Choosing my flock: need tips please!

[Kristin153]

Hello!

I just hatched out 11 baby chicks and they are doing well in the brooder. My city allows up to 4 hens and I'm thinking of starting with 3 or 4. My dad can take chicks back to the farmer we got the eggs from in mid-May when the chicks will be 3.5 weeks old. I would like to be able to choose to keep the most docile hens out of the bunch since they will primarily be pets and I have 2 young children.

My question(s) is/are this: I have limited space and so would like to send home as many chicks with my dad at 3.5 weeks old as I can. Would it be a good time to be able to select for temperament at that time? I also would like to hopefully sex them then as well. I think it's feasible to keep about 6 if I need to keep them longer and choose the ones from that group who are the gentlest and are hens. Should I keep more? Fewer? For how long? When is sexing reliable for a mixed breed? Not allowed to have roos and have close neighbors so I can't do noisy. What should I look for in behavior to pick the sweetest hens? I can always send the ones I don't want back to my dad, but I probably won't be able to get the ones I give up back. He lives 300 miles away so I can't just go anytime. The breed is some combo of Orpington and Australorp. 2 of the chicks are yellow with a couple black spots and the others look more like Australorp chicks if that helps at all. Thanks so much!

 

[rebrascora]

The boldest chicks that appear friendly and seem to like to be handled; are usually males, so try not to let the children get too attached to those ones. You will be struggling to accurately sex them at 3.5 weeks although some are precocious enough to start crowing by that age. With single combed birds like these breeds it is at least easier than pea combed or crested birds, so you stand a reasonable chance (with help from BYC members) of weeding out most of the cockerels by week 5 or 6. After that it will be down to personal choice as to which ones you are drawn to.
Good luck with that!

 

[aart]

Does it have to be mid May.....can you put it off longer until they are 6-8 weeks old??

 

[Ridgerunner]

The boldest chicks that appear friendly and seem to like to be handled; are usually males, so try not to let the children get too attached to those ones. You will be struggling to accurately sex them at 3.5 weeks although some are precocious enough to start crowing by that age. With single combed birds like these breeds it is at least easier than pea combed or crested birds, so you stand a reasonable chance (with help from BYC members) of weeding out most of the cockerels by week 5 or 6. After that it will be down to personal choice as to which ones you are drawn to.
Good luck with that!

Basically this.

3.5 weeks is really young to sex chicks. Occasionally you can tell that one is a male, usually posture and heavy legs, but that is fairly rare. It is usually easier to say that one is definitely a male than to say that one is definitely a female so it is more weeding out the obvious males than deciding which are female.

I agree that the ones with the most curiosity and boldness are the ones easier to get attached to and are usually males. Until they mature it's really risky to try to read much into personality. That can change dramatically during adolescence. You should be looking for females at this stage.

With those mixed chickens you cannot rely on color to help you. It sounds like the genetics are so mixed up that any color/pattern chick could be anything.

 

[Kristin153]

Does it have to be mid May.....can you put it off longer until they are 6-8 weeks old??

My dad will be coming up for my daughter's birthday party at this time. He lives 300 miles away so it's then or keep them all for at least another month.

 

[aart]

My dad will be coming up for my daughter's birthday party at this time. He lives 300 miles away so it's then or keep them all for at least another month.

Ohhhh.....keeping them, all or some, another month to determine gender would be best.

 

[Kristin153]

Ok thanks! I kinda figured sexing would be a lost cause at that age. How big of a brooder would I need for 11 older chicks? Also the chicks now really need care multiple times a day, I'll be out of town after my dad leaves and the chick sitter would probably stop by once maybe twice a day. I was thinking of randomly picking 6 chicks and hoping I get 3 hens so there's fewer chicks to take care of/less poop (lol). Does that sound like it would work? Should I keep more? Fewer?

 

[aart]

Ok thanks! I kinda figured sexing would be a lost cause at that age. How big of a brooder would I need for 11 older chicks? Also the chicks now really need care multiple times a day, I'll be out of town after my dad leaves and the chick sitter would probably stop by once maybe twice a day. I was thinking of randomly picking 6 chicks and hoping I get 3 hens so there's fewer chicks to take care of/less poop (lol). Does that sound like it would work? Should I keep more? Fewer?

Is your coop built yet...I'm assuming you don't have other chickens?

 

[lazy gardener]

Kristen, what's your general location? If you put it in your profile, it will be available so folks can give region specific advice. If you are brooding them in your house, they can be off heat all together by 3 weeks of age. By 4 - 5 weeks of age, they can be in their coop. I would move the whole lot of them out to the coop, and keep them till they are 7 - 8 weeks old. Then, you should have a reasonable assurance of choosing the PULLETS you want to keep.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Kristin, you realize your timing is lousy, don't you? That's meant as a joke, your timing is what you have to live with.

Where are you? What kind of weather will yo have in 3 to 4 weeks? It is quite possible the chicks can go to the coop when you leave. You should have plenty of room to lock them in the coop and not let them in the run. What size is your coop? That could solve one problem.

If you can set up their water so it doesn't turn over, a one a day visit should be plenty. If they have food, water, and the poop doesn't build up too much they should be fine with one visit a day.

3-1/2 weeks will be pretty young but if you post individual photos showing a profile with legs and posture we may be able to at least tell you certain ones to not keep at that age. I'm sure we will not be able to tell you which ones are definitely pullets but maybe we could at least tell you a few to get rid of to improve your odds of keeping pullets.