Adding new birds to an existing flock...

[Mrs. K]

Exactly about the cost. Seriously look on craigslist or other for sheds. A lick of paint, a bit of hardware cloth, and a pretty nice coop can be made for much less cost than building one.

Personally, I have had much better luck with integrating the chicks at about 3 -4 weeks of age. I sectioned off a corner of the run with a lattice panel. I had a box in there and a dog crate for day time shelter. The chicks could go through the panel like water, but the bigger hens could only look. In a week, they were all mixed up during the day. Worked a treat.

Mrs.K

 

[Rebecca Thomas]

Oh that's a great idea! I was afraid if I started that small the new hens would get bullied.

 

[Mrs. K]

They will if your run and coop do not have any hide outs or any safe spots. You need lots of space. Pallets up on cement blocks, roosts, little mini walls where a bird can get out of sight of other birds are important. Space to get away.

Space is critical, it is better to have a happy healthy flock of less numbers than an overcrowded, pecked and fighting flock.

I do not keep individual birds, I keep a flock of happy, healthy birds that come and go. I have kept this flock for years, but the birds have changed.

Mrs K

 

[igorsMistress]

I can say RIRs and Australorps are great layers. My 2 reds are top of the pecking order but not jerks about it. It's rare to not get an egg from them.

I have 3 Australorps. One of the pullets just started laying and has only missed one day since. The hen rarely misses a day.

The 1 Aussie hen and 2 reds averaged 2.8 eggs a day between them all winter.

I have an EE, a Welsummer and 2 NNs as well. The NNs are pullets and just beginning to lay. The EE and Welsummer average 4 eggs a week each. They took a break in winter. I don't really care.

We started with 6 chicks this time last year. One ended up a roo. Then we added 4 more using a temporary coop and run next to the main coop for a see but don't touch approach. Worked quite well. The chicks were in the house a couple weeks before we moved them outside, and since they'd never been with other chickens I was reasonably sure they were healthy. Two of those were roos and eventually we got rid of all three boys. We integrated 3 month old NNs pretty much the same way. A temporary coop in a part of my yard chickens aren't allowed, separated by a fence. Also worked well.

All of my birds are great gals. Not aggressive or mean even among themselves.

 

[Hopperkiller]

Mrs k is giving very good advice. My original attempt for a 12 bird coop was not caculated properly. Caused some serious packing issues and i free ranged everyday. The birds saved my place from the grasshoppers. After coyote thinned my flock to 3 i modified my setup. The original 5x8 coop and 8x8 run was changed to the run turning into two connected coops and a 10x10 dog kennel for a run. When my friend was culling 5 layers is used a grate to seperate the 2 areas of coops for about 10 days. One night i removed the grate. Worked out well until the coyotes reappeared. Now i have 6 birds in this setup. With the old roost and new roost the birds slept seperate for a few days the started shifting around. I do have a rooster so he may have been part of the reason things are going well. While the flock is incarcerated until the coyote problem is dealt with this is working ok. Room, room, and more room is good for your flock.

 

[lomine]

I also believe that integrating the chicks as early as possible is the best. My coop is in my barn so for the first couple of weeks I brood the chicks in a separate cage right next to the coop. Then I section off a part of the coop and move the chicks. Then a week or so later I make an opening that only the chicks can get through. At such a young age the chicks aren't a threat to the peeking order. Mine have never gotten more than a curiosity peck on the head (usually from the youngest of the "adult" flock that haven't seen chicks before). I used a similar method in my old coop at my old house, just on a smaller scale. (Using the mama heating pad or an electric hen is important for fire safety.) I do think that having a flock made up of calm birds is a big help. Space, like Mrs. K said, is also a huge factor. Even the best tempered birds will get grouchy if cramped in a small space.

I picked all my breeds based on egg color and those that were said to be calm breeds. There were also birds I think are pretty. I love having a mixed flock. Even my "rare breed" surprise breeds from Meyer fit well into the flock. I haven't had some of the breeds mentioned but I don't think you could go wrong with any of those suggested.

 

[tinkerfk]

Hello!

I just started my first flock last spring. Everything has gone basically well and I would like to add new birds to my flock this year. Its baby time!

Right now, I have three buff orpingtons, two speckled sussex, and one ameracauna, all of which are pretty good chickens. The buffs are by far the sweetest, and the head hen is one of those. The speckled are friendly, but more reserved. The Ameracauna is crazy. Runs away. Total Looney. They are all about a year old. Great egg production thus far.

So now I would like to get six new chicks to eventually add to this flock. I was considering golden laced wyandotte, another ameracauna, and maybe rhode island reds.

Any thoughts on what would integrate into this flock well and what are "must avoids"? Looking for good layers and friendly birds.

