Chipmunk Chicks
Free Ranging
So turns out we are having a bit of an adventure getting our new chicks this season. For those who care to follow along...
To make matters worse, one of the yellow chicks has really been struggling. She seems to be doing much better now! But she is smaller than the rest and I would never be able to breed her, say for Olive Eggers with a Marans or some other Easter egger, due to her problems from Day 1. She doesn't appear to get picked on though, miraculously. The red chick is as big as or bigger than the Bielefelders, and she always has her back. The Bieles are also really sweet and it seems like she is always snuggling up with them, like they are her surrogate mommies. Lol
Anyway, the Bieles are supposed to grow out bigger than the rest of our birds, but even tempered and friendly. They were not a breed I had in mind particularly for my flock, but I think they must be "trending." lol
I had thought of I had to be brutal, I would keep the friendliest yellow chick, Marshmallow, who is also just the most gorgeous chick ever! And the next friendliest is one of the Wyandottes. So make it two and two, we'd have the nicest looking yellow chick, her lovely caramel sister, and the two Wyandottes, which I moreso wanted in the first place. That leaves the three Bieles, the red chick, Ruby, and the runt, Peep, to re-home, perhaps to someone establishing a new flock from scratch. They would have plenty of room for big birds, and full disclosure that the little chicken shouldn't be bred, and it's understandable that despite saving her and giving her lots of extra support, I can't necessarily personally keep her. I just want to see her go to a good home, and stay with her flockmates. They really have a wonderful dynamic.
Which brings me to the problem. I shifted the four I plan to keep over to their own brooder yesterday, and mostly it's fine, but boy are they feisty! The Biele+2 flock is just so mellow and chill by comparison, and the 2+2 flock is chest bumping all over and everyone is trying to sort out their new pecking order.
Which brings me to my real question, is this a bad idea? Being a small flock, their dynamic is über important to me. Everyone getting along is Everything. DH says of course they won't be so tough when they mix in with the other nine hens, but now I'm just not sure how this is going to go. He also said if they are the most strong and vigorous chicks, of course they are going to be feisty, but I know sometimes temperament and vigor are unrelated. All nine chicks just got along so fantastic, and I hate to break them up. Any tips or guidance would be great. Maybe it's all going to be just fine and I shouldn't be worried about it, but this will be my first time integrating new pullets into my flock, so I'm not sure what to expect.
Thanks so much!!!
Here are the "keepers": Sylvia, Carmella Soprano, Ivy and Marshmallow.
And my beloved little B flock: Peep snuggled up with the German girls, and Ruby on the bottom right.
For starters, DH kept saying he was adamant, NO NEW CHICKS. So I set aside my dream of getting my blue copper marans for the time being... Hoping maybe at least I could get my Australorp rooster... Sigh.
Anyhow, he was at tractor supply for other things and I teased him about checking out the chicks. He said they had Wyandottes! Silver and gold! (I actually do want gold!) OMG I was actually super excited because with the black Australorps and then our Welsummers, I just think GLWs would be so pretty in the mix.
The Wyandottes were selling out before his eyes. They also had Bielefelders. When he said that, I was also excited because I was thinking of Barnvelders!!! I was like omg what are the chances they actually have GLWs and Barnvelder chicks!???
So long story short, Bielefelders are not Barnvelders, but he did come home with the last two SLWs and three Bieles.
Totes adorbs.
The next day though, he went back for crumble and he calls and says, they have M-A-R-A-N-S? Something? What!?? Again, what are the chances!? So after much urgent back and forth, and no pictures would come through, the employee said these were the Marans, and they were labeled French Wheaten Marans so he said we'll take them! (I should have thought to tell him to check for feathered feet, but I honestly didn't know at the time if they are present at hatch.
Now I do! 
) He only wanted two but he had to take four, even though we'd just bought five the day before... (State law) So here we are with nine chicks.
Of course you know where this is going. They are NOT in fact FWM, and we suspect they are Starlight Green Eggers, which were mixed into the same bin, or possibly one stray RIR SR. She's our true wildcard. lol
We already have nine chickens who are housed during the daytime with three more ducks. So we figure we can really only add 3-5 birds at this time, without pulling a couple of the other hens, and even still. We let them range a bit as well, but it's not a big coop, and we currently rent, so we are not in a position to take extravagant measures to add more space. I'm hoping we can expand the run area at least with some netting so they can spend more time out of the enclosure, but that's probably about the extent of it. We are planning to move and build a new coop and run soon, but it may not be till after October now, rather than summertime, so. Here we are.
