I Am About To Buy My First Chickens. I Can House Up To Five In My Size Coop. I Am Only Wanting To Buy Two For Now Thinking That Once Their Egg Laying Drops I Can Buy More. Is It Ok To Mix Ages? I Amm Wanting To Buy A Rir And A Cross Breed At Aorund 17 Weeks?
i have done the same i have started with two BO they are about 2 yrs old they then got babies at 9 weeks old now and on monday i bought two Warrens at 17 weeks i think they are fightin a little bit but that is to be expected as there warrens are new ans a pecking order needs to be established hope this helps
Many of us with backyard flocks add young chickens as our birds age. Currently I have birds that range from the age of 22 weeks to almost 8 years old. However, it's never easy to bring new birds into an established flock. It's actually harder to add a new chicken or two to a small flock than a dozen to a large flock. It's best to have two flocks, a young and an old. If you can't do that, at least make sure that the new hens you add are mature - introducing immature chicks to a pen with adults is asking for serious aggression. Also, it's really important to have plenty of space -floor and roosting - for all chickens. You'll need at least 4 square feet per bird inside and another 8 outside (that's the minimum.) Many coops are being advertised for more chickens than they can actually accommodate. I've written about adding chickens to small backyard flocks on this FAQ: http://www.hencam.com/henblog/introducing-new-hens/ BTW, I'd start with 3 chickens.
Our RIR (production reds) were very determined not to allow flock integration. The new pullets were 18 weeks before sharing of coop was possible. Many here with other breeds can integrate sooner, the reds are docile with humans and their flock but tenacious when it comes to outside birds. They were the worst when adding 20 week old Leghorns last fall too.
