Illinois...

[Molpet]

We had storms all afternoon so I wasn't out with the birds as much...
I went out between storms and about 6:30 pm one of the june 3rd poults was missing. Couldn't hear it calling and didn't find it anywhere in the yard. walked the fence, looked at the fence. until the lighting forced me inside.. it didn't show up this morning either. Not sure what happened, weather wasn't to the hawks liking, amd they do find inventive was to commit suicide...The one that had been sick for weeks , same hatch, was dead this morning. So I lost 2 from this hatch

Went out at 8 ish and it was raining and dark from the storms so the bird had gone to roost early.. locked up 3 of the coops and the last coop should have had 2 chickens and five 8wk poults.. NO POULTS.. sure enough they were in the rain sitting on the fence between pens. I got 3 in and 2 ran off in the pen. Came back with a flashlight and couldn't find a white one and couldn't catch the brown one.Lighting hit the high power lines next to my property so I figured they were on their own...At dawn the brown one was at the door to a different coopand the white one showed up about 6 am
so I am glad I hatched so many. I have lost 2 to illness and 1 is a mystery. 15 left and I probably will lose a few more... Have to expect losses when they aren't confined.

well one of the white oldest poults (hatched 5/8) wasn't looking well yesterday. This morning it was in the nest box with it's chicken mom who seems to be going broody again.. I just found it dead, in the box.. mom didn't want me to take it out. It bet it was the white one that stayed out.
so I currently have 14 poults... 6 white(calico?) and 8 brown(bronze or nari or?)
I set 26 eggs under 5 broody hens hoping for 3 of each sex. So I still have a few spares.
I wonder how many I will have left by thanksgiving.

 

[BReeder!]

Looking for some friendly advice... I have 5 hens that are 4 months old, and two ~1week old chicks that are in the brooder. My limit (local ordinance) is 8 hens (no roosters). I am debating on getting the 8th bird now or waiting until next Spring. Will it be hard on the chick if I wait until the spring and she is solo in the brooder?
Also, I decided I want a Jersey Giant and I am just not aware of anybody with Jersey Giant chicks currently available - that's why I was going to wait and likely score one during chick days in the Spring.
That said, let me refresh you on my flock:
In the coop/run: 2 Lt Brahmas, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte, 1 Cuckoo Marans, 1 Speckled Sussex.
In the brooder: 2 Orpingtons - expecting Blue Laced and Lavender (@Faraday40 these are the chicks we got from you )
Would it be unwise for any reason to add the JG to this flock? If I were to get a JG soon, would the JG chick outgrow the Orp chicks while still in the brooder and pose a threat such as pecking? Brooder is roughly 2'x4'x1.5' if you are wondering...

 

[Molpet]

jg are slow growing.. they are not that much bigger until they are out of the brooder
it's hard being one chick on your own.. most places will not sell one chick
integration also goes better if there are more targets.

 

[Faraday40]

Looking for some friendly advice... I have 5 hens that are 4 months old, and two ~1week old chicks that are in the brooder. My limit (local ordinance) is 8 hens (no roosters). I am debating on getting the 8th bird now or waiting until next Spring. Will it be hard on the chick if I wait until the spring and she is solo in the brooder?
Also, I decided I want a Jersey Giant and I am just not aware of anybody with Jersey Giant chicks currently available - that's why I was going to wait and likely score one during chick days in the Spring.
That said, let me refresh you on my flock:
In the coop/run: 2 Lt Brahmas, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte, 1 Cuckoo Marans, 1 Speckled Sussex.
In the brooder: 2 Orpingtons - expecting Blue Laced and Lavender (@Faraday40 these are the chicks we got from you )
Would it be unwise for any reason to add the JG to this flock? If I were to get a JG soon, would the JG chick outgrow the Orp chicks while still in the brooder and pose a threat such as pecking? Brooder is roughly 2'x4'x1.5' if you are wondering...

At this point, you're only sure that the older 5 are pullets. The chicks' gender is unknown. If you found 2 JGs of about the same age, you could just add them to the brooder now. Orps are very laid back, so I highly doubt your 2 would peck on 2 JGs. I believe JGs are also a docile breed. Chances are 50% would be male, so you likely won't go over your target number. You could also wait 'til next spring - especially if you don't find any JGs at this time. JGs are on my someday "wishlist" too. It's a long list.....

If one of the orps turns out to be male, I recommend holding on to it until they are accepted into the flock. (Best for them to have a buddy during the transition to the coop.) There's always some bullying when adding chicks / new birds. It's how chickens establish the pecking order. There should not be blood. It's a tough time, so having a friend to endure it together really helps.

