Early Flock integration - larger numbers short term

[Svyetii]

Hey all!

Looking for some perspective. I currently have four hens. Sadly we lost two this year months apart for unknown causes. I had been letting them free range most of the day, but because we also lost two others to a bobcat (and the constant poop and destruction of the yard is wearing on me) I’ve started keeping them mostly cooped up and only letting them out every other day or so for a few hours while I’m home.

My daughter’s class is hatching chicks. I hadn’t planned on getting any more, but since we lost two and she really wants to take some home, I told her we could bring two home. Unfortunately, her teacher miscalculated thinking several parents would want to take some and no one is willing except us. I’m a bleeding heart… and of course she got black australorps, so we won’t know their sex until a crow. I can probably find homes for them in the community, but since we can’t have roosters and she’s really excited about hatching and keeping the hatchlings, I don’t want to end up keeping two roosters that we’d get rid of and giving away all the girls.

So I started thinking about taking several to raise until they're big enough to tell and then rehoming the roosters or extras ( or maybe just processing them, but I’ve never done that before). I used the early integration method with my last flock and it seemed to work well. I’d like to try doing that a bit earlier this time since it’s later in the season and will be warmer. My coop is 3x6 with several levels of roosting bars, three nesting boxes and a run that’s 12x6 with a variety of ladders, branches and pots and things for them to perch on. I currently have a solar powered automatic door on the coop. Do you think if I just kept it open so they could come and go as they pleased and could sleep at night on the perches in the run that I could do an early integration with several more chicks for a few months? I think six is the ideal number of chickens for the space. I could probably fit 7 or 8 especially if they still get some time to free range, but this is only my second year raising chickens and I still have much to learn… appreciate any perspective you might have that would be helpful from your own experiences.

Thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

A little foggy here as to what you're asking or wanting to do - you want to early integrate a handful of chicks, and want to know how many you can take? I think 6 total in the flock is probably max if you can't free range full time - coop is tight and the run space is a bit limited for integration if they have to stay in for any period of time. However if you want to make sure you get 2 hens, then you may find that you need 4 or 5 chicks for that, and then rehome any boys or excess hens, as you don't have room for extra birds.

I assume since you said you've done early integration before that you have space set aside somewhere in the coop/run for it already? Or how did you handle it previously?