Adding Hypothetical Chickens to my Actual Flock...

[Abriana]

Or maybe you should get some fertile eggs and hatch them yourself! I have done it so many times, and the excitement after waiting three weeks for them when you hear the peeping never gets old.

 

[Ridgerunner]

1. If I can get a broody to adopt day olds, how few can I get away with sticking under her?

The risk is not so much when the broody hen is taking care of them but after she weans them and they are making their own way with the flock. A lone chick can have trouble with that because it will be so lonely when the hen has rejoined the flock and the flock does not want the chick around. My suggestion would be a minimum of three so even if you lose one they still have a companion.

Can I stick chicks from TSC or somewhere similar, or would that be risking biosecurity issues?

Anything you do is a biosecurity risk, even if you don't go around other chickens. But somethings are a lot less risky than others. If the chicks in a feed store like TSC come from a hatchery like practically all of them do I'd consider them very safe. If one of your neighbors hatches them, not so much.

Would it be possible to get bantams, or is that an integration nightmare waiting to happen?

People do it all the time. If the hen raises them with the flock and takes care of integration for you your chances improve even more. Is it possible you will have serious integration issues? Of course, that can happen if they are the same breed and color. You do not get guarantees with living animals and behaviors, it just doesn't work that way. There are plenty of cases on here where bantams dominate full sized fowl when they are mature, size isn't as important as the spirit of the chickens. The odds of problems probably goes up if they have weird feathers but if they are raised with the flock, not that much. and sometimes it does not matter.

Any breed suggestions for a mixed flock? I'm thinking Sussex, Ameraucana, Polish... or even a Silkie or a few bantams. Maybe.

What are your goals? Why do you want chickens? It's hard for me to make breed suggestions if I don't know why you want them. Are size, number, or color of the eggs important to you? Are they just pets? Do you want a rainbow of feather colors and patterns? Is it important to you if they do or do not go broody? What I want is different to what you want.

I know you are dreaming and I don't want to rain on your parade too much. You can try practically anything and maybe with a little help from us your odds may not be all that bad if you get a chance to live that dream.

We can always come up with reasons why you shouldn't do something because you might possibly have problems. Failure is an option but you can't succeed without trying. And sometimes their are solutions. Many feed stores sell a minimum of 6 chicks so find a neighbor willing to split an order. If you hatch eggs or buy chicks you are likely to get males, sometimes most or all will be males and sometimes most will be pullets.. You meed a plan to deal with them. There are many different strategies to deal with that. Since you free range, Silkies that can't fly or Polish that can't see might be more vulnerable to predators but many people free range Silkies or Polish and do fine. If you free range the others are vulnerable anyway.

Since you have not been through it I don't trust you when you say you have enough room. With integration it is not a matter of square feet per bird. The quality of that space is important. You may be OK with that, you may not. But don't let that stop you from dreaming. If you decide to go forward many of us can help you improve the quality of what room you do have or we may tell you to provide more room if needed. We can help you with the practical aspects of implementing your dreams. But don't let what might be a problem stop you from dreaming. Or asking.

 

[Mrs. K]

If your hubby does not want a rooster, then do not hatch eggs. It would be best to stick sex-linked day old chicks under her. I have done it numerous times with very good results. The chicks are raised in the flock and there is no integration issues.

I do agree with AArt - free ranging does not allow you to cheat on coop space. However, chicks do not take up much space in the beginning. If you add birds, can you subtract birds? Over crowding causes a LOT OF PROBLEMS, and they are ugly problems. Wishing they would all just get along does not work.

This is a fun hobby, and I add chicks each year, but I also cull birds each year. I keep a flock, the birds in the flock come and go.

Mrs K

 

[Acre4Me]

Lots of good advice above.

We gave a broody 7 chicks that were 5 days old. She was in the brooder box in the barn, asleep in the nest box. We placed all 7 around and behind her in the dark, checked on her around 7 am, and saw no chicks...hoping they were just snuggled and asleep (rather than unaccepted and dead), we checked again at 9 am and they were all fine, momma hen accepted them, was cluck-clucking at them, and keeping them warm otherwise.

Good luck!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thanks, everyone. This is all very, very helpful. Very.

For my part, I can made it work. I'm planning on expanding my run anyway, and I have a space for incorporating a brooder, if I ever decide to go that way. And I can add coop space, too. I'm going to move my nest boxes eventually, and I'm going to add more storage. It won't be much of a stetch to double the size of my coop.

The x-factor are my girls. Lots of *ifs* there. It'll work IF one goes broody for a long enough stretch, IF the broody accepts the chicks, IF the rest of the flock accepts them, and so on.

I really like the idea of having a colorful mixed flock with all different breeds as pets. I don't care about having huge amounts of eggs or breeding or anything. I want a bunch of different birds with a bunch of different behavior quirks because I love interacting with them and watching Chicken TV.

When I was a teensy little kid up until about my freshman year in high school, I wanted to be an ornithologist (and, no, I wasn't a social outcast). I LOVE birds. It has long been a dream of mine to have chickens. Now that I'm all grown up, I can have chickens without my parents telling me no. Now my husband is the one who tells me no, but I have veto power! MWAHAHAHA! (<-- That's my evil laugh).

But this is all hypothetical. The soonest this would happen is late next spring, anyhow. Lots of time to think and plan....

 

[rebrascora]

All good advice from previous posters.
If you get chicks from TSC be aware that they sometimes get handled by the public and put back in the wrong bins, so there is more of both a biosecurity risk and not getting the sex/breed you expect, than if getting chicks from a hatchery. Other feed stores may have better systems where customers are not allowed to handle the chicks until purchase. Bantams are usually sold unsexed I believe, so have a plan to deal with the very cute but unwanted cockerels that will result. Unusual birds do best if there is not just one of them in a flock to make them odd bird out, so adding just one polish or silkie is not always a good idea and even if you get 2 or 3 the chances of ending up with a cockerel or two that you need to rehome (not easy) means that you still may be left with a loner. I would probably steer clear of those breeds at this stage for that reason and make your first experience as simple as possible by adding standard birds to your flock. I have no doubt that once you have experienced the joy of watching a broody hen raising chicks, you will be very keen to do it again and chicken maths will become an issue.

 

[townchicks]

Daydreaming, or as I like to call it, preplanning, lol, is my forte. Actually practical planning, and doing it right, not so much, I fear. Seems I'm always playing catch up with my chickens, and it's never what I was dreaming of. Still, it's worked out so far.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Daydreaming, or as I like to call it, preplanning, lol, is my forte. Actually practical planning, and doing it right, not so much, I fear. Seems I'm always playing catch up with my chickens, and it's never what I was dreaming of. Still, it's worked out so far.

I'm right there with you! Haha! That's why I'm tying to plan waaay in advance.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Ok. IF I decide to go ahead with this, I'm thinking 2 chicks, standard sized (I'd really like a Sussex and an Ameraucana, but I won't cry if I don't get those breeds specifically). I may just grab some from a feed store since shipping only two seems like a bad idea, even if there are hatches that will do it. It won't be any issue at all to double my roost space with a little reconfiguring. It's doable.

Eh, who knows? I might be able to get hubby to pick out some chicks this time...

 

[Aunt Angus]

Unusual birds do best if there is not just one of them in a flock to make them odd bird out, so adding just one polish or silkie is not always a good idea

Still daydreaming....
What if I got 3 silkies? I have a breeder not too far from me. She said she would take back a cockerel. If I have 3 silkies, would that be more likely to work (assuming the hen accepts them)?