How many is too many? Or is there such a thing in chicken raising ;)

[Ridgerunner]

I'm glad you asked before you just got more. You might follow the link in my signature below, it explains why I don't believe in magic numbers for chickens. We keep them in so many different ways that no one number can fit us all. There is another part of it too. I find the more I crowd them the more behavioral problems I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with issues that pop up. I value that flexibility most of all. You can pack them in fairly tight but the tighter it gets the harder it is. It's not a case of 3.99 square feet is a disaster where 4.00 is heaven. It's a matter of degrees, how hard or how easy.

In Austin yours can get outside practically every day of the year, at least better than someone in ,say, Ontario. That access outside helps you a lot. But if a predator starts picking off a bird a day, what do you do? Lock them up until you can deal with that predator. That's what I mean by flexibility. That outside area may not always help you.

As mentioned, integration takes a lot more room than keeping all hens the same age. If you let a broody hen raise chicks with the flock you need more room. You are only planning on females so that helps. Raising cockerels in there can get really exciting, even if you have more room.

I agree to check you local laws to see what you can have. Many places have a minimum of purchasing 6 chicks if you are getting them from a feed store. For good reasons they don't sell fewer. I'd think six pullets would do you well, you should be able to handle that. Good luck!

 

[Criticalicious]

If you're going to raise chicks, have a plan for roosters. If you can keep them, have a plan for interacting (or not) with your small child. If you can't keep roosters, have a plan for re-homing or culling them before they start to crow.

 

[Liz Field]

Aloha all - I have 3 sex link Rhode Island Red/Leghorn hens who are 2 years old, and wanted to get 3 more of a different breed - the coop they sleep in accommodates 6 hens, but other than that, they free range the immediate area around our house and goat shelter, about two acres - so I got 3 Austrolorp chicks, pictured at almost 4 months now, thinking they would all just bond and get along fine together, since they were all free ranging and not cooped together - I know some of you out there are laughing right now, because you know what happened next - the three older girls will tolerate the Aussies foraging around with them, but chase and pull their feathers when they are all going after the same food source - as of right now, there's no way they will all roost together - so I now have 3 older hens roosting in a nice coop in an outbuilding, and 3 Austrolorps roosting in a small area in my laundry room that is connected to but not inside my house and with a door that opens to the side yard, etc. - I don't hold a lot of hope of this situation changing anytime soon, if ever - moral of the story, don't count on your current hens getting along with the new ones well enough to let them roost with them - good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

@Liz Field

the coop they sleep in accommodates 6 hens,

I don't know your experience level or what you are basing this "6 hens" on, but many prefab coop manufacturers typically claim it can hold 2 to 3 times as many chickens as we would normally put in it.

I don't hold a lot of hope of this situation changing anytime soon, if ever

Try moving them into the main coop when the pullets start laying if they don't move in on their own. Let them range together during the day until then. When they start to lay is when my hens accept the pullets as flock members with full rights.

 

[Liz Field]

Thank you so much for your information, it gives me hope anyway - the coop in question actually housed 5 hens comfortably with room for a 6th at one time, so that is what I am basing that on - the Aussies have been free ranging since about two months old and just recently started following the older hens around at now 4 months old - I was wondering the same thing, if once they start laying they would be accepted better by the older girls - only time will tell, keeping my fingers crossed - thanks, again

 

[leslielbk]

I didn't read all of the replies but I am curious about the actual dimensions. You don't want them stuffed in there like sardines in a can, especially on days when they can't be outside due to weather. They need to be able to move around on the floor freely, and get to feed and water without having to compete. They need about 1 foot per chicken on the roasting poles. You don't need many nesting boxes. We always put in more than we need.

 

[Criticalicious]

Time heals a lot of wounds with chickens, lol. Over the past 2 years I have added flock members a couple times, usually with slow see-no-touch introductions, followed by trial periods. At first the newbies would make their own clique separate from everyone else and at one point I had 3 different groups who sort of tolerated each other but they still didn't like each other. But lately, as the broody-raised rooster is growing into his hormones, it's like the hens have suddenly forgotten they aren't sisters. There's now one group. Individuals who didn't get along 4 months ago, are now eating from the same bowl. Because the rooster told them to. All this to say, be patient. If you have a broody hen, hope for a good roo to hatch.

 

[Chickenclaude]

I actually expected to see a playhouse.. I have 6 girls in a little tykes playhouse that’s elevated with a 6 x 6 enclosed space underneath and access to a movable 12 x 4 run. If weather is nasty, they start fighting when I put the feed out..you appear to have a good area of space for them but do ck zoning about the number allowed.