Would you get pullets or hens?

[Lilion]

Getting my first chickens in a few days, probably Monday. I've been offered my choice of two year old hens or young pullets, like 10 weeks or so. I'm only getting 4.

I see the benefit of older hens... already laying, etc. I had not expected that option and t thought i was being offered younger birds, thinking they'll have a bit of time to settle in, and I may be making a better coop, as what we have is small.

What would you choose?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would choose pullets.
At 10 weeks now, they likely will begin laying late fall/early winter and all through next year until fall molt depending on breed.

Older hens may give you eggs now, but at 2yrs, likely will begin molt soon or into fall and won't resume laying until after winter solstice.

Depends on your goals really.

 

[Lilion]

I would choose pullets.
At 10 weeks now, they likely will begin laying late fall/early winter and all through next year until fall molt depending on breed.

Older hens may give you eggs now, but at 2yrs, likely will begin molt soon or into fall and won't resume laying until after winter solstice.

Depends on your goals really.

The owner actually said they were molting now! I didn't realize that would stop egg production. I'm very new to this. So yay! I had told him i had planned on the young chickens, and he said it was totally up to me, so that's great. It's a fellow who just has more chickens than he wants and is giving them away.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's a bit confusing. Your profile says you've been a member for 8 years and yet you say you are new to this. That raises some questions. Do you have any existing chickens? Do you need to integrate? And you may build a better coop. Better does not automatically mean bigger. With only 4 it doesn't have to be that big. Why do you want to improve your coop?

You are in kinda SW Missouri. I lived in NW Arkansas for over a decade so I am kinda familiar with your climate. Your chickens can probably get outside practically all day every day, your winter weather is pretty good for chickens. That makes life a lot easier.

It seems a little early for those hens to be molting but I had some that molted early like that. Some of those waited until the next spring to start laying again but some didn't. Some hens can finish a molt in less than two months, others may take as long as five months to get through a molt. That's controlled by genetics and how fast the feathers fall out, not how fast they grow back. I remember one specific broody hen that molted this time of the year while she was raising her chicks. She had weaned her chicks and finished the molt in time to start laying in late October, about the time the rest molted. She continued to lay all winter, it was nice to get a steady supply of larger eggs.

I've had pullets about the age of yours start laying in November and continue to lay through winter. I've also had some that age wait until later in spring to start laying. I do not supplement lights so this is all by the natural length of days and nights in that area. Some but probably not all pullets and some but probably not all hens may be laying by Thanksgiving. They may not. With those hens molting now I figure when you start to get eggs to be a wash. I don't know which will start laying again sooner. It's also possible all those hens may not be molting yet.

If you have to integrate with current chickens I'd lean toward getting the hens. With older chickens integration may be a bit more violent but it's generally over with pretty quickly. With juveniles it can drag on for a while. Both integrations go better with more room but the juveniles can require even more room. With sufficient room integrating juveniles isn't that bad, it can just take longer.

The ten-week-olds are old enough that you know they are pullets so you shouldn't accidentally get a cockerel like you could if they were younger. At ten weeks they can handle weather and anything else as well as the hens. I don't see any difference in hens versus pullets from that aspect.

Hens have a normal lifetime laying cycle as well as an annual cycle. Each year they start laying when they start and continue laying until they molt. When they finish the molt and are ready they start laying again. You can find exceptions but that is a typical annual cycle. Typically they lay as well as they ever will during their first two annual cycles. Then after each adult molt after that they typically lay fewer eggs. It can vary a lot by individual hen but for a flock that average is usually around an egg or two fewer laid by each hen each week. It's noticeable and can drop pretty steeply as they get older. You will only have four. That's not enough for averages to mean much. Just one hen being better or worse than average can make a big difference for you. I don't know if those hens are on their first or second annual laying cycle.

If you are not integrating I'd get the juveniles. They are old enough you know that are female and they can handle anything the older ones can as well as they can except maybe integration. Even if you are integrating I'd get the juveniles if you have a reasonable amount of room. If space is really tight I might consider the hens, but if it were me I'd make more room and get the pullets, mainly for the extra eggs over their laying life.

 

[3KillerBs]

I would not get 2yo hens. They are going to stop laying to molt and will almost certainly not lay near as well next year as the young ones would.

 

[Lilion]

It's a bit confusing. Your profile says you've been a member for 8 years and yet you say you are new to this. That raises some questions. Do you have any existing chickens? Do you need to integrate? And you may build a better coop. Better does not automatically mean bigger. With only 4 it doesn't have to be that big. Why do you want to improve your coop?

I joined the site 8 years ago. I wanted chickens, but lived in town. Turned out my yard was too small to have them, so that was it for chickens. Now we've moved. So yeah...completely new. Have never had chickens at all except when I lived on a farm as a kid.

The coop I bought is 4x4, with an attached 8x4 run, which I know is big enough for 4 chickens, but what if I get more? It really doesn't have enough ventilation and it isn't walk-in, which I'd prefer since I'm old and fat, and it's practically a tractor.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The coop I bought is 4x4, with an attached 8x4 run, which I know is big enough for 4 chickens, but what if I get more? It really doesn't have enough ventilation and it isn't walk-in, which I'd prefer since I'm old and fat, and it's practically a tractor.

The run is big enough for 3, at a bare minimal level. The coop not having enough ventilation is problematic as well, and if this is a prefab (depending on design) it may be near impossible to add enough ventilation.

If you get more, you must expand. Simply not enough room for additional birds, plus there's no way to safely integrate in that tight of a space. Integration takes more room than the minimum recommendations, which is meant to cover the basic needs of a flock that tolerates confinement and that already get along.

 

[3KillerBs]

The coop I bought is 4x4, with an attached 8x4 run, which I know is big enough for 4 chickens, but what if I get more? It really doesn't have enough ventilation and it isn't walk-in, which I'd prefer since I'm old and fat, and it's practically a tractor.

I had 5 in a 4x4 coop for a year, BUT I had a 25x25 run and live in a mild climate where the birds could be outside all day unless we had a hurricane.

Show us photos of your coop and run and we might be able to help you improve it.

 

[Lilion]

I had 5 in a 4x4 coop for a year, BUT I had a 25x25 run and live in a mild climate where the birds could be outside all day unless we had a hurricane.

Show us photos of your coop and run and we might be able to help you improve it.

Thanks, but it is short term and I know what I'm doing to it. I'm going to be raising the whole roof so I can add ventilation all the way around. It's metal, so won't be so easy to cut ventilation in. It has very little now,. Two smallish vents on either side of the door. The door to the run is open of course. It wasn't the best buy, but I bought it from a girl who'd used it for show chickens in 4H, who was going to college and wasn't going to keep them anymore. She needed the money and I needed a coop. They'll be okay a week or so until we get modifications made.

 

[3KillerBs]

Thanks, but it is short term and I know what I'm doing to it. I'm going to be raising the whole roof so I can add ventilation all the way around. It's metal, so won't be so easy to cut ventilation in. It has very little now,. Two smallish vents on either side of the door. The door to the run is open of course. It wasn't the best buy, but I bought it from a girl who'd used it for show chickens in 4H, who was going to college and wasn't going to keep them anymore. She needed the money and I needed a coop. They'll be okay a week or so until we get modifications made.

What an attractive little coop!

It should be just terrific once you've raised the roof as planned.