redinator
Songster
I wasn't sure which thread to put this post in, but given the content this one seemed fitting.
I was recently offered several beautiful and well cared for laying hens. The neighbor who helped me build my coop and run knew I had chicks and offered me first pick when his aunt passed suddenly last week. These chickens were much loved by the owner and they were friendly and gorgeous.
Initially my first instinct was "Hell, yeah! How Much!" They were asking $20 per bird which seemed reasonable (maybe even not enough) considering they're all young laying hens and several lay colored eggs. I asked the seller to give me a few days to get setup for them and he agreed.
Here is where the problems comes in: I currently have 4 7-week-old chicks and two dogs. My dogs are good with the chicks I have because the chicks were raised in the house and they had time to accept each other as part of the family.
If I got several (6-10 was the number in my head) adult chickens and put them in the yard it would cause two possible problems.
My dogs may not accept a bunch of strange birds and the birds may not be ok with my dogs (even though they are use to the current guardian dog) so I would have to deal with getting them acclimated to each other, as well as helping the new hens settle in. Since I'm new to chickens this would've been a huge leap to take on all at once.
The other is having to keep my current chicks separate from the adult birds until they got use to each other so my chicks don't get harmed or catch anything from the older birds (I know they look healthy, but I don't know what sort of signs to look for as possible illnesses).
I made the hard call to the seller this morning and let him know I wouldn't be able to take any of the adult chickens at this time for the reasons I listed above. He was glad I thought it through and offered to hold some for me if I would be interested in a few months. I told him I'd take hatching eggs or chicks if they have any (since that's the method that has kept harmony in my yard) and he said I'd be his first call if the hens hatch any chicks.
I was recently offered several beautiful and well cared for laying hens. The neighbor who helped me build my coop and run knew I had chicks and offered me first pick when his aunt passed suddenly last week. These chickens were much loved by the owner and they were friendly and gorgeous.
Initially my first instinct was "Hell, yeah! How Much!" They were asking $20 per bird which seemed reasonable (maybe even not enough) considering they're all young laying hens and several lay colored eggs. I asked the seller to give me a few days to get setup for them and he agreed.
Here is where the problems comes in: I currently have 4 7-week-old chicks and two dogs. My dogs are good with the chicks I have because the chicks were raised in the house and they had time to accept each other as part of the family.
If I got several (6-10 was the number in my head) adult chickens and put them in the yard it would cause two possible problems.
My dogs may not accept a bunch of strange birds and the birds may not be ok with my dogs (even though they are use to the current guardian dog) so I would have to deal with getting them acclimated to each other, as well as helping the new hens settle in. Since I'm new to chickens this would've been a huge leap to take on all at once.
The other is having to keep my current chicks separate from the adult birds until they got use to each other so my chicks don't get harmed or catch anything from the older birds (I know they look healthy, but I don't know what sort of signs to look for as possible illnesses).
I made the hard call to the seller this morning and let him know I wouldn't be able to take any of the adult chickens at this time for the reasons I listed above. He was glad I thought it through and offered to hold some for me if I would be interested in a few months. I told him I'd take hatching eggs or chicks if they have any (since that's the method that has kept harmony in my yard) and he said I'd be his first call if the hens hatch any chicks.
