Groovychook Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Hello, Cube will be arriving in a couple of weeks and we've been doing a bit of chook sourcing. I have a few favourites that I'd like to get but Mr.Groovychook has developed a passion for Araucanas... it's all about the blue eggs ... This now means that we'll have to get our ladies from different breeders - if possible... This is probably a very silly question , but, if we collect our chickens on the same day and put them into their new house at the same time, will this be okay?! We're really concerned about world war 3 breaking out! Please help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moomin Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 That should be fine, loads of people do that as often you can't get all you want from the one breeder (I was so desperate to get chickens though, I just took what he had and ended up with a Barnevelder and a Cochin!). They will soon sort themselves out as they will all be new together on the same day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 No question is a foolish question so dont worry! I have never got chooks from different breeders as all my girls are ex-batts however as will occur if you put any set of chooks together for the first time there will be some disagreements so its best to be prepared for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzle Knit Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Hi there. I got 4 hens from one breeder in May, different breeds but they were kept together in one field - they've always got on well together. Then when one of them died we bought 2 new ones a couple of weeks later. They were from the same supplier but different breeds and had been in separate runs or pens. Within a few hours of getting them home the 2 newbies were fighting together, or rather Nico was picking on Laura. It settled down after a few days and they are now the best of friends -I think Laura sees Nico as her mother! I think part of the fighting was the stress of having to deal with the existing big girls, who still pick on the little ones, although it's getting a lot better. Enjoy your new hens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruth1 Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 I did that with mine they all came from different places within a week of each other and they were fine. I think because it was new to all of them their were no territory issues. Be a different story now of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scramble Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 I'm sure that will be fine I had the same dilemma when I got my girls, but they where fine when they first met there was only one small very delicate peck...made by the younger one. It'll be okay, let us know how it goes We expect pics! Good Luck x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 I would not put any of them in the cube till you have them all....then no-one will have the home advantage. Can you nip from one breeder to the other and bring them all home at once? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 Thanks for the advice , we just want to make it as stress free as possible for the chooks. I would not put any of them in the cube till you have them all....then no-one will have the home advantage. Can you nip from one breeder to the other and bring them all home at once? ... that was the plan - hope it comes together! The other thing we were wondering, was, what sort of age range of birds could we mix together? We wouldn't be wanting to get any that were too young, just not sure how crucial the age difference would be. We expect to pick up 12-14 week olds from one breeder... Thanks again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 How old are the others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted September 20, 2008 Author Share Posted September 20, 2008 How old are the others? The Orpingtons would be about 12-14 weeks and the Araucanas would be 18-20 weeks old... seems like quite a big age gap to me ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 12 - 14 weeks is still quite small to go in with older chooks. Better to get them all the same age (either all 12 - 14 weeks or all 18 weeks or over). Once a hen starts laying she will become very dominant and the youngsters may become targets then. Having said that the orpies will probably be as big as the araucanas anyway, and none of them are likely to lay this side of christmas, so it may be worth a try but have some alternative accomodation or means of splitting the run just in case! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen&Lee Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 I picked 5 up from a breeder and they were waiting in the run for the cube and other two chickens to arrive... no problems as they were all nervous together. On reflection, one of the chooks I picked up from the breeder was alot younger than the others - she was still cheeping while the others were making proper chicken noises. She was therefore at the bottom of the pecking order but mine have a large walk in run and she was fast and could get away if she needed to. She never had any problems getting in the cube at night though and would tuck herself under another chooks wing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
