Future Chicken Owner and I Need Help! :)

[Beekercat]

First of all, I have to tell you that I'm obsessed with chickens and we don't even HAVE chickens yet!

Anyways, we're about to get our first girls and I thought I knew exactly what I was going to do...I was going to place an order for 5 or so laying hens (Easter Eggers, Australorp, Oprington, a Marans and maybe a Barred Plymouth Rock) from MyPetChicken.com. I was happy. I was content. I felt I knew about all the different breeds of chickens...

AND THEN I SAW THE SILKIE THREAD. Now I want a couple.

So I have a couple questions...


Can I put a couple silkies in with my bigger girls? Should I get them all at the same time or seperately? Our local feed store has Brahma chicks as well as Golden Comets so now I am TOTALLY confused. I want some chickens NOW!

Help me out here. Can I buy say three or four of the feedstore chicks and then get a couple silkies and a couple Easter Eggers from MyPetChicken? What about a silkie rooster? Would he fit in well with the others? Our coop is being built big enough to house up to 15 full size hens, and we're adding an enclosed run area so that's not an issue. (The coop/run should all be done within the next month or so - we're actually paying to have it built so I know it will be done, lol!)

Sorry if these questions were answered somewhere else.

 

[Break an Egg]

Silkies can get picked on, but when you raise them all together as chicks, you shouldn't have any problems. My silkies were in charge of things from the start. lol

 

[redrocketrooster]

Quote:
Chicken math. All we BYCs know it all to well.

Basically, raising chicks to adults together in that group around the same age is the best way to avoid fights. They should be fine together, watch for the others pecking at their feather though.
Silkies sometimes need a lower roost made for them since they have a harder time getting high enough. That is about it...