Raising a mixed breed flock

[i-love-my-honey]

I am SO new to this!! I am getting my chicks on January 14th. I will have a mixture of breeds (my research says the breeds are all docile) but the hatchery I am getting my chicks from has thrown a wrench into my best laid plans.

I am doing the "better to ask forgiveness than permission" approach, as chickens are not allowed in my neighborhood - so I can only have a few chickens in a tractor. Although the main purpose for getting chickens is to have fresh eggs, I want to get a Silkie because I think they are cute. I have wanted one since the first time I saw them. The hatchery I am going to does not hatch Silkies until April, and all of my other girls will be full grown by then. Is there a hatchery that ships only 2 chicks at a time, or does anyone know of a hatchery in Oklahoma that hatches Silkies in January?

If I cannot find one, can I introduce a younger (and smaller, as the rest will not be bantams) hen into the mix when the rest are all 3 months old? Do I need to separate them for a certain amount of time? Will the silkie be accepted when all the rest have been raised together?

 

[donrae]

Check out My Pet Chicken, they specialize in small orders, I think 3 is the minimum. Depending on how many birds you plan to get total, I'd just wait and get them all together. Silkies can be hard to add to a flock as they're super docile and sight impaired, they're often picked on by the other birds. I'd check with some other hatcheries and just get everyone at the same time. I realize it's easy to counsel patience, but hard to put into practice!
I think Cackle also has small orders as small as 3 birds. Just be aware when you're ordering a small number of birds many hatcheries add "packing peanuts", extra male chicks to help keep the ordered chicks warm. You then have to deal with all these male chicks! If you don't want the peanuts, you have to pay a lot more for shipping as they use heat packs to keep the chicks warm.

 

[gander007]

First

always happy to see a new face ...

Yes my pet chicken is for small orders .......

 

[i-love-my-honey]

Thank you for the referral. It looks like they will ship only 3 chicks AFTER March 31st. Before that date I would have to order 15. :0/ Grumph! Boy would my neighbors be upset with 15!

I may get hatching eggs instead, though. I imagine with a lot of three, there has to be a girl in there somewhere... :0)

 

[Percheron chick]

I'd put a feeler out on the Okie thread. Someone is breeding silkies in OK.

 

[dekel18042]

I know several people including myself who have gotten peeps from My Pet Chicken. I don't believe they include "packing peanuts" (extra chicks).
They will ship as few as three chicks (certain, warmer dates apply, but you can plug in your zip code and see how many you need for a minimum shipment to your area. Mine is 4 standard fowl, or 6 bantams or 5 mixed,
It would be better to get them all at the same time rather than introduce a silkie later.
Good luck....it IS hard waiting.

 

[i-love-my-honey]

I did not realize there was an Oklahoma board, thanks. I am very new...

Yes, I did not realize how hard it would be to wait! Now I just have to get a coop for my 'babies' to live in.