Is it smart to get an older pullet while baby chicks grow?

[FDaniels]

We're going to get 5 girl sex links but I hate the thought of waiting 5 months before they're able to lay eggs. Is it smart to go ahead & get an older pullet while the babies age in our house & then put them in the run with her when they're about 6 weeks? Is this dangerous or is there a safe way to do this? We can't have the brooder in the coop/run we're going to build so she can get used to them because we have no way of running electricity out to it.

Should we just wait for the 5 to age or could we go ahead & get an older girl while the little ones grow? If it is ok to get an older girl will she be lonely if it's just her out there? Or would she be fine until the little ones get out there with her? Where can we find an older girl? Should she be a sex link as well or is there another friendly breed that would do great with the baby sex links?

We live in Alabama. Thanks so much guys!!

 

[Judy]

The safe way to mix them is when they are all adult size. Your pullet could kill your chicks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/803815/integrating-two-groups/0_20

 

[FDaniels]

That's what we were afraid of. **and if you see a similar post in the baby chicks section that's also mine because I was trying to figure out the best section to put it in** How would you suggest we go about it so could have eggs now while the babies grow? Or would we be better off just waiting on the babies to grow? Is there a way to safe separate them in the same coop/run until the little chicks are old enough or is this just a big hassle?

 

[Mrs. K]

If you can get older hens, go ahead and get a flock. You are in the eggs very quickly, and really for first time chicken people it is a good way to go. New chicks can be fragile and die rather easily. It is better to have your flock all the same size. Even the nicest of hens is mean to anything smaller than she is.

Mixing younger birds in with older birds does not work unless the younger birds are full grown and even then there can be some wrecks.

Welcome to the boards

 

[FDaniels]

How do people expand their flocks if they don't introduce new chicks? Or is it only normally done by a hen with her babies?

 

[momofthehouse]

I'm wondering this as we had a mishap with our dog taking one of the hens (won't happen again don't worry) and now we just have one hen. I would like to bring in two even three more layers. We will have chicks in a couple of weeks but we won't combine our new chick bunch with the old hens. I am wondering though how to add in two or three new hens to the existing one? We already had one death so I'm scared to have another!

 

[chickkrzi]

Most of the time I hatch my own eggs. But once and a while I'll buy some day old chicks. In both cases I'll have two pins. One for my older flock and a smaller one for my new chicks. I like to keep mine separated only by some chicken wire. That way they can get use to each other without any contact. I wont let my younger pullets meet face to face with my older hens until they are just about to lay ((5 months or so old). Even then I'll supervise it so no one gets to carried away. But I try and do that a hour at first, then increasing time spent as the week goes by. By the end of the week I'll let them stay together most of time, but letting them return to their own roost for the next few weeks. Then I'll move them to the big girl roost. At least that's how I do it. Everybody seems to do it differently. Hope it helps.

 

[FDaniels]

Does help!! Thanks for the tip!!

 

[Mrs. K]

You can have a broody hen raise chicks in a flock, but you have to wait until you get a hen to go broody. That is an act of the Gods. Some breeds tend to go broody, and some very very seldom do so.

Otherwise, one must wait until the birds are more of the same size, and have two pens.

Mrs K