Adding to our one-chicken flock...

[NatJ]

I wouldn’t keep them in there for more than a couple days without letting them out in a pen to scratch .

If they are being quarantined away from the existing hen, they must NOT be allowed out to scratch in any place that the current hen will access during that time. The whole point is to prevent them passing any bacteria/virus/parasites/etc. to her, and taking turns on the same ground is one way to spread things.

If the current hen is only allowed out in the backyard, it might be possible to let the new ones scratch somewhere else (maybe in the front yard?)

 

[FlockinAround]

I totally agree with a good inspection before buying. Don’t bring them home if they look bad.
If they look healthy I wouldn’t quarantine the newcomers for a long time. Just a few days to check on worms and other common issues. Because a dog crate is an awful place to be in for a long time..

I wouldn’t deworm or treat unless you brought the chickens home with you and find such issues after buying. Medicines are always a kind of poison and if there is no issue it wint help and unnecessary medicines are never good for your chickens.

Integration is always hard. More space, more feeders and several hiding places do help a lot. Consider making an extra temporary run with panels or a frame with very strong netting (cat netting) to create some extra outdoor space.

Good luck with the newcomers.

TYSM! This is super helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to reply. We're working on making a little second run area for the new gals and will definitely look them over carefully when we go to get them! I'd def rather not treat if there's no evidence of illness, but kept seeing to just do a round of dewormer or mite meds whenever adding newbies and didn't really understand if I needed to do that or not. I ordered a new feeder and water station and will be adding some roosts, objects to the main run to give them a bit more room to get to know each other when that time comes. <3 Thank you again for your helpful reply! <3

 

[Mrs. K]

Just get one chicken. You coop is small, and it will be very tight for 3 birds, two of them strangers to the home girl.

One on one, there will be a dust up or two, but it will quickly settle. I would add some clutter to your run, you are wasting all that vertical space for the birds. And a hide out where a bird can get out of sight would be helpful, a large piece of cardboard would work, a ladder, or a saw horse.

Another trick that does not need building, is to let the home girl out, and lock the new birds in the coop/run. This lets them calmly explore the new area, it lets the home girl see them in the home area. Feed along the fence.

If you are nervous, put the new girls in the dog crate at night, and then let the home girl in to roost. Do that two days.

Then let everyone out together, with the choice to go in the run or yard. I am betting they will just all go to roost that night.

The quarantine is hard to do, and if you don't do it right, you may as well not do it. If you go into a decline if you lose a bird, then don't get strange birds, raise up chicks. Quarantine if incredibly important if you have a very large flock, derive your income from the birds, or have a flock of rare genetics. In those cases, I would have a closed flock, and not add birds, there is a risk.

But if you are just risking a few birds of hatchery birds, then the advantage of getting them is greater than the risk. Do not take anything you are sorry for, do not take anything that has parasites. If the people go to a lot of shows, or bird auctions, I would pass. But if they are just have a chicken hobby like me, I would risk it.

Mrs K

 

[NatJ]

Just get one chicken. You coop is small, and it will be very tight for 3 birds, two of them strangers to the home girl.

The problem with getting just one: the next time one dies, the same situation happens all over again. With three, when one dies, there will still be two (which means no chicken is alone while plans are made to get another replacement.)

I agree that coop is very small. But if the chickens are never shut in the coop, and always have access to the covered run, there might not be any problems. I notice that the run is covered, and is sheltered by walls on two sides and partly sheltered by bushes on the other two sides. That will make it usable all year long in some climates.

But if the weather gets bad enough that chickens must stay in the coop for days on end, then the existing coop is probably too small even for a single chicken, and adding any more will make it worse. If that is the case, the logical thing would be to upgrade the coop or add more shelter to the run, no matter which number of birds is being added.

 

[FlockinAround]

Just get one chicken. You coop is small, and it will be very tight for 3 birds, two of them strangers to the home girl.

One on one, there will be a dust up or two, but it will quickly settle. I would add some clutter to your run, you are wasting all that vertical space for the birds. And a hide out where a bird can get out of sight would be helpful, a large piece of cardboard would work, a ladder, or a saw horse.

Another trick that does not need building, is to let the home girl out, and lock the new birds in the coop/run. This lets them calmly explore the new area, it lets the home girl see them in the home area. Feed along the fence.

If you are nervous, put the new girls in the dog crate at night, and then let the home girl in to roost. Do that two days.

