Hello!

DarkhorseFarmer

In the Brooder
May 11, 2015
48
0
34
Hampton, MN
Hi everyone! I'm new to this site, and relatively new to raising chickens. We first started 11 weeks ago! I'm a big researcher so I feel good about where I'm at relative to just starting off. We have a mixture of Production Reds, New Hampshires, Isa Browns, and California Whites. 1 Rooster and 15 hens. If all goes well I plan to add another 9-10 next spring. We are currently operating with a 10x10 coop and I plan to build a 16x16 or bigger run. I have a lot of ideas, but just can't decide how I want to build it yet! We recently purchased a 15 acre property in south eastern Minnesota, and have had our hands full transitioning to hobby farming, but we love it!

Side note, can anyone suggest how early I can mix my chickens? I have 8 5 week old chicks and 8 11 week old chickens (including rooster). In the next couple of weeks they'll have completely outgrown the brooder, but I'm worried the older chickens will pick on them when I add the younger chicks to the coop. I plan to put them in the same room but separate them for a few days. Will this be sufficient, and can I do this in the next two weeks? Keep in mind I only have the 10x10 coop built for them currently, and then a temporary run that I put a few of them in on weekends.

Thanks all, I look forward to chatting with you all.

Kyle
 
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Hi :welcome Kyle

Glad you could join the flock! That's a lovely mixed flock you have there. Getting your chicks next to each other for as long as you can ie a few weeks will be good for when you add them. This way they can become acquainted but not cause any injury to each other. Once they are the same size they should be good to add to each other but supervise when you do this incase the normal pecking order scuffles egg out of hand. Extra feed and water stations are a good idea too so no one can be bullied out.

Wishing you the very best of luck getting eveyone together. Be sure to ask any other questions that you may have, everyone here to help and very friendly.

Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat :frow
 
Rule of thumb is 4-5 sg.feet per bird in the coop excluding nest boxes and roosts. In the outdoor run, 10 sg.feet per bird. Chickens react in very bad ways when they are too crowded.
welcome-byc.gif
 
Thanks everyone. I'm thinking I can integrate them when they are 8 and 14 weeks old. I know that's earlier than most suggest, but the older chickens won't be full grown yet either.
 

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