Are there ways to guess at the age?

[davekrista]

My husband is picking up 6 RIR tomorrow after he gets out of work.

We found them for free from craigslist. The lady said there were 6 girls, and they were laying 3-4 eggs a day. The lady said she had no clue to even guess how old they might be, but that we needed to bring 2 good size boxes when we go to pick them up because they were big.

From what I have heard, RIR are supposed to be good hearty layers, so am I correct to assume that they are still young? Maybe just starting to lay? If she is only getting 3-4 eggs a day maybe they all haven't started to lay yet? I'm just trying to figure out if I will need more nesting boxes before we pick them up or if it can wait.... I have 2 right now, and only 1 of my 6 are laying.....

Thanks for any info and advice
krista

 

[JLS]

So, after your husband picks up the new girls you will have 12 birds total? If so, I would say yes to more nesting space. I think it's better to have more nesting space than not enough. Just make sure you keep the new birds away from your original girls for 30 days to see if they are healthy. It would be a shame to contaminate your laying flock. There are some really nasty illnesses that birds can get very easily.

Hope everything works out.

 

[davekrista]

Yes we will have a totoal of 12 after today! I was planning on more nesting boxes but 3 of mine aren't ready for a little while yet so I was planning on waiting a bit. But I will try to get some before he gets the new girls. And thanks for the tip. We expanded our coop yesterday to have more room for the new ones but I will make sure to keep them away.
Krista