Single hen

[cmcardle]

Hi,

I'm new to chicken keeping. I've got an eglo, and last weekend I got two approximately 18 week old bantams (a speckled sussex and a buff rock). I fell in love with the pekins but the place I went to didn't have any currently for sale. I've asked around but pekins seem to be quite elusive in the North West (South Manchester). Someone outside Birmingham has some 6 to 8 week pekins/pekin frizzles.

Are these old enough to tell what sex they are? I want hens, not cocks.

Will they need any special looking after given that they are relatively young?

Finally, will my first two hens bully them? The first two are hardly an established group (they've only been together for 6 days). Is this long enough for them to bully "outsiders". They will be bigger than the pekins (I'll probably get two). Will that be enough for them to bully the pekins, even though they're all relatively new to the hen house.

Looking forwards to reading your advice.

Thank-you.

[Janty]

They are too young to go in with your POL girls. Also, they will need to be fed growers pellets rather than layers pellets. I was advised badly when I bought some pekins last November. They were young too and two of them died as a result of not being fed the correct food.

[cmcardle]

Hi,

I have growers pellets as the sussex and rock bantoms are still young. The place I bought them from (reputable) weighed out how much I would need before switching to layers pellets. They also gave me the correct size grit for a young bird. There's about a third of a sack of the growers pellets so I may have overestimated the birds' age.

[Janty]

Is there anywhere further afield that you could try that might have older pekins? Do you have relatives in other parts of the country? That way you could combine a visit with a chicken shop?

 

[Egluntyne]

They would definitely be too young to put in with POL chickens......plus they are smaller than hybrid chickens of the same age.

 

There are some articles **here** and **here** that will give advice on the matter.

 

If you do manage to get some, you would be best off getting some separate accommodation for them at least for starters.

[Gallina]

18-week-old hens should be transferred to layers' pellets: they need them at that age, as their laying mechanism is preparing to start.

 

No, you can't put babies in with the older ones. They will be tiny and could get badly injured. It's easy to forget just how tiny they are. Putting them in a big walk-in run that had places for them to hide might work, but it would be risky. In a tiny run they will be victims: it might be much worse than mere bullying: they are likely to be killed.

[Egluntyne]

Gallina is right.

 

Recently someone on the forum followed poor advice, in good faith, from a breeder who should have known better and their chick was pecked to death.

[cmcardle]

Thanks to everyone who's answered my questions. I'm proceeding very cautiously as a result. A few more questions though. I don't know the age of my birds (18 weeks was a guess - an overestimation I think). What I do know is that they're still on growers pellets and won't be ready for layers pellets for a few weeks yet. Does that make them pullets rather than POL? Does that make any difference to the danger of adding younger pullets to them. The new ones are around 8 weeks so that makes them pullets rather than chicks doesn't it? Or is all this semantics? Is it just too dangerous given their difference in age, even though it would be putting pullets with pullets, not chicks with POL?

Help

Thanks

[Egluntyne]

I wouldn't mix them till the little ones are around 18 weeks, and big enough to stand up for themselves.

[cmcardle]

Thanks for all your advice. You'll be pleased to know I'm not going to risk it. Thanks again.