- Jun 23, 2013
- 22
- 3
- 79
Hi!
So I lost 4 out of 5 of my hens in March and had been having a hard time finding birds in the area to add to my tiny flock of two. I've recently added a rooster a friend gave me, he's a lovely Phoenix rooster and my sweet girl Irene and him had a seamless transition. They get along incredibly well, especially for her being an independant lady of one. I want to add to my flock though and I'm not really sure how. I'm looking at two options right now - buy some baby chicks, or I found someone that raises their own chickens nearby and are selling birds of all ages.
When is the best time of year to buy baby chicks? Is it too late now? I only have one coop, although I'm sure I could figure out a way to keep them separate until the babies are big enough.
If I buy some adult hens, what is the best way to introduce them to my flock of two?
With the rooster my friend suggested putting him in the coop at night, which I did and they were fine. I don't think a few hens could magically appear in the coop though and be ok. I know they'll have to establish a pecking order and they'll probably be scrappy with each other but can I just transfer them in the coop after a short quarantine period? The only other form of containment I have is a medium sized dog carrier and I don't know how happy they would be in there for a few days. My coop is pretty small and can hold about 4-5 birds. We're working on building a larger coop in the next month for more but until then we just have our small one.
Any and all advice is very much appreciated!
So I lost 4 out of 5 of my hens in March and had been having a hard time finding birds in the area to add to my tiny flock of two. I've recently added a rooster a friend gave me, he's a lovely Phoenix rooster and my sweet girl Irene and him had a seamless transition. They get along incredibly well, especially for her being an independant lady of one. I want to add to my flock though and I'm not really sure how. I'm looking at two options right now - buy some baby chicks, or I found someone that raises their own chickens nearby and are selling birds of all ages.
When is the best time of year to buy baby chicks? Is it too late now? I only have one coop, although I'm sure I could figure out a way to keep them separate until the babies are big enough.
If I buy some adult hens, what is the best way to introduce them to my flock of two?
With the rooster my friend suggested putting him in the coop at night, which I did and they were fine. I don't think a few hens could magically appear in the coop though and be ok. I know they'll have to establish a pecking order and they'll probably be scrappy with each other but can I just transfer them in the coop after a short quarantine period? The only other form of containment I have is a medium sized dog carrier and I don't know how happy they would be in there for a few days. My coop is pretty small and can hold about 4-5 birds. We're working on building a larger coop in the next month for more but until then we just have our small one.
Any and all advice is very much appreciated!
