Adding more chicks/pullets to my flock

[GypsyGen]

Hello everyone! I’m in much need of advice from experienced chicken people. I currently have 6 chickens 10/12 weeks old. 2 have turned out to be roosters. I will be rehoming them as I’m not allowed roosters where I live. My dilemma is …… do I buy 2 new day old chicks? Or do I buy pullets around the same age?? At 6 weeks I added 2 to my original 4 my 2 new girls are not as friendly as the chicks we hatched. One of them is downright skittish. Wanting advice from the experts as I’m a first time chicken mama. Thank you in advance

 

[Aunt Angus]

Hello everyone! I’m in much need of advice from experienced chicken people. I currently have 6 chickens 10/12 weeks old. 2 have turned out to be roosters. I will be rehoming them as I’m not allowed roosters where I live. My dilemma is …… do I buy 2 new day old chicks? Or do I buy pullets around the same age?? At 6 weeks I added 2 to my original 4 my 2 new girls are not as friendly as the chicks we hatched. One of them is downright skittish. Wanting advice from the experts as I’m a first time chicken mama. Thank you in advance

Why are you adding? Four chickens is a good number.

But if you're determined to add, I'd just raise a couple of chicks and integrate them when they are old enough.

 

[GypsyGen]

Why are you adding? Four chickens is a good number.

But if you're determined to add, I'd just raise a couple of chicks and integrate them when they are old enough.

4 is a good number. But one of those 4 is a micro chicken. Lol. I don’t even know if it is a chicken. Looks more like a black bird. And I can’t just have one chick. It would be too lonely. Which is why we added the 2 more instead of 1 when we realized Georgina was extremely small. She may end up being a house chicken she’s so tiny.

 

[GypsyGen]

This is Georgina. My son is 6. She’s 11 weeks old

 

[Aunt Angus]

This is Georgina. My son is 6. She’s 11 weeks old

Awwww.... Georgina is a bantam! So cute! Your son is adorbs, too!

My 2 year old rooster is next to a 6 wk old chick here. He weighs about 1 lb.

I also have 2 Silkies who weigh about 1.25 lbs each. They're fine with my big girls, but I get it. I have a tiny Call duck I'm afraid to put with my big girls, too.

 

[GypsyGen]

Awwww.... Georgina is a bantam! So cute! Your son is adorbs, too!

My 2 year old rooster is next to a 6 wk old chick here. He weighs about 1 lb.
View attachment 3206254

I also have 2 Silkies who weigh about 1.25 lbs each. They're fine with my big girls, but I get it. I have a tiny Call duck I'm afraid to put with my big girls, too.

He’s so cute!! And yes. That’s about the size of Georgina she is really docile. I worry about her. She’s ok with her friends for now. I caught one of the Roos grabbing her by her beak and dragging her while she shrieked. I put him in chicken jail.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Things to consider:

Do you have room in the set up to integrate 2 new birds, regardless of their age?

If adding older birds, do you have room to properly quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/ ? Or are you ok with the risks of not quarantining?

Any reason you want to add them now, instead of next year? Reason I ask is if eggs are an important factor, you will get more steady production by spreading out the ages of your flock

 

[3KillerBs]

I suggest adding chicks next year. There are many advantages to a multi-age flock that I'm discovering now in my 3rd year on this property.

Among others, after having chickens for a year you might find that you really LOVE a specific breed and want to focus on them.

 

[GypsyGen]

Things to consider:

Do you have room in the set up to integrate 2 new birds, regardless of their age?

If adding older birds, do you have room to properly quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/ ? Or are you ok with the risks of not quarantining?

Any reason you want to add them now, instead of next year? Reason I ask is if eggs are an important factor, you will get more steady production by spreading out the ages of your flock

This is exactly why I came here. I was wondering if I should wait until next year. And yes I have the space for up to 12. But want to leave it at 6 so they’ve got more room in the run. I don’t necessarily have a time frame to add them. I worry with coming into the cold months about chicks. I don’t want them living in my house for forever.

Things to consider:

Do you have room in the set up to integrate 2 new birds, regardless of their age?

If adding older birds, do you have room to properly quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/ ? Or are you ok with the risks of not quarantining?

Any reason you want to add them now, instead of next year? Reason I ask is if eggs are an important factor, you will get more steady production by spreading out the ages of you

Things to consider:

Do you have room in the set up to integrate 2 new birds, regardless of their age?

If adding older birds, do you have room to properly quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/ ? Or are you ok with the risks of not quarantining?

Any reason you want to add them now, instead of next year? Reason I ask is if eggs are an important factor, you will get more steady production by spreading out the ages of your flock

I do have room and I already went through quarantine and integration when we added the other 2 when the lady at the feed store talked me into doing it when they were 6 weeks vs in the spring. It’s why I’m asking here and not back at the feed store . To be honest I feel a little bit of I don’t want baby chicks in my house right now. I just got them out. I do like the idea of spacing them out. I do like how I’m able to handle my hatched chicks over my pullets I added when they were older. I didn’t know if like the lady at the feed store was saying it’s easier to add while they’re younger vs. when they’re older. So I wasn’t sure if I should add immediately upon re homing my roosters.

 

[GypsyGen]

I suggest adding chicks next year. There are many advantages to a multi-age flock that I'm discovering now in my 3rd year on this property.

Among others, after having chickens for a year you might find that you really LOVE a specific breed and want to focus on them.

Thank you! I’m so glad I came here