Hello

[CrysMurph]

Hi! I'm Crystal from PA. I have had my chickens for only 3-4 months, I bought the first batch from a backyard breeder, they are about 5 months old now. We lost one of the six a month ago. And that made, topped with the fact out of the 5 remaining chickens I THOUGHT, 3 are roosters. I went to tractor supply and purchase 4 more. So nine chickens in total now z and I'm getting ready to Introduce the flocks together, I'm nervous because one of the older ones is huge!

Also we bought ducks at the same time as the older chickens, which is a whole other story!

 

[janiedoe]

Hi Crystal, welcome to BYC! Integration can be smove if you practice the "see don't touch" method. It usually takes a few days to a couple of weeks.
If you need more information just ask.
Also size isn't generally a problem. I've seen little bitty bantams rule a flock of big brahmas. Its all in their attitude.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello Crystal, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

 

[BoundlessLove]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens!
Although there is no set number of hens per rooster when keeping chickens, my flock seems to be happy with at least eight hens to one roo.

BYC has a duck forum if you have any questions about your ducklings:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/ducks.42/
Wishing you well with your animals!

 

[GodLovesU]

We have a duck section here! Why do you plan to do with the extra roosters?

 

[CrysMurph]

Hi Crystal, welcome to BYC! Integration can be smove if you practice the "see don't touch" method. It usually takes a few days to a couple of weeks.
If you need more information just ask.
Also size isn't generally a problem. I've seen little bitty bantams rule a flock of big brahmas. Its all in their attitude.

Currently when we let the bigger g ones out of the run for free ranging we put the babies in the run, so they are safe but they can interact. We put some of our smaller ones in with them, supervised for 30 minutes the other day, just a little pecking, which was expected.

 

[CrysMurph]

We have a duck section here! Why do you plan to do with the extra roosters?

Thanks. At this point we have no idea what to do. They are all getting along for now. I will probably lean more towards rehoming, we have a good Facebook page for PA chickens that people are always selling/rehoming

 

[muddy75]

 

[Bsmac]

Hello Crystal! Welcome to BYC! As janiedoe mentioned the see no touch method is the only way to do an integration! Good luck!

 

[triciayoung]

Welcome. I agree with @janiedoe about "see and no touch" At the same time, I think after a period of see and no touch and you go to integrate, you should do it when you have time to invest watching.