Please help-Have ooster and don't know what to do about replacement

[Careta]

Hi everyone,

It turns out my beautiful silkie girl is a boy!

I'm re ally devastated

as we are really attached to her and we aren't allowed roosters in our area. We are going to try and find him a good home.

However, my question is, what should I do? To explain, we have two silkies (one rooster now) and an Australorp. They are about 3.5/4 months. The place we got them will swap our rooster for a hen.

My question is, should we get a day old and hope the silkie hen adopts or should we get a full grown one. I am worried about acceptance into my little flock.

This is my first time with chickens and I really don't know which is the best way to go....

Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[Mrs. K]

Get a hen about the same age and size of chicken that you have now, if you get your druthers. Equal size hens accept each other easier, bigger hens pick on littler hens, unless ( and even if, sometimes) they are their own chicks.

I think it might be best to get 2 more hens, so that you have 3 hens all together. That way if something happens to one, you would not have one alone, which is hard on a chicken, a flock bird.

Put the birds all together at night in the dark, they wake up together, and seem to think, it is all ok. Mrs.K

 

[midget_farms]

Mrs. K. has it right - you can't put a baby chick with an older bird - plus you may not get a hen!

I've used the 'introduce at night' trick several times - chickens can't count - if they wake up with more chickens than they went to bed with they don't know it. : )

3 birds is good - 2 will work though short term - Just keep them locked up at night so nothing eats them. EVERYTHING eats chicken!