Older and younger chickens in the same coop

Wdchickens

In the Brooder
6 Years
Dec 25, 2013
23
1
24
So I might head up to a friends farm and get two more hens today. Trouble is that the ones we have seem to be about 3 months and are on medicated starter. If I should end up with two older birds I'm going to an issue of them needing different feed. I'm guessing I won't be able to control which feed the girls are eating. They all have to share the same run and coop. Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
The young ones are too young for layer pellets but are old enough to be switched to chick grower which is non medicated and the adult hens can eat that as well. Just make sure if the older birds are already laying that you have oyster shell out for them to eat for added calcium.
 
I would quarantine the older birds prior to putting them in with the younger -

Too many people have posted sad stories because the older chickens got their flock sick and said they wished they had quarantined them first.

Just saying.

Chickens will have a pecking order. Adding any new bird will change the order. They have to work it out. I would suggest added new birds in coop at night and that way they might not notice too much about the new addition.

Pecking order has to do with who eats first roosts in the favorite spots etc. They will pull feathers and chase off those lower in the order. It should not be violent but it can be. Offer multiple eating and drinking opportunities. If you do not eat the eggs from the chickens eating medicated feed then you are okay to feed them all the same. If you plan to eat the eggs - keep them separate and if you are using good bio habits then you will quarantine then feeding different food is less of an issue.

Please think long an hard before just tossing in the new birds. It take one sneezing bird to spread illness to a flock and quarantine the new birds - giving them medicine is much better than doing something convenient and ending up with a sick flock and losing chickens when you don't have to lose them.

Caroline
 
I decided to wait until the weekend when I can be better prepared. Also, my feed store is closed today. I will read up more on the quarantine situation. Thanks for the advice. I'm trying to learn all I can. It seems there is a lot more to raising chickens than some people say.
 
How close of a friend is it who you are getting the chickens from? If you know them well and trust them that their chickens are healthy then you wouldn't need to quarantine. I personally have never done so and have had no issues but you need to trust the person you are getting the chickens from and maybe look over their flock too.
 
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The young ones are too young for layer pellets but are old enough to be switched to chick grower which is non medicated and the adult hens can eat that as well. Just make sure if the older birds are already laying that you have oyster shell out for them to eat for added calcium. 


Sounds like a plan. I will have to get non-medicated feed then. I screwed up and let the girl at the feed store talk me into medicated. Luckily I only bought a 10 lb bag of it. To answer your question, not really a close friend of mine, she's a friend of the family so I don't know a whole lot of background on the flock.
 

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