Adding Adults to flock...should I?

[AmeliaRB]

Hello, my flock is now down to 2 hens. My plan was to purchase some chicks this Spring; however, our country vet recently contacted us about a local FFA program giving away young laying hens. My run is probably 10x15 and I have the set up to safely introduce maybe 3-4 new chickens. My current 2 are a Wyandotte and an Americana. They are giving away both hybrid and pure breeds. I am really at a loss in this decision. Please give me your thoughts. Thanks!

 

[Shadowfire]

What breeds are the existing hens? You will need to divide the coop in half or buy one dog crate for each new hen so that they can acclimate to the other hens and to their new home. Personally I think that the hens would be fine without others, but it's all up to you with what you decide. Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The only thing that would slow me down would be biosecurity concerns. I don't know how you feel about that. Not everyone quarantines, especially if they trust the source. If those chickens have been isolated and the person watching them would recognize a disease or parasite and was honest enough to tell you about it they pretty much have been in quarantine. Can you quarantine? Would you?

Another issue is how attached are you to your current two? Are you considering replacing them anyway? How devastated would you be if something happened to them? It is also possible your two hens have a flock immunity the new ones don't and they will infect the new ones. The risk is two way.

 

[DobieLover]

Where are you located in the world? You can include that general information in your profile so it displays under your stats.

You didn't mention how large your coop is. Can you provide it's dimensions in feet x feet? Pictures of your coop and run would be very helpful.

Here is a link to how I integrated 3 pullets in with an existing flock of 9 birds:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/well-dang-that-was-easy.1281000/

Integrating in the cold weather can be difficult, but 'cold' is a relative term. I would not want to deal with 2 coops in the dead of our winter where we are frequently in single or below zero night time temperatures and everything is frozen.

Quarantine is also important. Do you have a garage you could use to quarantine the new birds? Or some other place you can keep them away from your existing 2 for 3 to 4 weeks before you start the 'look don't touch' phase of the integration? I didn't really have that capability as you can read in my post so I did a pseudo quarantine but everything worked out fine.

Integrating new birds can involve a fair amount of work but if you are up to it, it can certainly be rewarding. I enjoyed it.

 

[chickens really]

Hello. If you are set up for look no touch introduction then go for it. No need to quarantine because without a total Bio secure quarantine diseases spread Anyways. Best wishes. I'd just do it.

 

[AmeliaRB]

I think they new hens would be already acclimated to each other, don’t you think? I was going to have them separate from my 2 older hens for awhile but all the new ones together in a large cage. That’s my initial thoughts. Like I mentioned, my 2 old girls are a Wyandotte and an Americana.

 

[AmeliaRB]

Yes, I was thinking quarantine/look don’t touch separation would be done for a few weeks.
I love my 2 older girls. They haven’t laid after going through a fairly heavy molt and it’s cold...so Indont know if they will lay again. They are only 2 years old this spring, So I don’t think they are completely finished laying. I don’t really want to get rid of the old girl’s in order to get new chickens. That was never in my plans and not really interested in it. My 2 girls have it pretty good. However, there was some pecking before the molting started late Fall. Don’t know if that’s relevant.
I don’t know what “flick immunity” is.

 

[AmeliaRB]

The only thing that would slow me down would be biosecurity concerns. I don't know how you feel about that.

Re: the person giving them away, it’s an Ag teacher at a local school. I do think he’d be honest. Would he recognize every type of illness? No idea.

 

[AmeliaRB]

Hello. If you are set up for look no touch introduction then go for it. No need to quarantine because without a total Bio secure quarantine diseases spread Anyways. Best wishes. I'd just do it.

My look don’t touch would be a huge dog crate sitting outside the run. It’s what I have done to separate a broody butt from the flock in the past, however, this time it would be 3-4 chickens instead of 1. I figured it would be ok for a few weeks. It’s not ideal in my opinion.

 

[AmeliaRB]

Where are you located in the world? You can include that general information in your profile so it displays under your stats.

You didn't mention how large your coop is. Can you provide it's dimensions in feet x feet? Pictures of your coop and run would be very helpful.

Here is a link to how I integrated 3 pullets in with an existing flock of 9 birds:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/well-dang-that-was-easy.1281000/

Integrating in the cold weather can be difficult, but 'cold' is a relative term. I would not want to deal with 2 coops in the dead of our winter where we are frequently in single or below zero night time temperatures and everything is frozen.

Quarantine is also important. Do you have a garage you could use to quarantine the new birds? Or some other place you can keep them away from your existing 2 for 3 to 4 weeks before you start the 'look don't touch' phase of the integration? I didn't really have that capability as you can read in my post so I did a pseudo quarantine but everything worked out fine.

Integrating new birds can involve a fair amount of work but if you are up to it, it can certainly be rewarding. I enjoyed it.

I’m in West Texas. The temps range from 50’s -high 60’s most of the time. It does get into freezing temps at night. My coop is smallish. I think 3-4 birds would roost comfortably but no more than that. It would be easy to add another roosting bar and laying box. I’d say the sleeping area is 3 x 3. Maybe a tad larger. Wish I had bigger but it is what it is.