Should I get more chickens??

[TillyPeeps]

Do you ever consider about biosafety? I got a couple sweetest pullets who brought Marek's diseases into my flock. And they died from Marek's anyway. I will personally never get chickens from somebody else's flock any more. Only chicks from hatcheries.

Also, if you do not plan to cull your chickens, you will need room to add more in the future. I have the same size coop as yours, I have 15 chickens now and am worried about they don't have enough room in winter. I have them free range, but they don't want to step on snow in winter.

 

[PoppasGrill]

If there is every a question on “if” you should get more chickens… the answer is NO .. MAYBE..PROBABLY.. OKAY, YES WE SHOULD!!
We have this discussion quite a bit, usually starts with..” do you think..??” And then there are 5-10 more chicks in the chick coop.
The Math is always right.
On the other hand, if there is a question of space, I know a good realtor , you can get space.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Do you ever consider about biosafety? I got a couple sweetest pullets who brought Marek's diseases into my flock. And they died from Marek's anyway. I will personally never get chickens from somebody else's flock any more. Only chicks from hatcheries.

Also, if you do not plan to cull your chickens, you will need room to add more in the future. I have the same size coop as yours, I have 15 chickens now and am worried about they don't have enough room in winter. I have them free range, but they don't want to step on snow in winter.

Yes, this is another thing I worry about. Mareks in particular worries me, I had one sweet girl who died from neck trauma (prior to us getting her, my son picked her out and was holding her so I didn’t notice until we got home). Anyway, as I was trying to help her I read about mareks. We ruled it out, but it worried me. Currently all my girls are from the same farm which feels safe as not mixing exposures.

We will have to move before these girls stop laying as our family will need to move for work, so I’m not worried about needing the space down the road. But having to move all these chickens will be another factor! That’s at least 3-4 years down the road though so it’s a tomorrow problem! I figure moving 9 chickens is as much an ordeal as moving 11 though lol.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

If there is every a question on “if” you should get more chickens… the answer is NO .. MAYBE..PROBABLY.. OKAY, YES WE SHOULD!!
We have this discussion quite a bit, usually starts with..” do you think..??” And then there are 5-10 more chicks in the chick coop.
The Math is always right.
On the other hand, if there is a question of space, I know a good realtor , you can get space.

 

[LaFleche]

Although it might be tempting, in your situation I would abstain from adding any more chickens.

After moving you might want to start fresh and can easily order all the breeds you want from your favourite hatchery whereas getting them now would cause unnecessary stress for everyone involved.

They would need to be quarantined for 4 weeks far away from your flock with you and anyone else tending to the chickens having to practice strict bio security rituals such as changing clothes and shoes as well as disinfecting your hands each time after tending to the old flock and the new birds.

This can get old really quick.

Appenzeller are very active birds that need lots of space to move and explore freely. I would not consider them a breed that will be happy being kept just in a run.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Although it might be tempting, in your situation I would abstain from adding any more chickens.

After moving you might want to start fresh and can easily order all the breeds you want from your favourite hatchery whereas getting them now would cause unnecessary stress for everyone involved.

They would need to be quarantined for 4 weeks far away from your flock with you and anyone else tending to the chickens having to practice strict bio security rituals such as changing clothes and shoes as well as disinfecting your hands each time after tending to the old flock and the new birds.

This can get old really quick.

Appenzeller are very active birds that need lots of space to move and explore freely. I would not consider them a breed that will be happy being kept just in a run.

Thank you, that was really helpful!

 

[Sarajobe]

We have one silver Appenzeller (named Nightlight) from a variety pack of chicks and she is our favorite, hands down. She is so sweet and quirky. She couldn't care less about the pecking order and just want to forage around and do her own thing. She is very skiddish partly because of her crest and blocking her view, but she has NEVER pecked any of us. Ever. She enjoys being held, once caught. Now that she's laying, and squatting, she's easier to catch. She only just started laying at 6.5 months, but is laying 4 small to medium eggs a week. We get Nutrena Nourishing bits since her beak is smaller. She can FLY, but she prefers to just explore the ground. Our ONLY qualm is that she gets picked on, and that's really nothing to do with her. The rest of our flock are RIR, leghorns and California whites, so she sticks out like a sore thumb. Shame on Hoovers for putting her in alone.She sleeps as high as the others allow. Our nest boxes are stacked so she usually sleeps on the top of those and sometimes inside of them. We have a request at the local store for more so she isn't the only one and maybe power in numbers will help her. If the chicks/chickens are clean, I wouldn't hesitate to add more to our flock!

 

[PoppasGrill]

We have one silver Appenzeller (named Nightlight) from a variety pack of chicks and she is our favorite, hands down. She is so sweet and quirky. She couldn't care less about the pecking order and just want to forage around and do her own thing. She is very skiddish partly because of her crest and blocking her view, but she has NEVER pecked any of us. Ever. She enjoys being held, once caught. Now that she's laying, and squatting, she's easier to catch. She only just started laying at 6.5 months, but is laying 4 small to medium eggs a week. We get Nutrena Nourishing bits since her beak is smaller. She can FLY, but she prefers to just explore the ground. Our ONLY qualm is that she gets picked on, and that's really nothing to do with her. The rest of our flock are RIR, leghorns and California whites, so she sticks out like a sore thumb. Shame on Hoovers for putting her in alone.She sleeps as high as the others allow. Our nest boxes are stacked so she usually sleeps on the top of those and sometimes inside of them. We have a request at the local store for more so she isn't the only one and maybe power in numbers will help her. If the chicks/chickens are clean, I wouldn't hesitate to add more to our flock! View attachment 3925732

That is a beautiful bird