Adding older hens to a flock?

Acamp68

In the Brooder
Sep 9, 2018
22
10
24
Ludowici, ga
So, I bought 4 chicks from TSC a new weeks ago. Turns out we got 3 roosters and 1 hen, which is not a good set up for our family. One rooster could have grown on me lol but not 3 and now I’m faced with getting rid of them.

Obviously I know my hen is going to need some friends. How on earth do I add multiple birds, quickly and safely? I don’t want to stress my girl out leaving her alone for weeks before introducing new chicks from the brooder we have. Would it be better and easier to add multiple older already laying girls to the hens coop? And then there’s the quarantining, they’d still need to be somewhat separated for a while. I’m so confused and struggling with a solution! Thanks for your advice!
 
How old are your chicks now? You may be better off getting a few pullets as new chicks since it's more difficult to add older chickens than it is to add baby chicks.

You aren't the first person who has ended up with a bunch of cockerels instead of the pullets you were planning on. Are you going to keep one of them?

My suggestion is to order some sexed pullets from an outfit such as My Pet Chicken that will be willing to ship as little as three chicks as long as the weather isn't cold. Go to mypetchicken.com and look at all the breeds they have on sale and call them for details.

What I recommend when you get them is to brood them within sight of the older chick or chicks if you are keeping one male. This way they will all be acquainted from the start and by the time the new chicks are no longer needing heat at around five weeks old, you can then move all of them into the coop together.

But we really need to know the age of your present chicks to know if this is going to work. Whatever you do, don't panic. That leads to terrible decisions.
 
Okay perfect, I will purchase 3-4 more little ladies and start brooding them separately in the run, does this sound correct? What age does too many roos become a problem? When will they start fighting?
 
Okay perfect, I will purchase 3-4 more little ladies and start brooding them separately in the run, does this sound correct? What age does too many roos become a problem? When will they start fighting?
Sounds good...after a couple weeks you may be able to start physical introductions.
Dimensions and pics of your set up would garner more specific suggestions.

Males don't generally start causing trouble until they are about 3-4 months old.
BUT.....Start planning now how to get rid if them, the sooner the better, your lone female will be more inviting of additional birds if the boys are gone.
 
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When I turned up with two extra roos, I took advantage of my local radio station's free pet placement service. I mentioned that these boys were free to a good home. Inside of two days, people had come forward to "reserve" their cockerel. I continued to raise the two boys until age three months, by which time they were grown enough to hold their own in a new flock.

By the way, one went to a home with a backyard flock of six hens. The other got to go to a farm to command a harem of nineteen hens. Both got a super new life.
 
Do get rid of all the roosters. Small set ups make roosters difficult. First time chicken people need to get some experience before trying roosters. Roosters take some experience in my opinion.

Check out craigslist, poultry clubs, 4-H groups, often times, this time of year, one can pick up some point of lay birds. If you are afraid of bio security, I think I would let the pullet chick go too. Just do a start over. Someone with experience might want a rooster, and would be willing to take the pullet too.

Getting point of lay birds you will know you are getting hens, you will get eggs sooner, and you will have a fun little hobby to start with. You won't have integration issues, you won't have quarantine issues, you can just get stared and enjoy them. Adding chickens can be tricky.

If you go with day old chicks, do the see, no touch for 3-4 weeks, and as soon as possible, remove the rooster chicks.

Mrs K
 
This is the coop we have currently. I know it will not hold 8 chickens and we are adding a 10x10 run next week and of course if the coop itself is still too small for 4-5 full grown chickens we will replace or alter it so it works for them. But for now, this is what we’ve got out 4 five week(ish) olds in.
 

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