New silkie owner vaccine question. And adding more chicks question

[MysteryChicken]

Do you have any painted

I have 6 white hens

4 white roosters

2 blue partridge hens

1 blue partridge rooster

1 black rooster

1 partridge rooster.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Vaccinations are up to you. We don't vaccinate ours, but they are a backyard flock. As such, we've never had a case of Marek's or any of the other big diseases for which most chickens get vaccinated.

Size variations are usually only a problem if you've got an aggressive chick(s) in the bunch. We've raised Silkies right alongside RIRs, BOs, Australorps, and others. If they all get along and don't pick on each other, even if their ages are as much as 3 weeks apart, then they'll be fine together. Some will just ultimately be bigger than the others. Within the same breed, even better, but you still have to watch to be sure the smaller (younger) chicks are not getting picked on, are allowed to eat/drink, and don't get bullied out of sleeping spots.

In fact, we have a 2.5 year old Silkie that is one of the sweetest girls you'd ever meet in the chicken world. When we got some Golden Comets last July to up our egg output, they were 21 days old and smaller than her, so she didn't give them much thought. Once they started to get bigger than her, she put her foot down, and tore into a couple of them, so much so that they steer clear of little Noelle now She still gets on them if they get too close to her! The pecking order is established in many different ways.......