Should I get more chickens?

[albertagirl1]

LOL by the sound of these boards I feel like the answer will be a resounding yes! So here's my real question... I picked up 3 Polish chicks (1 week old today) this weekend and my plan is to get 3 Orpingtons as well. I live in Alberta and we just got another dumping of snow yesterday, but it's supposed to warm up starting today and become more 'spring like' right away... I'm a little nervous that I jumped the gun on buying my chicks because our coop isn't made yet- and while we can start pieces of it in the garage it won't be liveable until the ground outside is snow-free so we can clear a space for it.
Question is: Should I get my 3 Orpingtons now so they are only a week younger than the Polish and can live in the brooder together, but possibly run into the issue of having 6 fully feathered chickens running around my spare room (I do have a chain link run outside they could stay in during the days if it gets warm enough.... Or a few large dog kennels in the garage)
Or... Do I wait until the coop is up and running, move the Polish chicks out of the brooder and start the Orpingtons then? Is it harder to intoduce them as they get older? The Polish would be about 12-14 weeks by the time the Orpingtons are would move outside with them at 4-6 weeks.

 

[chameleon]

LOL by the sound of these boards I feel like the answer will be a resounding yes! So here's my real question... I picked up 3 Polish chicks (1 week old today) this weekend and my plan is to get 3 Orpingtons as well. I live in Alberta and we just got another dumping of snow yesterday, but it's supposed to warm up starting today and become more 'spring like' right away... I'm a little nervous that I jumped the gun on buying my chicks because our coop isn't made yet- and while we can start pieces of it in the garage it won't be liveable until the ground outside is snow-free so we can clear a space for it.
Question is: Should I get my 3 Orpingtons now so they are only a week younger than the Polish and can live in the brooder together, but possibly run into the issue of having 6 fully feathered chickens running around my spare room (I do have a chain link run outside they could stay in during the days if it gets warm enough.... Or a few large dog kennels in the garage)
Or... Do I wait until the coop is up and running, move the Polish chicks out of the brooder and start the Orpingtons then? Is it harder to intoduce them as they get older? The Polish would be about 12-14 weeks by the time the Orpingtons are would move outside with them at 4-6 weeks.

The younger they are the easier they are to integrate. I tried to introduce some 3 week old chicks to 14 week old chicks recently and it didn't go great. Personally, having 6 or having 3 in the spare room wouldn't make much difference to me, but I would definitely want to get the out as soon as possible, even if I only had 3. I did have mine outside in a run during the day and sleeping inside at night for a while, and it was much better than having them all inside, so if you can do that I would go for it and just get the other 3 now.

 

[albertagirl1]

Ok thanks for the advise! That's kind of what I was leaning towards so you justified getting more now haha. I'll just give us incentive to build faster...

 

[chameleon]

Haha, yeah, beware the chicken math, it appears to be unavoidable

Enjoy your chicks, and post pics of them when then arrive

 

[Mrs. K]

Not sure if a big breed like BO's are going to be a good fit with the polish?

 

[albertagirl1]

Not sure if a big breed like BO's are going to be a good fit with the polish?

Oh really? I'd read that both breeds were more likely to be picked on rather than be the bullies so I thought they'd be ok. Why do you think they wouldn't? I can change to something else, I just liked the Orpingtons personalities and looks so that's why I went with them but I'm not fully committed yet.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

Taggirl BEWARE THE CHICKEN MATH, IT IS A MONSTER.TRUST ME, IM THIGH DEEP IN IT RIGHT NOW.

But as for Mrs.K, They should be perfectly fine, since they are being raised to gather.One might get feather picked a little, but to me I think it would be fine.I mean, EEs have beards and they're with other hens and they're pretty fine.

 

[albertagirl1]

Taggirl BEWARE THE CHICKEN MATH, IT IS A MONSTER.TRUST ME, IM THIGH DEEP IN IT RIGHT NOW.

But as for Mrs.K, They should be perfectly fine, since they are being raised to gather.One might get feather picked a little, but to me I think it would be fine.I mean, EEs have beards and they're with other hens and they're pretty fine.

Thank you! We'll see how it goes... Basically I picked one breed that looks really cool and one that has really good personalities in hopes that when the time comes no one will be bugging me to eat them haha. (We won't be but family and friends keep offering to butcher them

)
And yes, chicken math is already finding me- I planned on starting with 4 and already upped it to 6. I know I'll want baby chicks every year so gotta start slow

 

[aart]

If you're going to get more chicks (not just you and not just now), build a bigger coop.

 

[albertagirl1]

If you're going to get more chicks (not just you and not just now), build a bigger coop. 

Will do! The plans we have is for a coop that's 16x8 so 128 sq feet. Is that too big for 10 chickens (that's our county's max) or is there no such thing as too big? They'll have a secure run too and be able to free range on 1.5 acres when we're home, but during our winters they'll likely be cooped up most days. I was thinking I could make it 8x12 instead but maybe bigger is better?