Raising different chicks together?

[Revelle]

Hello!

I'm wondering how most people raise their chicks? Do you get a bunch of a single breed, or do you mix them up?

I picked out a lot of different breeds I want, but I'm not sure if it'd be best to mix and match, or just keep one for all! I'm only going to eventually get around 5 chickens in the future, soo.

How do you do it? :3

 

[HEChicken]

Oh, definitely mixed them up! I wanted to have a variety of colors in my flock so I'd be able to tell them all apart so I got several different types of chick and raised them all together.

Edited to correct typo

 

[Katy]

My different breeds stay together in the brooders and the grow out pens and then get split up when they're old enough to go into the breeder pens. The only chicks I wouldn't keep together are bantams and standard size chicks.

Welcome to BYC

 

[Revelle]

Thank you Katy.

I'm not going to be a breeder, so I guess they'll be able to always be roomies.

HEC/ Oh!

Cool! I guess it would be easier to tell one from another if they're different breeds. xD I haven't thought about that except for when I saw the little colored ID rings.

 

[Scoop]

I don't know if I'd mix in the Cornish X again, the pigs that they are, they seem to hog all the food.

 

[faykokoWV]

If you just want eggs and pretty chickens, you might want to look into one of the surprise pullet specials or a collection from one of the hatcheries. If you only want a few chickens, its hard to get a variety of chicks the same age all at once sometimes. another option is to buy local, such as at a feed store as they usually will have several different varieties at once.

 

[5chickenluver7]

I also got 5 chicks to start with. I got all different breeds so we could get every color or egg and they would all look different! It has worked out great! They are all the best of friends and I would reccomend getting all the breeds yo want as long as they are similar in size.

 

[catdaddy66]

if you want to raise eggers and meaties at the same time, I have heard that due to differrent dietary requirements they need to be separated. I have zero experience so I can't vouch for the advice. It sounds reasonable, though.

 

[RAWR]

oh mix, hun
how much fun would if you had to deal with 20+ people that looked like you? lol
and mixing up the breeds is just alot of fun

 

[Revelle]

Fayokoko/ Oh! That would be like a mystery box of chicks? I need to look into the different feed stores around here.

Thank you!

Chickluver7/ 5 seems to be a lucky number!

Catdaddy/ Oh? I guess that would be true, but here it's illegal to raise chickens with intention to slaughter I heard. Only for eggs and pets. (For non-farmers anyway. xP)

ChickenRawr/ That is a very good point! And... completely off topic, but I love your avatar picture. So cute!