upper 40's at night/low 50's for a good week or so in my area....

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