Lone Chicken

[mellyjiriwn]

Hi all,
Im very new to owning chickens actually i should say extremely new. We moved onto a property 3 weeks ago and we had always planned to get chickens but the owners had asked if they would like us to leave the current 3 year old 2 chickens and we agreed. One of the chickens was taken by a fox so we are left with one chicken (after making many adjustments to the pen). We were wanting to get the kids chicks and they won't be ready to go into the big coop for a while, will the lone chicken (penny) be ok on her own or should we get her an older chicken to be with her. She has missing feathers from the previous chicken pecking her at times if that means anything. Just want to know the best thing to do as i don't know much about chickens and want to learn.

 

[what did I do]

I'd rehome the older chicken, clean the coop and run well, and get chicks. Putting older birds together is hard enough but adding chicks to the mix is much harder. If you insist on keeping her, just keep her as a single bird and get your chicks. Get a few extra chicks so you are not tempted to get even more chicks in a few weeks.

There are also people like me who have older chicks for sale. These chicks are old enough that you could add them to your coop now. Older chicks do cost more depending on how old they are.

This is just my suggestion.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with the above. Older hens and someone elses chicks do not mix.

Even mixing older hens with older hens can be a challenge.

When you are first starting out, it is better to start with one age group.

MrsK