When to add to my flock,...

[Chickey24]

I have four week old chicks. Last week we had friends in town for the 4th and one brought his Jack Russell Terrier, and I'm sure you know where this story is going,... The dog took 3 of our 10 in a matter of seconds. They were in the basement in their brooder and she snuck through the door, down the stairs, and well you get the point! I was sick. This my first time raising birds and i had grown attached to the cute lil things! Our local farm and ranch store has a shipment coming next week. Should i add to my flock now-thinking it will be easier to assimilate them together being only 1 month apart. Or should I wait and see which birds we would like to add to our flock? We currently have leg horns, cochins, and buff orps. And then there's always the chance we may have a few roo's in the mix,....
Oh the questions!

 

[HEChicken]

Sorry for your loss

. Yeah, JRT's are great little dogs but NOT around poultry.

I would not try to assimilate day-olds with month-olds. The bigger ones will bully them, possibly to the point of death. If you want to get new ones, you would need to brood them separately.

 

[ButchGood]

I'm assuming since this is your first time raising birds that you have an empty coop waiting for them. Move the 4 week olds to the coop. If my coop is empty I move my 2 week olds out there and they do fine. This will empty your brooder. Look at all the breeds again that are available. If you're like me you said," AAwwww, I wish I had some of those". When you new chicks are 4 weeks old or so, assimilate them to the flock by fencing the new birds by themselves in the run. The older birds can get used to seeing them. I did this for about 2 weeks. I then pulled up a piece of the fence so the young ones can get out into the rest of the run when they get brave enough and can run back in if they get scared. I did that for a week, then pulled the fence. There will be a little pecking order bullying, as long as the older birds aren't relentless with their attacks, don't worry about it. After a couple days the pecking order will sort itself out.

 

[Chickey24]

Thanks fOr the advice and replies! I think I will order a few and give this another go!