Crazy to get more chicks or crazy not to?

[Delphinium]

Background:
This is our first experience with BYC and chickens in general.
Our 6 week old Black Star was killed yesterday, leaving us with 2 Barred Rocks and 1 Buff Orpington, all 6 weeks old.
We will finish the coop today.... it is 4' x 5' with a 12' x 5' enclosed run.

We wanted to have 4 hens.... should we just be happy with our 3 remaining chicks and hope they are all girls, or order new chicks? We are moving our 6 wk old chicks to the coop tonight, so we could order more chicks and put them in the brooder box and then slowly introduce everyone. I would have to get a minimum of 3 chicks (there isn't anywhere I can get chicks locally anymore), so if we ended up with 6 girls, we would have to re-home 2 of the girls (maybe just 1?? I'm not sure our coop is big enough for 5)

If we do order more chicks, I am looking at Australorps, Wyandottes, or RIRs... I need a winter hardy breed and a breed that is good with children.

Any advice? I so appreciate hearing from others with experience. Thank you!

This is our sweet Black Star, Bosco, going for a ride.

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[gryeyes]

Oh, ummmm, about a zillion of us BYCers would say GET MORE CHICKS. You really need to do what you feel you can best support and maintain. But golly, another 3 chicks wouldn't be all that difficult, really, would it?

I have all three breeds you mentioned (plus several more) and I would recommend the Australorp or Wyandotte. The former for the chatty, friendly personality and its gorgeous black plumage - the red comb is such a nice contrast! Good layer, too. The latter for the sheer prettiness of the bird - fluffy panties!! But it's slower to mature.

The RIR, well, good layer, but not all that comfy, close, affectionate. I liken 'em to Irish Setters - gorgeous coloring but a tad bit psychotic and high maintenance attitude.

NOT a laid-bad kinda breed.

And I'm sorry you experienced your Black Star being killed.

 

[Delphinium]

Thanks for your helpful reply! Yes, I was leaning away from the RIRs, as I've heard they can be more aggressive than other breeds.

We are leaning toward getting more chicks... my 5 year old daughters are very excited about the possibility of babies again already.... they thought they would have to wait until next spring!

 

[TXmom]

More chicks! More chicks!

You can build another coop...

Yes, I'm one of the enablers...I keep trying to give chicks to all my friends and family...LOL. Our "original" idea of 4-6 hens last year has turned into...ummm...official count is 40 chickens!!! I'm not sure how that happened...never in a million years planned on 40 chickens. Oh well. I wonder when our next order will be...or our next Broody who is desparate to hatch more babies???

 

[Delphinium]

I'd love to build another coop, but we are already trying to "fly under the radar" so to speak. Our HOA does not allow "farm animals", so we have *pet* chickens. Our city allows 25 hens, and we've checked with our surrounding neighbors, who said they didn't have a problem with a few hens.

 

[Swampwood]

I'm pretty sure that you need another BuffO.. Need 2 for pollination I'm a big matched set kinda guy though.

 

[HappyTalons]

We had a very similar thing happen with our black star at about the same age. She was sweet as could be and she and all but one of our other chicks were killed by the neighbor's dog. We bought 2 more black stars thinking they would be the same . . . but they are both relatively flighty. Then one of our wyandottes turned out to be a rooster so we were back to 4. I decided I wanted more, and specifically easter eggers but the hatchery close to us has a minimum of 5 so . . .now we have 9

We really need to re-home 2 or 3 at least.

If you were closer, I'd offer you a pair of ours . . . they are quite sweet in disposition (about 3 weeks) and the EE pea comb is supposed to be good for winter.

Our coop isn't huge, sounds very similar size to yours (yours might be a bit bigger) and was rated for 5 or 6 hens, so either way you'd probably be okay with a few more.

 

[write2caroline]

MPC will let you order 3 - I got GLW and SLW and a barred rock. My Fav is the barred rock - My GLW are raising broods now and my SLW are wanting to go broody. They are really pretty.

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We lost one of our GLW to a dog attack and I tried to fill in - The second batch were nothing like the first three and it was okay but you might want to wait till next year. Don't feel pushed to order more than you can house. Chicken addiction is serious. I am working on not participating in the free shipping cash for cluckers program and get 25 pullets from mpc. I have no where to put them ---- I can't help it----I am switching screens----Oh my, I ordered them......will have to build another coop! Drat that addiction!
Caroline

 

[felidaet]

Some RIR are very nice. We have one that is a little over a year old. She is by far the friendliest hen in our flock. We like her so well that we got 4 more this year. It looks like one is a rooster. This one will likely be re-homed or sent to freezer camp. He seems pretty aggressive. The other three pullets seem friendly so far.

Wyandottes are very nice birds, besides being great eye candy. I currently have a GLW and a SLW. The GLW layed eggs most of the winter. She went through a light molt this spring. After the molt she started laying an Ex-Large nearly every day. Both my GLW and SLW are very friendly and like to be petted. They even let me pick them up. This year I have added another GLW and a Columbian Wyandotte. Both are about 8 weeks old.

I know that most people love their Australorps. I had bad luck with mine. I got two of them as day old chicks last year. They were aggressive from day one. They were not friendly. They were also very noisy. They rarely layed an egg. I rehomed them right before they turned one year home. I don't ever plan to get any of these again. It is interesting that I have talked top other people here in the Pacific Northwest that have had similar results.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

Have you tried craigslist yet? Just asking...it was a thought...