raising diff breeds of chicks together in one area?

[FireGurl26]

I am one of those crazy people who wants 2 of a couple different breeds ..... Is it ok to keep chicks I order in one area (indoors) until they are old enough to be in the coop (out doors)?

I am thinking about getting 2 silkies, 2 olive eggers, 2 easter eggers.. Small flock, all hens (hopefully). If I get any roosters, they will be dinner (sorry if that sounds mean, but roosters are not legal in my area).

If they are different ages is that ok? Should I quarantine each set of chicks first before introduction?

They will likely be all from the same local breeder.

Is it better to start off with eggs and hatch myself? or order week old chicks? I am totally new to all this, I doubt I'd be very successful hatching eggs as a newbie... It is also important to be that the hens all be kid friendly. So they will be handled asap.

At what age can chicks go outside in the coop safely? I will be starting my flock in Spring 2017. temp outside will typically be between 15-20ish degrees Celsius in the Spring.

I have 5 different breeds of pullets currently. I ordered my chicks from 2 different hatcheries, online. I ordered 6 RIR and brooded them till about 6 weeks old in battery brooder. Then out to coop they went. My next breeds were 3 Barred Rocks and 3 Silver Laced Wyandottes. Same on the brooding till 6 weeks. Then i ordered 8 Light Brahma and 7 Buff Orpington. Same on brooder. So, all my sets of breeds are 6 weeks apart. I did order all similar types of pullets though. They are all large chickens and lay brown eggs, as well as cold tolerant for here in the U.P. I am new to chickens as well. I ordered my first set in the 2nd week of April. Which is pretty cold here in the U.P. But I brooded them in our garage, which is somewhat heated. Everytime i set the new breeds out to the coop, i seperated the new from the older ones for a week to 2 weeks by a fence. The older ones always wanted to pick on the younger ones. I learned as i went, with the help of course, from this forum. BTW....I only wanted 6 in the beginning. I turn into a crazy chicken lady very quickly...lol. Good luck!

 

[FireGurl26]

That is the coop I am getting my husband to build. It'll be about 20sqft. What kind of wire pen will keep racoons out? Thats what we have the most issues with here. Racoons raid our pond all the time. Killing all our fish. Its very annoying. Our dog (st.bernard) is very good as a livestock guardian, but she sleeps indoors at night. As you know thats when racoons come out to "dine".
I wouldn't get any chicks without having our coop complete first. I also have a garage, and wood room I could use to raise the chicks in (in a xlarge rubbermaid bin possibly?).
I do know a couple people who have backyard hens. And they can definitely give me some pointers when I start up. I'm glad to know they can go outside right away. Just need them to be safe! I feel like they wont be when they're so little.
Still looking into different breeds .
I want good laying hens, but I want friendly chickens too. So that's where the fun in research come in!!! .
Thanks for all the advise I really really appreciate it!

I started with a smaller coop and run a lil bigger than the one pictured. Now, i wish i would've not spent the money on a pre-built one because it ended up being too small as I wanted more chickens. I lived and learned. Now we have a 12x12 coop...and 12x20 run attached. My girls are all free range, but they come in at night. I also found, that investing in an automatic chicken door or 2 is the way to go. I absolutely love my auto doors now. I don't have to put them in every night and shut the door, making sure I am home each night. Not to mention, if i ever want to sleep in on the weekend, I can. The doors automatically open at sunrise, and shut at sunset (which i have set for 25 min past sunset, in case any stragglers). Well worth the money! Especially when they get older and learn when to come in at night and go out in the morning, from free-ranging. Just some suggestions from my experiences.