Oops I did it again...chicken math.

[TripMomma]

When I got my hubby on board with getting chickens he originally wanted 2, yeah like that was happening. I talked him to 3, then went for 4 since we have 4 kids. He must have forgot we agreed on 4 and told our neighbors we were getting 6, I did not argue LOL.

I picked up 4 a week ago, with plans to go in and get our 5th today and then our 6th in a couple weeks (as the feed store got in the different breeds I wanted).

Well I went to get number 5 today, it was so itty bitty...way smaller than the first 4 we picked up. I had hoped a week size difference wouldn't be that bad and I could put them in the same brooder. As soon as I saw the tiny things I knew that was out...so I had to get a friend to go along with her and set them up in their own brooder. Thankfully the hubby took it pretty well Hahaha.

I'm supposed to go back for our last chick in a couple weeks...I hope I don't need to come home with an extra again, my husband may kill me if I show up with another spare

My first 4...a week ago.
Anna - Barnevelder
Mulan - Silver laced Wyandotte
Jasmine - Barred Rock
Belle - Easter Egger



The new two...
Elsa - Salmon Faverolle
Rapunzel - Welsummer



Our final (hopefully) addition will be Ariel, a Buff Brahma. I didn't think chicken math would happen this fast

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

When I got my hubby on board with getting chickens he originally wanted 2, yeah like that was happening. I talked him to 3, then went for 4 since we have 4 kids. He must have forgot we agreed on 4 and told our neighbors we were getting 6, I did not argue LOL.

I picked up 4 a week ago, with plans to go in and get our 5th today and then our 6th in a couple weeks (as the feed store got in the different breeds I wanted).

Well I went to get number 5 today, it was so itty bitty...way smaller than the first 4 we picked up. I had hoped a week size difference wouldn't be that bad and I could put them in the same brooder. As soon as I saw the tiny things I knew that was out...so I had to get a friend to go along with her and set them up in their own brooder. Thankfully the hubby took it pretty well Hahaha.

I'm supposed to go back for our last chick in a couple weeks...I hope I don't need to come home with an extra again, my husband may kill me if I show up with another spare

My first 4...a week ago.
Anna - Barnevelder
Mulan - Silver laced Wyandotte
Jasmine - Barred Rock
Belle - Easter Egger



The new two...
Elsa - Salmon Faverolle
Rapunzel - Welsummer



Our final (hopefully) addition will be Ariel, a Buff Brahma. I didn't think chicken math would happen this fast

Adorable - but have you thought through the possible issues of trying to brood them together at such different ages? Your last bird will be at least 2 weeks younger than the oldest (IF you get to pick it up as planned - you may end up waiting even longer). There can be some pretty serious issues with trying to integrate chicks with that sort of age spread *and* there is the issue of the different environmental needs given that the younger bird will be in need of warmer temperatures than the older birds as well as not being ready to leave the brooder at the same time as the others.
Of course, in the spirit of chicken math, it might be better to set up a second brooder and pick up at least three more chicks rather than just one so that they can be brooded together away from the older birds.

 

[TripMomma]

The two newbies are in their own brooder right now, my 4 chicks that I have had for a week are in another brooder. I do have a third brooder if I need it.
I'm hoping these 6 here now will be able to move together in a week or so, since they are only 1 week apart.

When I pick up my final chick in a couple weeks I am guessing I will have to get 2 and brood them together away from the other 6 for a couple weeks. Hopefully come time to go outside they will all be pretty close to caught up. If the feed store doesn't get them in I will just stick to the 6 and not get another one much later.

I'm calling around to see if I can find my Buff Brahma anywhere sooner though.

 

[justplainbatty]

X2! Chicken math, got it mastered, brooder math, not so much. Good luck, enjoy your babies!

 

[HennaRose]

Chicken math wasn't supposed to happen to me, and it happened by accident. I had four little chicks shipped to me for a Tuesday arrival - Sophia/Sophie (Easter Egger), Bianca/Binky (white Leghorn), Francesca/Frankie (Sicilian Buttercup) and Rosetta/Rosie (Rhode Island Red). (Nicknames because I have a three-year-old who keeps calling Rosetta "Risotto" so nicknames became necessary...)

Well, the morning after they arrived little Francesca died. I posted on a local chicken board and someone had gotten extra chicks in *her* shipment that she didn't want, and offered them to me. When I got there, she advised me to take two, because only one might become the victim of bullying coming in by herself.

So I came home with Vanessa/Nessie (Black Star sex-link) and Matilda/Tillie (Australorp). They're about a week older than the others, but they appear to have integrated in just fine. I did raise the lamp on one side because they were avoiding the heat lamps, and they seem a good bit happier now.

I'm also fostering my aunt's chicks. She has four (had five, one died on Thursday). She hasn't named her Rhode Island Reds yet, but her son has named the Barred Rocks Juan and Pablo. (I tried to get him to use Juana and Paola, the female counterparts, but nope. He's named them after friends of his.)

 

[21hens-incharge]

Chicken math can be very difficult to master.
I wanted
6 BA
DH chose so I got
2 BA, 2 EE, 2 California white
But I wanted 6 BA
I bought 4 BA and 1 BO one was a rooster so he had to go, I could not let him go alone so he took his gals with him.
Now I had 2 BA, 2 EE, 2 California whites and one Bo
I still wanted more BA so I bought 2 BA, the SS were so cute so I bought 3 SS. One SS was a rooster and the other 2 had curled toes. The Rooster took the BA gals with him
I still wanted the BA, I went to look at some started pullets. NONE were there as she had told me on the phone

There was a splash Hamburg in bad shape from being picked on so I could not leave her and she needed a friend so I got a GLW and another BO

You see where this is going I am sure.

I still wanted BA's. It has been 4 years and I was up to 24 chickens. I lost 5 and now have 19.

Guess how many BA's I ended up with...........



2 YES I still have just the original 2.

I am picking up chicks in early March...... 3 Dark Brahma and 3 Partridge rock. The week after that I get 6 BA's.

But since I only wanted the BA and I only have 2 then that is how many chickens I have. 2 just 2.

 

[TripMomma]

You know I really don't want 3 brooders...or even 2 for very long. Thanks for making me really think about how big a gap that would be.
I gave up on my Buff Brahma for this year, picked up a Buff Orp, that I passed on when I got my first 4 last week. They have already remembered/accepted Ariel and all 5 are napping together.

 

[TripMomma]

Some funny chicken math there guys

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Guess how many BA's I ended up with...........



2 YES I still have just the original 2.

I am picking up chicks in early March...... 3 Dark Brahma and 3 Partridge rock. The week after that I get 6 BA's.

But since I only wanted the BA and I only have 2 then that is how many chickens I have. 2 just 2.

I like the way you think!

 

[nayeli]

You know I really don't want 3 brooders...or even 2 for very long. Thanks for making me really think about how big a gap that would be.
I gave up on my Buff Brahma for this year, picked up a Buff Orp, that I passed on when I got my first 4 last week. They have already remembered/accepted Ariel and all 5 are napping together.

I HATE brooding chicks! They are cute but its not good for you to have them indoors, respiratory reasons... and they stink up the whole place AND make everything dusty! So glad mine are outside... yet, I want more chickens and getting them as chicks is usually the most avaliable option.