getting new chicks

[apdan]

Good Morning,
I have a hen that just hatched out well so far one little chick mothers day weekend, well at least that's all she would let me see. But I have 10 more chicks and 3 baby turkeys coming next week. They are to be shipped on the 17th. Can I put them all in the same coop together or do I have to seperate the new chicks from the hen and her chicks.

And should I keep the new chicks and turkeys in the house under a heat light for the first couple weeks??

 

[SillyChicken]

less risk if you raise them yourself under the heat lamp. my opinion anyway..

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome

to

the

forum!

Glad

you

are

here!

I don't know about the turkeys. I have no experience with them so I cannot help you.

As far as the chicks go, it kind of depends on how big your hen is. If she is a standard sized hen and she only hatches out four or five chicks, you can try to give her the 10 new chicks and let her raise them for you. Any more than four of five plus the ten and that would probably be too many chicks for her to properly keep warm at night.

There are risks involved with this. If she accepts the chicks, everything is great and she will treat them just like the ones she hatched out. That would be great. But if she does not accept the chicks but sees them as competitors to her chicks, she may try to kill them. I can't guarantee you what will happen, but I can tell you that I would probably try it. I think the benefits outweigh the risks.

If you wait until the hen is asleep at night with her own chicks under her, then slip the new chicks under her with as little light and commotion as you can manage, I think your odds are pretty good. I would suggest checking on her when she wakes up in the morning to see if she is attacking the new chicks or has accepted them. Another way that often works is to just put the new chicks next to her during the day. She will usually take them right in. Again, watch to see if she accepts them or attacks them. This will call for some judgment on your part. It is not unusual for a mother hen to peck her chicks to discipline them. It does not necessarily mean she is trying to kill them. It is a way for her to tell them to "get back under me where it is safe" or "don't wander off too far". It is also the way she would try to kill them. You should be able to tell the difference, partly by how vicious she is and partly by whether it is a peck versus several pecks but some times you are just not sure.

One of the big benefits of the hen raising them is that you don't have to worry about integrating the chicks with the flock later. The mother hen will take care of that. If you put young chicks on their own without a mother hen to protect them in with the flock, the other chickens will probably kill them. It just seems to be something they instinctively do. You generally have to raise them until they are big enough to take care of themselves before you can put them in with the rest of the flock. That can be when they are three to four months old and there are still risks involved that way. People successfully integrate new chickens into their flocks all the time, so it can be done, usually without a whole lot of problems. There are some tricks you can use to increase the odds you will not have too many problems, but putting them in too young on their own is a huge risk.

I'll again mention I do not know about turkeys. Hopefully someone with experience with them can help you there.

Good luck. And again, welcome.

 

[apdan]

Thank you for the warm welcome!!
I guess I never really thought about seeing if the new mama will take them! She is a buff orpington and I have her seperate in her own coop from my other chickens. I am not sure how many eggs she will hatch, I have only seen one chick but I know she has a dozen eggs under her! I try and check her and she growls at me so I just leave her alone to do her own thing

But when the new chicks come I will have to try her out and see if she will take them! Thank you so much!