Getting our first chickens

[jhogan1]

The wife and I are in Florida and prior to the hurricane we got a coop. It survived the hurricane without a hitch. We have come upon an opportunity to get about a dozen silkies. A mom, dad, and there 11 kids.

The little guys are aged 2 months and 4 months.

Researching I see that it still may be too young to sex the little guys and they probably aren't going to start laying until 7 months or so.

That all said - our coop is big -- but, as some of these little ones turn out to not be layers what problems should we look out for?

 

[jhogan1]

for that matter....being first time owners feel free to impart any other knowledge on us.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

You should go ahead and post some pictures of the little ones! Make sure you get good pictures of the combs. You do t want to have too many roosters. It just doesn't work to great. You could start a bachelor group, if you wanted to keep them.

 

[N F C]

The problem that can happen with too many roosters in a flock...they can overbreed the girls causing feather loss, injuries and stress. One rooster can handle about 8-10 girls so hopefully most of your littles turn out to be female.

As @Crazy for Chickens! mentioned, if you end up with lots of boys, you can have a bachelor flock. Or you could split the one flock into several with a rooster for each group of females.

 

[aart]

our coop is big

How big is 'big' in feet by feet? Pics would help.
What are your chicken goals....egg, meat, pets?
Silkies are not great layers as far I know, prone to being broody too.

Whether or not you keep any male birds also depends on your goals.
No need for male if you only want eating eggs.
They are really not necessary, unless you want to hatch out more chicks.
Then you will have to deal with the resident males...and any others that hatch out.

Welcome to BYC!
I'd advise you to take your time getting started,
having a coop is an excellent place to start so you're ahead of the game there.
Lots of reasons to keep chickens, lots of different ways to keep them.
It can be overwhelming when first learning, I avoided many of the newb mistakes by reading prolifically for a good 6-9 months before building coop/run and putting birds in them.

 

[jhogan1]

You should go ahead and post some pictures of the little ones! Make sure you get good pictures of the combs. You do t want to have too many roosters. It just doesn't work to great. You could start a bachelor group, if you wanted to keep them.

the only photo I have is below. In fact, we aren't due to get them until this evening.

 

[jhogan1]

the coop. I don't have the exact dimensions but, I can stand inside it (I'm 5'8") and it's close to 16' long (if not even longer)

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you getting the silkies simply b/c they are available? Or are you getting them b/c you want silkies? I'd do a lot of homework before committing to a flock of birds, especially silkies. IMO, this breed comes with a lot of traits that I wouldn't want: Their head gear makes them more prone to predation and being picked on by birds not of the same feather. Their silky feathering makes them more prone to external parasites. They are not great layers. Hens are often broody. These birds remind me of the famed tribbles from Star Trek. B/C of the vaulted skull, and breeding issues they are prone to head injuries and neurological issues. Further, why are they being rehomed? I'm betting it's b/c their owner realizes the Tribble nature of this breed.

A good place to start your homework is "henderson's chicken breeds chart".

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

the only photo I have is below. In fact, we aren't due to get them until this evening.

Oh. Those are too young to tell. I thought the post said they were two and four months old. Sorry!