Then let everyone out together, with the choice to go in the run or yard. I am betting they will just all go to roost that night.

The quarantine is hard to do, and if you don't do it right, you may as well not do it. If you go into a decline if you lose a bird, then don't get strange birds, raise up chicks. Quarantine if incredibly important if you have a very large flock, derive your income from the birds, or have a flock of rare genetics. In those cases, I would have a closed flock, and not add birds, there is a risk.

But if you are just risking a few birds of hatchery birds, then the advantage of getting them is greater than the risk. Do not take anything you are sorry for, do not take anything that has parasites. If the people go to a lot of shows, or bird auctions, I would pass. But if they are just have a chicken hobby like me, I would risk it.

Mrs K

I really appreciate your advice! The wee coop is temporary but it will be there like that for the next couple months while we finish another construction project- we plan to build a much bigger coop that will attach to that left side of the run and comfortably house 6 hens eventually. This was super helpful- I got an old wood chair and a little ladder book shelf thing on marketplace that I'll be adding until we can build them some more fun stuff in there. the quarantine points you make totally make sense. Thank you for taking the time to share your insight, I appreciate it!

 

[FlockinAround]

The problem with getting just one: the next time one dies, the same situation happens all over again. With three, when one dies, there will still be two (which means no chicken is alone while plans are made to get another replacement.)

I agree that coop is very small. But if the chickens are never shut in the coop, and always have access to the covered run, there might not be any problems. I notice that the run is covered, and is sheltered by walls on two sides and partly sheltered by bushes on the other two sides. That will make it usable all year long in some climates.

But if the weather gets bad enough that chickens must stay in the coop for days on end, then the existing coop is probably too small even for a single chicken, and adding any more will make it worse. If that is the case, the logical thing would be to upgrade the coop or add more shelter to the run, no matter which number of birds is being added.

totally! the wee coop is only for sleeping at the moment- even in the rain we haven't had to shut Jessy in it at all. We're near LA so it's never really under 60 degrees in the day time, lowest is mid-40s at night and we're home A LOT so she's out in the yard free ranging most of the day too. We plan to build a much bigger coop w nesting boxes that will attach to the left side, but most likely won't get that finished until mid-January so this will be the set up for the next 2-3 months. <3

 

[aart]

we plan to build a much bigger coop that will attach to that left side of the run and comfortably house 6 hens eventually.

Would be good to enlarge the run too.

We're near LA

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[NatJ]

we plan to build a much bigger coop that will attach to that left side of the run and comfortably house 6 hens eventually.

We're near LA so it's never really under 60 degrees in the day time, lowest is mid-40s at night

We plan to build a much bigger coop w nesting boxes that will attach to the left side, but most likely won't get that finished until mid-January so this will be the set up for the next 2-3 months. <3

Before you build another coop, I suggest you read about "open air coops."

The basic idea is a covered, secure run (like you have), with roosts and nestboxes in a sheltered part of it (like a corner where 2 or 3 partial walls come together.)

In your climate, you probably do not need a coop with solid walls on all 4 sides.

Some examples of open air coops:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/open-air-coops.48177/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/simple-open-air-coop.67987/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/small-tropical-desert-savanaha-coop.77063/

(If you are searching for other ideas: the specific designs called "Woods Open Air Coop" are meant for cold climates, which you do not have. They are much more closed up than the ones I am suggesting.)

 

[Mrs. K]

The problem with getting just one: the next time one dies, the same situation happens all over again.

One can always add chickens, after the coop is built. I did not mean for the original poster to only have 2 chickens forever, but it better to add chickens after the coop is built rather than adding chickens now and building in the spring.

So I think adding a single chicken now, then build a coop and add chicks, then your birds are not all the same age, and you have space.

Mrs K

 

[FlockinAround]

Before you build another coop, I suggest you read about "open air coops."

The basic idea is a covered, secure run (like you have), with roosts and nestboxes in a sheltered part of it (like a corner where 2 or 3 partial walls come together.)

In your climate, you probably do not need a coop with solid walls on all 4 sides.

Some examples of open air coops:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/open-air-coops.48177/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/simple-open-air-coop.67987/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/small-tropical-desert-savanaha-coop.77063/

(If you are searching for other ideas: the specific designs called "Woods Open Air Coop" are meant for cold climates, which you do not have. They are much more closed up than the ones I am suggesting.)

oh I love this idea! Thank you!