Are you in an area that does coop inspections? If not, does your coop have enough room? Pullets don't turn into hens for a year , so you've got some time to figure out who's staying & who's going. Having a back up hen or 2 is not a bad idea since you may lose one to a predator, accident, weather, or illness. If you get lucky & have excess females, you could always sell the extras. Summer's not a bad time to have extra chickens (plenty of food & chickens can free range / spread out), but you'll want to get the number down before it snows.

 

[BReeder!]

At this point, you're only sure that the older 5 are pullets. The chicks' gender is unknown. If you found 2 JGs of about the same age, you could just add them to the brooder now. Orps are very laid back, so I highly doubt your 2 would peck on 2 JGs. I believe JGs are also a docile breed. Chances are 50% would be male, so you likely won't go over your target number. You could also wait 'til next spring - especially if you don't find any JGs at this time. JGs are on my someday "wishlist" too. It's a long list.....

If one of the orps turns out to be male, I recommend holding on to it until they are accepted into the flock. (Best for them to have a buddy during the transition to the coop.) There's always some bullying when adding chicks / new birds. It's how chickens establish the pecking order. There should not be blood. It's a tough time, so having a friend to endure it together really helps.

Are you in an area that does coop inspections? If not, does your coop have enough room? Pullets don't turn into hens for a year , so you've got some time to figure out who's staying & who's going. Having a back up hen or 2 is not a bad idea since you may lose one to a predator, accident, weather, or illness. If you get lucky & have excess females, you could always sell the extras. Summer's not a bad time to have extra chickens (plenty of food & chickens can free range / spread out), but you'll want to get the number down before it snows.

that's useful info - keeping the orps together even if one turns out to be male. Thanks! I'm hoping for two female orps and the early signs are leaning me to think female, but nothing certain yet of course.

I do not know of coop inspections in the area. Once the coop is established and under permit nobody seems to bother us here. However, I do try to ensure that our little flock has comfortable housing and is not overcrowded. The coop is 4'x8'. There's a food trough (feeding fermented feed and grain mixture so a trough is needed rather than a feed dispenser) and 2 water dispensers (one with nipples and one with wells). Nesting boxes hang on the outside - there's currently 2 nests but I intent to add 2-4 more that will also hang on the outside. All that said, that leaves ~45 square feet of floor space in the coop (deducting the space used by feeders and waterers and not counting the nest boxes. The roost runs the full 8' length of the coop. They will always have access to the run, which is >200 square feet unless it is storming or at night.
So considering all of this, is that enough space, roost and nests for 8 birds?

 

[BReeder!]

jg are slow growing.. they are not that much bigger until they are out of the brooder
it's hard being one chick on your own.. most places will not sell one chick
integration also goes better if there are more targets.

The integration really scares me. Feels like I'm going to be tossing them into open population at a penitentiary. My five really do seem like nice girls - but girls can be mean I know.

 

[Faraday40]

The integration really scares me. Feels like I'm going to be tossing them into open population at a penitentiary. My five really do seem like nice girls - but girls can be mean I know.

All you have to do is make sure they can "look but don't peck" when adding them into the big coop. I use a rabbit cage or baby gates to close off an area of the run just for the new chicks. After 1-3 days, I open a small door. (big enough for chicks to pass but not adults. The littles can run in & out. They have a safe place with food/water but also the freedom to explore. They quickly learn to avoid the bigger ones & once they learn to respect the elders, they don't get pecked. Once I see them spending more & more time outside of the cage, I begin to put them on the roost at night after dark. (in a lower spot than the big birds) Once they all wake up together, they assume they've always been that way. Some birds will automatically go to roost, some need help. I dislike when they want to sleep in the nest boxes. Eggs + Chick Poop = Ick!

 

[BReeder!]

B3 was out with the chickens again yesterday. He had so much fun.
He loves going out to see them when I get home from work. He even takes the lid off the chicken scratch bucket on his own, which is impressive for a 20 month old.

 

[Molpet]

3 of the Poults today

 

[Faraday40]

3 of the Poults today

View attachment 1468052

Very cool! How old are these ones? When do they get the bald heads? What genders? Do they stay together as a group? Do they fly up into trees or stay with their chicken mama? What's the age when you process them?

My new turkey trio are not as friendly as the pair I gave @chickendreams24 . These new ones run from me instead of to me. I'm sure it's because the broody hen has been caring for them so they don't "need" me like the other ones. Of course they don't stay as close to their mama as their chicken siblings, so I must encourage them to run back to their mama and then follow her to the coop.