Predator Killed 2 of our 4 - 10 YO Daughter is Heart Broken Looking for a Chick Fix

[Neighborhoodchick]

Hi and thanks for the add! We bought our first chickens back in March 2019; two Wyandotte and two Orpington. They have been such a pleasant addition to our family. Sadly, last week something took our two Orpingtons (assumed dead - many feathers left behind). We are pretty sure we know what went wrong but pointing fingers at this point makes no sense... suffice it to say lesson learned. Our ten-year old daughter is heart broken and we are looking to add four chicks to build our flock back up. We are in Maryland, and I can not find any chicks for purchase. It appears fall chicks coming soon but we were hoping for something more immediate. Anyone in Maryland have chicks for sale?

 

[Pork Pie]

Hello and welcome to BYC. I hope that you enjoy your time here. A possible source may be found in the last link below. Be sure to have everything in place for new additions and read up on integration.

This is a useful link to take a look at - “How to...” guides. You may wish to consider including your location under your avatar (using the guide in the link above). You can use this link to contact members in your area - U.S. States

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[Jealous Gypsy]

I am trying a new place out of Alabama called Valley farms hatchery, I got some of the assorted hatchery choice free shipping on 7/29 and 1.50 each. Heres a link https://www.valleyfarmshatchery.com/online-store
They guarentee live delivery

 

[Jealous Gypsy]

And welcome to byc tons of useful information and friendly helpful people here hope you enjoy your roost

 

[Neighborhoodchick]

Thank you Pork Pie and Jealous Gypsy! Having just raised our chicks we do have what we need on hand. I have been reading about integration because I assumed we needed to do something special. From what I understand we need to wait until they have feathers (pullet age) and introduction needs to happen in neutral space. Ultimately we do not plan to move our coop so I was considering crating (we used an old dog crate to contain the last chicks until they could go outside) them within the existing chicken run to safely get our two Wyandottes used to their new coop mates. Good idea?

 

[Eggscaping]

Hi and thanks for the add! We bought our first chickens back in March 2019; two Wyandotte and two Orpington. They have been such a pleasant addition to our family. Sadly, last week something took our two Orpingtons (assumed dead - many feathers left behind). We are pretty sure we know what went wrong but pointing fingers at this point makes no sense... suffice it to say lesson learned. Our ten-year old daughter is heart broken and we are looking to add four chicks to build our flock back up. We are in Maryland, and I can not find any chicks for purchase. It appears fall chicks coming soon but we were hoping for something more immediate. Anyone in Maryland have chicks for sale?

Welcome to BackYardChickens! So glad to have you here in our wonderful community of friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people!
What a sad, unsettling thing to happen - especially for your daughter. When I was 10, I found a sparrow nest that had been destroyed and 'adopted' a baby sparrow. Mom said to give her little pieces of milk-soaked bread and she actually seemed to do well on that, and started to grow!
I called her "Wings" and she was almost fully grown when I left her birdcage out in the yard and found, later that day, an empty, turned-over bird cage. My parents convinced me that she'd flown away to live happily ever after, but I suspected the truth. Please give your daughter a hug for me.
Yes, there are tons of articles here that can help you integrate. You'll easily get lost reading article after article...it's so much fun, and really helpful. Best of luck to you, and please keep us posted!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
If it is at all possible to do so, I would set up a brooder in the coop and use a brooder plate. If the chicks are raised within eye sight of your older pullets, you'll be able to start integration at 4-5 weeks old.

 

[Jealous Gypsy]

Thank you Pork Pie and Jealous Gypsy! Having just raised our chicks we do have what we need on hand. I have been reading about integration because I assumed we needed to do something special. From what I understand we need to wait until they have feathers (pullet age) and introduction needs to happen in neutral space. Ultimately we do not plan to move our coop so I was considering crating (we used an old dog crate to contain the last chicks until they could go outside) them within the existing chicken run to safely get our two Wyandottes used to their new coop mates. Good idea?

That's exactly what I did with my Guinea hens to introduce them into the flock, i kept them in the crate for a week or 2 than let them run around. It took sometime for them to learn boundaries but worked well for me. There is a section all about integrating new chicks from people way more experienced than me. I will try to get you a link

 

[N F C]

One place to check is in the buy-sell-trade forum...you may need a certain number of posts to use it (I'm not sure) but worth looking into:
Chicks 1 Day to 8 Weeks Old

Sorry for the losses and best of luck to you!

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome! Glad that you joined! Sorry that you lost 2 of your hen's. Maybe you could also ask in your states thread here. Many of the member's here are hatch-a-holic's, so they might have some extra chick's for you. Good luck with your flock!