Source For Adding a Few Hens?

[Salt and Light]

I want to add a couple hens to my stock but am unsure where to find a source. Do I just go to the feed store? I've always read that introducing chicks from outside sources may cause disease problems. Of course, I don't breed any chickens so they all come from some type of outside source, i.e. the hatchery.

R

 

[Mrs. K]

It kind of depends on what you already have. If you have full grown hens, it can be tricky adding younger birds. I have done some looking on craigslist, and local paper, and really buying full or nearly full size hens makes integration easier with an established flock. Then add them at night, and keep an eye on them for a day or so, but mainly let them work it out.

If you get chicks you about have to have a seperate set of facilities to grow them up, the older hens will peck on them and could even kill them.

Mrs.K

 

[SpringChickens]

I would recommend getting day old chicks or eggs to hatch - you have a much lower risk of disease that way. If you do decide to get mature birds, make sure you quarantine them for a MINIMUM of 30 days before you introduce them to your flock. There have been a lot of stories on here of people having the cull their whole flock because of short quarantine times. There are also several diseases that the birds can be an asymptomatic carrier, but will cause large scale death and destruction of your flock.

That said, Craigslist is usually a really good place to pick up mature birds.