Adding hatchery chicks to existing flock

[CastielH]

I’m planning to order some sexed chicks from McMurray to add to my flock of eight bantams to bolster their numbers for the winter and to have some large fowl laying eggs in the spring (my family isn’t sold on the mini eggs being good) and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to do it safely? The chicks will be set up indoors in a brooder for at least a couple days depending on how well they ship but once they’ve recovered I’m hoping to set a brooder up in the coop. It’s my understanding that incubation and breeding stock are kept separate at hatcheries so this should be a very low risk of any cross contamination but I was hoping to see if anyone more experienced had any insight.

 

[50-45-1]

Mini eggs are fine. The difference is only size
I used to make an 18 egg omelet for my husband and I!
And using in recipies, approximately 3 bantam eggs = 1 extra large.
Beware of some large breeds that may "pick on" your banties when they are adults.
Sometimes it's better to keep them in separate coops.
Yes, I usually keep chicks in the house until they have lots of feathers about 2 weeks.
Then moving out to the coop in a " look but dont touch" situation.
Once they are freed into the coop, lots of clutter or things for the chicks to escape to or behind is good.
Good luck!

 

[TaylorGlade]

@CastielH we built a mini-run inside of our larger chicken coop so they could "meet" but not interact. Then, we allow supervised visitation for a few minutes a day, slowly increasing as aggression subsides until they are in the coop full-time. That took about 4 weeks total between the separation and then the visitation.

However, @50-45-1 makes a great point about the size disparity between the breeds. Do keep an eye on that.

 

[aart]

Hatchery chicks shouldn't need quarantine.
Not sure getting chicks in the fall is a good idea tho.
What will you use to heat the brooding area until they are all feathered?
How many adults and chicks will you end up with?
How big is your coop and run?
Dimensions and pics would help here.

I like integrating chicks young, but do it in the spring to extreme weather is not an issue.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[CastielH]

Mini eggs are fine. The difference is only size
I used to make an 18 egg omelet for my husband and I!
And using in recipies, approximately 3 bantam eggs = 1 extra large.
Beware of some large breeds that may "pick on" your banties when they are adults.
Sometimes it's better to keep them in separate coops.
Yes, I usually keep chicks in the house until they have lots of feathers about 2 weeks.
Then moving out to the coop in a " look but dont touch" situation.
Once they are freed into the coop, lots of clutter or things for the chicks to escape to or behind is good.
Good luck!

I’ll be keeping a close eye on them to be sure there’s no bullying going on and my bantams are my first priority so I’m not afraid to rehome the LF if needed. My family doesn’t quite believe me about the eggs being the same so it might take some more convincing lol

@CastielH we built a mini-run inside of our larger chicken coop so they could "meet" but not interact. Then, we allow supervised visitation for a few minutes a day, slowly increasing as aggression subsides until they are in the coop full-time. That took about 4 weeks total between the separation and then the visitation.

However, @50-45-1 makes a great point about the size disparity between the breeds. Do keep an eye on that.

My plan is to build an in coop brooder as well! I actually built part of the coop with a small brooder in mind so it should be really easy to get set up.

Hatchery chicks shouldn't need quarantine.
Not sure getting chicks in the fall is a good idea tho.
What will you use to heat the brooding area until they are all feathered?
How many adults and chicks will you end up with?
How big is your coop and run?
Dimensions and pics would help here.

I like integrating chicks young, but do it in the spring to extreme weather is not an issue.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

I have a brooder plate that I plan to use and the weather is staying mostly in the 60’s where I am, we don’t get a lot of extreme cold until the end of October and if it did start getting super cold early I can move them into my parents garage for a bit which is insulated but only heated to about 50 degrees so it wouldn’t be a huge transition. I have 8 bantams currently but I am planning to rehome two of them once I have my numbers figured out for the winter to cut down on my number of cockerels and I know shipped chicks can be a bit fragile so the number I’m ordering is with that in mind but there’s never any shortage of people looking for started pullets near me if I feel like the birds are getting overcrowded. I have a 6x8 coop with an attached 8x10 run and am going to be getting some movable fencing in the spring to range the birds a bit. If I do end up rehoming two of my boys and all eight chicks make it that would be about 3.5 square feet inside per bird and almost 6 square feet per bird outside which as far as my research has brought up could work as long as the birds personalities allow it to.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have a 6x8 coop with an attached 8x10 run and am going to be getting some movable fencing in the spring to range the birds a bit. If I do end up rehoming two of my boys and all eight chicks make it that would be about 3.5 square feet inside per bird and almost 6 square feet per bird outside which as far as my research has brought up could work as long as the birds personalities allow it to.

That might work for very calm bantam breeds but even a well integrated flock can be stressed with that amount of space, and integration always requires more room. So yes having a backup plan for rehoming birds is a good idea as you may find it very difficult to grow the flock without adding more space.

 

[CastielH]

That might work for very calm bantam breeds but even a well integrated flock can be stressed with that amount of space, and integration always requires more room. So yes having a backup plan for rehoming birds in a good idea as you may find it very difficult to grow the flock without adding more space.

I have a family friend who keeps a laying flock because her granddaughter is enamored with birds so I have multiple backup plans luckily.