Anyhow, he was at tractor supply for other things and I teased him about checking out the chicks. He said they had Wyandottes! Silver and gold! (I actually do want gold!) OMG I was actually super excited because with the black Australorps and then our Welsummers, I just think GLWs would be so pretty in the mix.
The Wyandottes were selling out before his eyes. They also had Bielefelders. When he said that, I was also excited because I was thinking of Barnvelders!!! I was like omg what are the chances they actually have GLWs and Barnvelder chicks!???
So long story short, Bielefelders are not Barnvelders, but he did come home with the last two SLWs and three Bieles.
Totes adorbs.The next day though, he went back for crumble and he calls and says, they have M-A-R-A-N-S? Something? What!?? Again, what are the chances!? So after much urgent back and forth, and no pictures would come through, the employee said these were the Marans, and they were labeled French Wheaten Marans so he said we'll take them! (I should have thought to tell him to check for feathered feet, but I honestly didn't know at the time if they are present at hatch.
Now I do! ) He only wanted two but he had to take four, even though we'd just bought five the day before... (State law) So here we are with nine chicks.Of course you know where this is going. They are NOT in fact FWM, and we suspect they are Starlight Green Eggers, which were mixed into the same bin, or possibly one stray RIR SR. She's our true wildcard. lol
We already have nine chickens who are housed during the daytime with three more ducks. So we figure we can really only add 3-5 birds at this time, without pulling a couple of the other hens, and even still. We let them range a bit as well, but it's not a big coop, and we currently rent, so we are not in a position to take extravagant measures to add more space. I'm hoping we can expand the run area at least with some netting so they can spend more time out of the enclosure, but that's probably about the extent of it. We are planning to move and build a new coop and run soon, but it may not be till after October now, rather than summertime, so. Here we are.
To make matters worse, one of the yellow chicks has really been struggling. She seems to be doing much better now! But she is smaller than the rest and I would never be able to breed her, say for Olive Eggers with a Marans or some other Easter egger, due to her problems from Day 1. She doesn't appear to get picked on though, miraculously. The red chick is as big as or bigger than the Bielefelders, and she always has her back. The Bieles are also really sweet and it seems like she is always snuggling up with them, like they are her surrogate mommies. Lol
Anyway, the Bieles are supposed to grow out bigger than the rest of our birds, but even tempered and friendly. They were not a breed I had in mind particularly for my flock, but I think they must be "trending." lol
I had thought of I had to be brutal, I would keep the friendliest yellow chick, Marshmallow, who is also just the most gorgeous chick ever! And the next friendliest is one of the Wyandottes. So make it two and two, we'd have the nicest looking yellow chick, her lovely caramel sister, and the two Wyandottes, which I moreso wanted in the first place. That leaves the three Bieles, the red chick, Ruby, and the runt, Peep, to re-home, perhaps to someone establishing a new flock from scratch. They would have plenty of room for big birds, and full disclosure that the little chicken shouldn't be bred, and it's understandable that despite saving her and giving her lots of extra support, I can't necessarily personally keep her. I just want to see her go to a good home, and stay with her flockmates. They really have a wonderful dynamic.
Which brings me to the problem. I shifted the four I plan to keep over to their own brooder yesterday, and mostly it's fine, but boy are they feisty! The Biele+2 flock is just so mellow and chill by comparison, and the 2+2 flock is chest bumping all over and everyone is trying to sort out their new pecking order.
Which brings me to my real question, is this a bad idea? Being a small flock, their dynamic is über important to me. Everyone getting along is Everything. DH says of course they won't be so tough when they mix in with the other nine hens, but now I'm just not sure how this is going to go. He also said if they are the most strong and vigorous chicks, of course they are going to be feisty, but I know sometimes temperament and vigor are unrelated. All nine chicks just got along so fantastic, and I hate to break them up. Any tips or guidance would be great. Maybe it's all going to be just fine and I shouldn't be worried about it, but this will be my first time integrating new pullets into my flock, so I'm not sure what to expect.
Thanks so much!!!
Here are the "keepers": Sylvia, Carmella Soprano, Ivy and Marshmallow.
And my beloved little B flock: Peep snuggled up with the German girls, and Ruby on the bottom right.
I've been over here just agonizing all week about what to do. I do hope they will all work it out, and still have enough space to be happy going forward.
I especially like Carmella
