Integrate or start over?

[sherrydeanne]

Hi all,
I currently have 5 chicks (3 5.5-weekers and 2 4-weekers) who are happily living out in their coop. The problem is that 3 of them appear to be cockerals

So, that leaves me with one 5.5 weeker and one 4 weeker who get along just fine.

I'd like to have 5 or 6 PULLETS so need to get at least 3 more. I can get some dark egg layers in late May but then I'd have to integrate them with pullets who will be about 3 months older than they. Not my idea of a good time, necessarily. So, am I better off just getting rid of all 5 now and starting over with all chicks? I'm honestly not all *that* attached to my current chicks, partly because I knew I'd be parting with at least one of them, just didn't think it would be 3

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[ChickenToes]

You can integrate them. There may be fights for a few days until they figure out the new pecking order, but it will calm down quickly.

 

[melissastraka]

I add all the time to my flock without too many problems. it will take a while for the older ones to get use to the new babies so keep an eye on them but they are fairly good about it.

 

[Southernbelle]

If you keep one roo, they do a lot to keep the peace in the coop - they'll get between fighting hens and they both back off. Your boys might be too young for duty when you want the chicks.

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

If you really want to keep them you can try to get them friendly with each other. Just keep them together and dont seperate them at all. Most the time when more then one rooster is raised with another they get along fine. But if you see any blood shed then I would suggest removing the trouble maker. You can usually find out which one it is by watching them for a few minutes. The first to strike is usually the trouble maker.
If you do not want to keep that many roosters and would prefer to save space for hens, then I would suggest selling the extra roosters and getting some hens in place of them. You can go to the forum index and near the bottom there is a place for selling, buying and tradeing.