Rebuilding flock

[ChicksofHeaven]

Hi Chicks,

I was down to two laying hens, getting two eggs a day which is sufficient for us at the moment. They free range -including visits over to the neighbors property which shares our rural driveway.
On Tuesday, my neighbor’s daughter was visiting with her dog. My chickens were grubbing in her yard and the visiting dog killed one of the hens. The other hen escaped.
I don’t need advice about that.

I’m wondering how to rebuild.
Should I get chicks now and introduce them to the experienced hen? Wait until winter is over and get chicks in the spring?
Find a couple laying hens to introduce to my hen? Are there any considerations to weigh?

We are planning some trips so delaying increasing the flock wouldn’t be the worst thing.

Thanks.

 

[Berd Man]

I’d worry about the lone hen. She will need companions.

I think it’s up to your preference as to when but I have had decent luck incubating some of our chicken eggs mid-late summer and then raising the chicks into the winter. So if you bought chicks / hatching eggs now they would be feathered by the time it gets cold. Your hen may be really welcoming and show them around. She may just want them to know she’s boss and bully them and you may need to keep them in a separate brooder at first. Either way eventually they’ll acclimate and become a flock after you’ve done reintroducing. In the spring - early summer those new birds will be laying for you.

If you wait till next spring for chicks, your hen is solo for a longer period, The young birds may only just start laying before the daylight starts decreasing/winter arrives, or not lay till next spring.

Adding laying hens is a great option too. The birds will be able to establish a pecking order or be acclimated through a fence and then merged after a short period. You can skip all the brooder tasks like bedding, waterers, chick starter, heat lamps…. Yada yada

None are “wrong” choices per se. Just depends on what you want to deal with or spend money on.

 

[sourland]

In a couple of weeks here in NJ, the 4 H fairs will take place. Generally the chicken clubs have started pullets for sale at moderate prices. Hopefully the same thing happens in the 'Southeast South'.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I would go with hatchery chicks unless you can find someone with a clean tested flock that you can see the results.

 

[FrostRanger]

I would get chicks after you come back from your trip. It's still decently early in the season so they will have plenty of time to grow up before winter. I also don't like the idea of your hen being alone for too long either, some birds can manage while others don't do very well alone at all

 

[Ridgerunner]

Any of those can work. To me it is very much a personal preference. It has to be your decision but I think you are asking what to consider.

How few chicks can you get? How many do you want? How will you manage if you wind up with a boy or two? If you are buying from a hatchery online they probably have minimal shipments, maybe more chicks than you want. Many feed stores also have minimum chick requirements. You may be able to get around these minimums if you can find a neighbor to split an order with you.

Another possibility is to talk to your neighbors and see who might have chicks. You can go to the "Buy - Sell - Trade" section of this forum and start a thread with your location, maybe find your State thread in the "Where am I? Where are you!" section of this forum, check for a local chicken facebook thread, maybe go by your feed store and see if you can leave a message on a bulletin board. Craigslist may be an option. Or if there is a chicken show (state fair or maybe county fair) you may be able to get chickens there.

You may have chicken auctions around. Or maybe an organized chicken swap. Your county extension office can probably tell you about any livestock auctions. I'm not sure how to find a chicken swap.

To me a big issue with young chicks is that it can be hard to determine sex.

A potential issue with getting chicks from your neighbors is that some flocks have flock immunities. Those are diseases or parasites that the flock has developed an immunity to but they can still pass it on to other chickens that have not developed that immunity. Most of those (like mites, lice, or worms) are more inconveniences that can be treated but occasionally one can be really serious. I consider hatcheries to be very biosecure. Feed stores aren't horrible but there is some risk from all of the customers potentially tracking something in. Neighbors are less biosecure but many people get chickens from neighbors without problems. The highest risk is from auctions, swaps, and shows because strange chickens are mixing.

If you get chicks it will be a long time before you get eggs. If you get older pullets or hens you can get eggs fairly soon.

You'll need to integrate any that you get. With a mature chicken that can happen pretty quickly. With young chicks it can take a long time. Sometimes they have to be grown up before they are fully integrated.

You'd probably already thought of a lot of this but hopefully you get something useful out of it. And if you had already made up your mind and just wanted some reasons to support what you are going to do anyway maybe you can find something.

Good luck!

 

[ChicksofHeaven]

I’d worry about the lone hen. She will need companions.

I think it’s up to your preference as to when but I have had decent luck incubating some of our chicken eggs mid-late summer and then raising the chicks into the winter. So if you bought chicks / hatching eggs now they would be feathered by the time it gets cold. Your hen may be really welcoming and show them around. She may just want them to know she’s boss and bully them and you may need to keep them in a separate brooder at first. Either way eventually they’ll acclimate and become a flock after you’ve done reintroducing. In the spring - early summer those new birds will be laying for you.

If you wait till next spring for chicks, your hen is solo for a longer period, The young birds may only just start laying before the daylight starts decreasing/winter arrives, or not lay till next spring.

Adding laying hens is a great option too. The birds will be able to establish a pecking order or be acclimated through a fence and then merged after a short period. You can skip all the brooder tasks like bedding, waterers, chick starter, heat lamps…. Yada yada

None are “wrong” choices per se. Just depends on what you want to deal with or spend money on.

Thank you for laying that out nicely. That’s kind of what I was thinking

 

[ChicksofHeaven]

In a couple of weeks here in NJ, the 4 H fairs will take place. Generally the chicken clubs have started pullets for sale at moderate prices. Hopefully the same thing happens in the 'Southeast South'.

Southeast South Dakota!

 

[Ecarroll]

I would probably get like two laying hens now for company then in the spring raise more chicks