Adding two year olds to a pair of 16w/o

[SWMangrybird]

We started out this year with 6 chicks, yet now we are down to a lonely pair of 16 week olds. I am thinking about adding a few more to the flock to help increase the numbers. I suppose we can wait until next year to add more chicks, or do we have some other options? Cruising the local craigslist, it appears there are a number of people who are selling 2 y/os laying hens to ppl who are simply giving away old hens who aren't laying much anymore. My question for you guys is, can this work? Sure, eggs would be great, but they weren't the only reason we got them in the first place so even the older hens wouldn't bother me. I've read the great posts about quarantine and I will definitely adhere to it if I do decide to add. I'm interested in whether the youngsters will be able to hold their own and not get picked on too much even though this is their own home turf. Any advice is welcome.

 

[GuppyTJ]

You could do what I did... I found a hatchery nearby that sold started chicks, The Poultry Hollow. I had to drive 7 hours (total, that's the round trip amount) to get 6 hens that were 8 weeks old. I added these 6 to my existing flock of 10 chicks that were 10 weeks old. So, the advantage is that they're close in age, which makes the integration less risky and easier. The reason I needed more hens is that of my 10 straight run chicks, 7 or 8 are cockerals and only 2 or 3 are hens. So, I wanted to add more hens.

It took me a good deal of searching to find this place within driving distance. It was a long drive, for for me, I considered it worth it. It also took me a while to find a hatchery that sold started chicks and I probably got lucky finding one within 7 hours of driving distance but it might work for you too.

If you do get any new chickens and especially if they're not close in age, maybe read up on how to do the integration, if you haven't already. But you probably already did. I did the "see each other through the fence while in the same coop for at least a week" method and followed all the great advice from this website that people gave (once they're together, multiple waterers and feeders, lots of space and places to hide, let them out at sunrise so they aren't cooped up together any longer than necessary etc, etc) and so far, so good. I'm just in the middle of the integration so I'm not out of the woods yet and I'm claiming success. Just so far, so good. I did it the way others recommended so... we'll see how it goes.

Hope this helps,
Guppy