My little chicks come in the mail tomorrow morning. YAY!!!!!!!!! Finally!!!! I really wanted a mixed color egg basket so I did some research on why type I wanted. I ended up getting 3 Easter Eggers 3 Dominiques 3 Buff Orpingtons 3 Silver laced Wyandottes and 3 Wellsummers. They are all suited for my climate (western NY) and the egg production and colors I wanted. And I wanted kid friendly docile bird. I did not do any research on how they are going to get along with each other. Do you guys think I am going to have any issues with them not getting along?
And for the intro part..... I forgot and just asked questions These are my first Chickens. We had them at the family farm when I was a kid and I loved them and was always so excited to check for eggs. So my hubby and I bought a house and I decided I want chickens. I also have two spoiled dogs Morgan and Roxy. I enjoy hunting, dance and hiking.
Welcome to BYC. I doubt since they are going to have troubles with each other especially since they were raised with each other and out of the group you have picked there are none that are going to be aggressive although chickens do have a pecking order hierarchy which may be something you notice at a pretty early age sometimes. I hope you love your knew chickens, it's always exciting to get new or your first chickens or any other bird for that matter. I'm waiting to order my turkey poults and ducklings this year.
Welcome to BYC! You picked a very nice assortment. They should get along fine. They will establish a pecking order, and someone will be on the bottom, but that's life in the flock. I was also looking for variety in my flock. I have 10 hens, including Easter eggers, welsummer, RIR, barred plymouth rock, dominique, olive egger, buff orpington and black australorp. The EE, dominique and welsummer are my favorites, although the welsummer and one of the EE were extremely skittish until they started laying. Good luck and enjoy your birds! It's SO exciting getting the call from the post office to pick up chicks.
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to our flock. Since you're getting them all together as chicks you shouldn't have any problems in them getting along with each other. Just make sure that they have plenty of space as they mature and are not overcrowded. Overcrowding with any breeds can quickly lead to aggression, fights, biting and feather plucking, and even cannibalism. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your chicks.
The main thing that makes them have trouble getting along, is too little space in the coop and run and boredom during winter. You'll need at least 4 square feet of space per bird in the coop and at least 10 square feet per bird in the run. You'll need at least 8 inches of roost space per bird but they may still cram together and pick at each other. You'll need 1 nest box per 4 birds even though they often share or compete for the same box. Build 5 or 6 in case chicken math gets you. Keep them busy in winter so they don't turn on one another. They are all nice breeds. My BO's are my nicest birds, oddly, the smaller EE's pick on them sometimes. I have had both aggressive and non aggressive SLW's. Each flock dynamic is different so it's hard to foretell. Enjoy your new babies and welcome to BYC!
Thanks! I am Building an 8x10 coop with a little storage area and I am doing a 15X20 run. So If I ever want more chickens I have a little extra room for a couple more. I am also gonna test run letting them free range in the yard. I am in a very rural area. I just wanted to make sure I have a big enough run so I don't feel guilty about leaving them in just the run and the coop. My Hubby isn't to happy about my coop plans he keeps telling me my chickies don't need the Taj Tahal for chicken coops lol I beg to differ but Considering we just moved a month ago into our newhome its not like he needs more work. So by having a big coop I am hoping to alleviate any issues with them getting bored and pecking each other.
