Giving up 2 roosters, debating about how to replace with hens

[Ash.M]

Two of the chicks we adopted in March have turned out to be roosters. Our blue Cochin started crowing yesterday and our sweet little silkie joined in this morning. Unfortunately we are not allowed to keep roosters, so we have to take them back (I'm so heartbroken right now! ). This leaves us with only 2 pullets (a barred rock and Golden laced wyanadotte) and we are considering getting a replacement or two. Our GLW just started laying eggs last weekend. I'm really concerned about trying to introduce a new hen (or pullet) and I would really appreciate any advice you may have. Do we wait it out for awhile? Is now as good of time as any? Any resources you would recommend for integration?

Also our barred Rock is pretty attached to our silkie, is this going to be a hard loss for her to handle or are chickens substantially less sentimental than I am about the whole situation?

Thanks!

 

[sourland]

Chickens do have 'best friends', but will get over the loss of such. Now is as good a time as any to add more pullets. Be sure to quarantine any new birds for up to 4 weeks before introducing to your existing birds. Good luck with this whole process.

 

[Mrs. K]

If you can do a trade with equal size birds, but get two birds, a single bird is hard to do with a lot of fighting. And you could skip the quarantine.

But do not add anything you feel sorry for.

Chickens hate change, so I would do it all at once. Take the roosters out, put the hens in, do it shortly before dark. MAke sure you have hide outs, and extra feed bowls. If there is quite a ruckus, put the original birds in a dog crate or some other way to separate your pen for a couple of days.

Adding baby chicks takes some experience. I would wait a year to try that.

Mrs K

 

[sourland]

@Mrs. K, curious as to why you would recommend no quarantine ?

 

[HappyDancin']

Yeah, great advice. I agree with both posts above.

Tis the season, so get a couple of pullets near point of lay...they'll all be besties in no time

 

[Ash.M]

So we are better off introducing 2 new pullets or hens at once as opposed to just 1? Our barred rock and GLW are pretty sweet birds but I don't know how much that can change when a stranger is introduced. Will it be more of a struggle to introduce an already laying hen or two vs pullets?

Do we quarantine them, or not?

The farm we got the chicks from initially doesn't have any pullets left. They do have some laying hens. Would you recommend getting the hens from them or looking for nearly laying pullets elsewhere?

Thanks so much for all of your help!

 

[sourland]

I agree with Mrs K that 2 is better than one. If you plan on skipping quarantine, then I would recommend buying birds from the initial source. Laying hens would be fine as long as they are not overly old.

 

[Mrs. K]

@ Sourland... most small set ups can’t do a proper quarantine, and if you don’t do it properly, may as well not do it at all. If the op gets replacement birds at the same place they got the other birds, should have at least similar bio exposure. The op only has two birds, so in the unlikely event they all get sick, it is not a lot to risk.

Maybe, if the people trade birds regularly, or attend swaps there would be a greater chance of a problem.

But the main reason is a 4 bird set up, is more than likely small, and quarantine is probably not possible. I think people often times pretend to quarantine, such as a see but don’t touch set up, but that is not quarantine.

 

[Mrs. K]

I too, would go with the older birds if you can get them now and from the same place. Less fighting that way... do get two!

You think your birds are nice, but they can become very mean to a strange bird, two on two is better than two picking on one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Personally I'd wait until both the pullets you now have are laying, then add two more hens that are of laying age. Trying to integrate birds with different maturity levels can get a lot more complicated than hens of equal maturity. When they start laying is when pullets reach maturity.

You can still get drama if they are the same but if you read through this forum the vast majority of integrations that have serious drama are with birds having different maturity levels.