Rebecca

I have a flock of 8 hens and one rooster at the moment, adding another pulley and a newly hatched rooster this year. In the past we have just added them a couple at a time, had them in a cage in the run during the day for about a week, then in the nightime just popped them in the henhouse with the rest. There are several breeds amongst them, lace wyandotte, Rhode island red, barnevelder, araucano a couple of mused breeds and a rock bantams hen and rooster. All seem to just plod around happily together

 

[gocgo]

My gold laced Wyandottes are a hoot. I have one that jumps up on my shoulder for a chat now and then. They really wanted to show my young girls that I added who was boss though and still do now and then. They are really a good looking bird though. I also have BR's and they are friendlier but treated the Wyandottes the same way when I added them. The BR's had to put them in their place. They both seem to be great egg layers. I had a couple of weeks after they molted where egg production was way down, but now, in the dead of winter, I'll get 6-7 eggs a day from 10 grown girls (7BR, 3 GLW). The chicks that were added are ISA brown and BO's and they are just starting to lay now, so by March, I'd expect a 10-12 a day from 14 layers.

 

[Kessel23]

RIRs are personally my favorite breed of chicken, they are great egg layers, the roosters are usually friendly, the hens are friendly, they get along well with other breeds, and they are good at free ranging and they are very resistant to extreme heat and cold. Avoid Bantams, Cochins, and Polish. Bantams are constantly picked on by hens because of their small size, Cochins have their leg feathers removed by other chickens because they appear odd to clean legged breeds, once their feathers are forcefully removed their legs often will bleed which will only worsen the bullying. Same thing goes for polish except with their head, also it is worse for them because of there small size. You can have Polish and feather footed birds among standard breeds of chickens as long as you have more than 1, depending on the size of your flock, if you get enough unusual birds the standards will see the feathered legs & heads as normal. I have experienced this a lot because the hatchery I order from, Murray McMurray, includes a free "mystery" chicken along with your order, more often than not this bird would be a polish or cochin, I would be forced to give these birds away because of how much the standard breeds would attack them.

 

[chickenmeadow]

Yeah my plan is to get chicks and keep them in a brooder setup until they are 8 weeks old and then move them to the coop. So it gives me two months to get the new coop built. Last spring I kept them in my mudroom in a brooder and just extended the brooder when they needed more room. I live in Bayou La Batre, AL, so moisture is a HUGE problem here. I have learned a lot about that in the past year. I have been using dry hay once a week to keep everything dry and fresh but I think having a floor to ceiling walk in will certainly help.

About the free ranging....

I have a chain link fence and even if I clip their flight feathers I don't trust they won't hop over, so I am waiting to put up a privacy fence before I let them out. And then I have to put up the dog because she's a 100 lb catbull that would likely kill them. So those are my reservations there. I realize it doesn't take the place of a good size coop, but I thought they would be happier during the daytime if they were out a few hours to peck around. My goal would be to do it while I'm outside working so I could keep an eye on them.

I'll check on the coop plans! I have so many ideas but don't want to break the bank so cost effective plans are much appreciated. Its easy to let the chickens eat you out of house and home!

Good to see you're thinking ahead to accommodate the increase in your flock. I'm in Oregon where it is often damp, so my 6x8 walk in coop is designed to eliminate moisture; the moisture that concerns me is from their droppings, so my hubby added a continuous, wrap-around, hip high or so "sand tray" under the 2" or so tree branch roosts. Every morning before work, I can easily & quickly use a kitty litter scoop to scoop up the droppings (including the wettest parts), then dump that into a compost pile. Moisture is a major enemy of chickens & any uncontrolled ammonia build up is bad too. I have very little work to do with this.

The sand tray is under the roosts & catch the majority of the droppings in the coop. It is 2 1/2 ft deep from the wall all around, made with plywood, lined with vinyl (scraps stapled down) for annual or so cleanup, edged with 2x4's-4" tall around to keep the 3" base of dry sand in (with a tiny bit of "stall dry" to freshen) & add sand as needed. This tray gives them more floor space to wander around in & an easy place to jump up to from floor or down to from roosts. The tray is reinforced with 2x4's & a couple of 2x4's have a hook to hang the 2 large hanging feeders for pellets on either side of the coop. There is also sand on the vinyl floor with a little straw on top for softer landing & more chicken fun for scratching up, it stays dry year-round. So 2 levels of floor space! The nest boxes are 2 high, fit under the sand tray & set on the floor with no chicken problems. In addition, at the end of the coop, there is a window above for daylight that can be closed from draft, an extra area for a small waterer, wall dispensers for oyster shell & grit, sand, & the chickens entry door with winter time hanging wide strips of burlap to cut the wind. On the outside there is small slanted roof with horizontal small wood strips for their footing like a ladder no critters can get in from outside if they get into the top & sides 2" chicken wired pole carport (10x20); the chickens have no problem flying up to this slanted roof to get in & then out. Sand trays are the best thing ever, after having 2 other coops prior. The bears, coyotes, birds of prey etc. come around daily/nightly with no problems now to the chickens because we have hot wire around.

My Ameraucanas are funny ones that are my flocks best layers in the hotter months, the Black Australorps are the best layers in the colder months (am adding 3 Speckled Sussex this year & hope that they all get along well in this docile group that keep eggs coming year-round).

That was a lot of detail & typing, I know. Hope you find it interesting. How fun for you to expand on your flock & coop. Best wishes.