We have 12 RIRs that are 10-12 weeks old... We have room for more... I want more, but how? Don't you have to wait for a few years, and start completely over with a fresh flock?? Won't the older ones eat the younger ones?
If you do get more chicks, they need to be kept seperate from your current babies for 30 days to make sure they do not bring any disease into your current flock. Chicks can be integrated at different ages but it takes time. I'm working on that now. I have several young chicks in my run and the rest of my flock free ranging around the run so they can get used to each other. But I'd be cautious mixing them when there is too big of a size difference. You may have to wait until the little chicks are closer to size in to your current chicks. You can do a forum search about mixing them together and you should get a lot of hits. A lot of people on here have wonderful ideas.
So since I'm new to this, I should probably just raise this flock.... and be happy with that... Once they start laying, how long do they lay? A few years? How long do they live? Once they stop laying, does that mean they are old, and getting ready to go to "hen heaven"? I couldn't think of eating the girls... They are too much like pets...
