Blending my flock future strategy advice

[wizardmt70]

Hey all,

Chicken math has struck my little flock. We started this spring with 7 adult Chickens. 1 Speckled Sussex Rooster and 6 hens of various breeds. All brown egg layers except for one speckled Sussex hen. A couple weeks ago, My daughter received 6 buff chicks to raise for a 4-H project. Then We picked up 1 Easter egger at the local feed store because I wanted another non-brown egg layer. So we ended up with 7 new baby chicks, doubling our flock. We have had these new chickens in a lot adjacent to our other chickens for abou 5 weeks now. Now here is another twist, my adult buff hen went broody on my Speckled Sussex hens eggs. Wanting to continue this Bred in my flock, knowing these eggs were pure breed and not mixed, and desiring the addition of more color into our egg haul I decided to let her sit. Now we are about a week 1-1/2 in and she is now on 6 Sussex eggs. I've decided that tonight I am going to mark all these eggs and start robbing the additional eggs. So... Just going to throw some questions out there and then open this up for any and all advice on how to move forward. I'm pretty sure my existing coop will handle the extra chicks pretty well with the addition of some roosting poles and a couple more nesting boxes. My question is really about integration.
One other fact... My daughter will be showing 3 of the young buffs for her 4-H project this September.

Should I go ahead and integrate the new chicks before the eggs hatch out or wait until after. If I do this then I'm going to have to add nesting boxes to my temporary coop/run.
- if I have to add nesting boxes is it ok to have them out in the run or should I put them in the temporary coop? Pros/Cons?

Will my broody hen hatch all the eggs she's setting on even though there is about a weeks difference in when those eggs were laid?

Is there anything I can do with the brooding hen to decrease the odds of getting a rooster? Although with all these hens I might could accommodate another rooster? Note: I do not get along with our current rooster but he is awesome with the hens. We do free range and he is very protective of all our hens. But he is almost 3 years old. Should I be looking for his successor?

Finally, what questions should I be asking that I haven't though about getting?

 

[TheTwoRoos]

So all nesting boxes should go in the coop.If your asking about intergrating the buffs,I would wait add them as oen.That away it won’t be adding Seperate groups and add on stress.Whatndo you mean week difference?The eggs were laid at different times?If so,if their fertile and all were being sat on He exact day the hen went broody they will/should hatch on the same day,although some won’t hatch (Although all yours might),and some may hatch earlier and later.Nothing you can do too much to assure you don’t get boys.You could aquire another male but if this guy ends up being better behaved then it’s father,I would keep him,get rid of the other guy,unfourtently the fathers bad behavior could be hereditary,and the son may be just as bad if not worse.

 

[wizardmt70]

Yes the eggs were laid on different days. I have one Sussex hen and she lays about 4 eggs a week. I have been robbing all the brown eggs and leaving hers. I checked tonight and there are 6 of her eggs under the buff. I marked them all so I can start robbing the new eggs. I'm just curious as to how many of those will the buff hatch out or if she will come off after the first egg or two hatches.

 

[aart]

Integrate the chicks (how old are they?).
Or if they are to be show birds you may want to keep them separate long term.
Let the broody integrate her hatched chicks.

Usually you give all the eggs you want to hatch to the broody at the same time,
marking them so you can remove any added. What you have now is a staggered hatch scenario. The broody will probably leave the nest a few days after the first few have hatched so she can protect the chicks from the flock while chicks eat and drink. But she might not if you provide a barrier around her and the chicks with chick sized feeder and waterer close to but not within reach(of the broody) of the nest. There are other ways to manage a staggered hatch, one is removing chicks as they hatch and brooding them until all eggs have hatched, then giving older chicks back to broody, not always successful.
Chances are, one of those eggs will be a male, then you can cull your older cock and keep the new one. Tho if the sire is human aggressive, his progeny may also be.
Not quite sure what this means:

I do not get along with our current rooster

I'm pretty sure my existing coop will handle the extra chicks pretty well with the addition of some roosting poles and a couple more nesting boxes.

How big are your coops and runs, in feet by feet?
Pics would help.

If I do this then I'm going to have to add nesting boxes to my temporary coop/run.

What is this temporary coop/run and why would you need nests there?
Again, dimensions and pics.

 

[wizardmt70]

I apologize for not responding but I kept hoping to take some pics and measurements. The problem is I'm buys running my 8 year old all over the county and renovating my coop.

Anyhow... My situation has changed. The hen that was sitting on the 6 eggs was off the eggs last night and sitting in an adjacent box on one egg. I'm not sure what happened but there were only 4 eggs left of the 6 that she was sitting on and it was obvious from the shell fragments and sticky stuff in the box that 2 of the eggs had been broken. I don't know if she broke them or another hen broke them and this caused her to leave that nest or what happened.

I'm contemplating starting over and limiting her to just 3 blue eggs or working on breaking her from the broodiness. I really would like 2-3 more speckled sussex but I don't necessarily need 2-3 more chickens.

Wish I knew for sure what drove her off this nest.