Flock Thining Questions

[Kwehme09]

Sparing the details of Why... I am wondering if removing hens from my flock at a young age will do any harm to the pecking order.

Currently I have 14 Hens and 1 Roo. All are between 8-9 weeks old.

Would 2, 3 or 4 birds being re-homed to a friend do any harm to the remaining birds? I assume not, but I figured it's worth asking.

Would breed matter in choosing which ones to re-home? I have a variety of breeds, 2 or 3 of each... should I move a whole breed or can I pick and choose?

 

[cathiesue]

Hey this is funny I just did this! I worried about which ones would go too. I knew the roo had to go so since he was a RIR I sent him and the 3 RIR pullets I had. Then since I knew that the BO's were getting the worst of his mating I kept those three. Also i wanted a broody bird and they are good at that. I kept one Australorp becasue they are also broody. I let my friend take anything else he wanted.
Yesterday he told me that his son had alredy named two of the RIR "original" and "extra crispy"

 

[Kwehme09]

I plan on keeping the Roo, but wouldn't mind letting her have a variety of the hens. I just am wondering if there will be any side effects.

 

[RiddleMe]

I had 16 pullets and rehomed half of them when they were just shy of a year old (kept the cockerel) without any issues. I had a very mixed flock, 2-3 each of a variety of breeds, kept a few favorites and let her pick the rest. She wanted a variety so it would be easier for the grand kids to name them and tell them apart. I did try to make sure that a couple of the buddy pairs got to stay together... But overall, there didn't seem to be any major impact on the pecking order. I would think at the age yours are, you won't have any issues.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It won't do any harm and it does not matter which ones it is. Pick and choose. Breeds won't matter.

At 8-9 weeks old, they already have a pecking order mostly worked out, but it will continue to evolve as they mature at different rates. It will keep changing. You might notice a little more activity, especially if you happen to remove a more dominant one, but it should not be much and may not even be noticeable.

On an overall scheme, this is a good age to do what you are thinking of doing.