Orpingtons - adding to my flock?

khulifish

Hatching
7 Years
Dec 15, 2012
1
0
7
Hi, i am new to chickens. We have built a large coup for our chickens (all purebreed orpingtons) and are putting the girls (i hope they are girls) in there today. We have hand raised 6 chicks from 1 day old and they are now 6 weeks old and are big already. We have a splash, three white, a blue and a black.
So heres my question, i have found two two year old buff orpington hens that are laying and was wondering if i can get them and put them in with my girls? Would it be ok or would the buffs be to old/large to do this? They will all be introduced to the coup at the same time.
Thank you :)
 
umm i havnt seen what 6 week old chicks look like in a while so im not familiar to their size but you should be good itll be just the same old pecking order we do it most of the time you should be fine.
 
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I understand you can get 2 2-year-old hens and you want to put them in the coop with your 6-week-olds? That's not a good idea.

First of all you need to keep the hens completely separate from the chicks for at least a month to make sure they do not carry anything nasty like mites, worms or disease. (You should always do this with any new chickens, regardless of age and where you got them from. Trust me, I've learned this lesson the hard way!)). Once the quarantine period's over and you are sure they are clean and healthy you can start introducing them to the chicks. Be prepared for some bullying though. Let them free range together at first, under supervision, and if they accepted each other put them in the same coop. If the bigger hens bully them too badly continue to keep them separate, but within sight of each other for a few more weeks.
 

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