Hi all, I need some advice please. I have been reading on BYC on adding to my flock and I am so thorn now. It looks like it is so hard! So I have 2 SLW that are about 4 months old. I got them as 2 months old. I have a chicken tractor that has a 3x5 upstairs for roosting and food, water and a dust bath downstairs. It has an automated door, so they are safely kept at night. The run is 4x10. The whole setup is moveable, with 5x5 of the run set so I can rotate it to different locations as well. So the girls can have new grass to eat every few days and then I move everything once a week.
Now, I see the 2 SLW doing some chest run into once in a while, mostly when they are in the run chasing bugs. But I wonder if I really can add 2 more chickens? Is there enough space? Will they be happy?
The next question is how long will I have to keep the new chicks separate from the older chickens? So it seems a need a new chicken tractor to keep the chicks in until they are grown out? Could I add them when they are 2 months old or do I have to wait until they are 4 months old and big enough to defend themselves? I don't think I have enough space to keep them inside the tractor, but separated from the other hens.
DH is liking the chickens now and is ok with me raising the chicks ( which before he was not wanting), but think he will just about fall over if I have to build a new coop for that...
Thank you so much for any advice and ideas! I think I put pictures of my tractor in my signature, hopefully it worked out.