Introducing New Chicks Into a Flock

How to Introduce New Chicks to Older Hens Safely

Every other year we’re faced with a tricky chicken management dilemma How to introduce new chicks into a flock of mature hens Years ago, we didn’t do it right and ended up with adolescent hens persecuted by older birds Over the years we’ve found ways to successfully merge young birds harmoniously with older hens

Why Do It

 

When female chicks are four to six months old, they’ll start the most productive laying cycle of their lives For the next year they’ll lay anywhere from 200

Keeping the Flock Healthy

Keeping Your Backyard Flock Healthy Through Good Care

Chickens are amazingly healthy animals Given good care they’re hardly fazed by winter’s chill or summer’s sweltering heat In the five decades we’ve kept chickens our flocks have always been healthy

In the past few years millions of commercial chickens were killed to slow the spread of avian influenza, or bird flu It’s a deadly disease but hardly the only malady that can sicken or kill our faithful coop friends

Knowing that diseases lurk we constantly work to protect our hens from illness A key strategy is buying healthy chicks from Hoover’s Hatchery Then

Keeping the Flock Fresh

We need a steady supply of eggs from our backyard coop Doing it successfully takes planning and requires tough decisions

 

Each spring we buy five or six baby female chicks from a nearby farm store The tiny birds had been hatched just a few days earlier at Hoover’s Hatchery and quickly delivered to the store Soon our tiny peepers are happily housed in our brooder

 

Why six new chicks?

 

We like to have about 12 laying chickens to lay enough eggs for us, and we like to give many to friends and neighbors To keep the flock fresh, we replace about half

How to Add Ducks or Geese to Your Flock

Raising a Mixed Flock of Chickens, Ducks and Geese

 

Would you believe that my first love in the feathered

Treats Help Manage A Flock

Anyone who has tried to herd an escaped flock back into the coop quickly discovers that chickens have a mind of their own Some run this way, while others go that way Few un where their owner intends The result is exercise for both humans and chickens and little else
Fortunately, chickens are easy to trick Herding doesn’t work well but tasty lures do Chickens can’t resist a delicious snack No matter where the flock is, as soon as one bird spots treats being served, she’ll cluck and summon her fellow flockmates to the feast
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