That is a hard learned lesson. Sorry you had to go through it. It is hard to mix chicks and adult bird together. I try to only put adults with adults and chicks with chicks. It is different when the chicks have a mother hen to protect them. Wished you lived near here I would give you birds for free. It is near the end of one breed session and the start of another. Always have 150 to 200 culls to give away.

awwww don't tell me that!!! Do you know how hard it is to find chickens around here? Of course you don't. Well it is hard and usually all you can find is leftovers from Mcmurrays and they are usually roosters. The EE came from McMurrays, which is why it was so expensive. He brought hens so he is pretty sure he sold me a hen. The mutts were a guess of the lady who sold them to me. I hope if she sold me a rooster it is only one in the group although in those breeds the roosters are prettier.

Your chickens are just beautiful and every time I have seen photos I always thought man I wish I lived near you so I could get some of them. I love your selections especially those itty btty ones. And to think you have all those extras.

Do you think I am going to have to build a whole other coop for the rest of the birds or will I eventually be able to put them in with the other girls?

When they mature (17 to 20 weeks old) they will be easier to blend together. It is best if you can put your cage in the middle of the main coop. This way the will see each other on a daily basics. Once they are near full grown they will be better able to protect themselves form the others. I would put some old chairs and buckets--both on their sides giving the new birds places to hide and protect their heads and backs from the 'Old Gals' of the roost. Check on them often during this period (2-3days) to be sure you don't get a repeat.

Maybe in April 2010 I can bring a few hundred chicks to Your County Fair Grounds and have a 4-H give-away. Have 3 planed this year-Chicago-Minneapolis-Lincoln. Planing to take 1400 (4 to 24weeks old) to each.

Oh Misjay2u! I'm so sorry you went through that! How frustrating that would be, to find one of your new babies dead! I would be heartbroken! That poor little thing!

You have a good heart, Seramas, giving away all those birds to for kids to raise.

That's a good lesson for me too. If I am able to hatch peeps this spring, I am putting them in the second coop and dividing the pen, even if they do have a mother.

Seramas the state fair is in Raleigh, NC. I have not been to it since I moved back although every year I plan to. Something always seems to come up. They just passed an ordinance in several counties here whereas you can keep the chickens in the city now. I bet your birds would be a hit. Let me know if you plan to come and I will surely make the fair then.

How are the movies coming along?

Runningtrails, it was very heart breaking. But it was a valuable lesson learned and will never happen again. Now I have to figure out if I am going to try to put the new birds in with the seasoned ones or if I am just going to build a new coop and call it a day. I really did not want to have to build a new coop this year. I am going to try putting the battery cage in the coop for a few days and see how they react to each other. I am definitely going to build another nesting box (probably not the right word, I mean the box where they sleep at night) and hopefully that will alleviate any territorial issues.

Msjay2u, I'll have to contact my local 4-H leaders who will look up the local Raleigh, NC 4-H leaders names and phone numbers and make arrangement that way. Most 4-H groups have local 4-H shows/meeting that occur during the spring. This way they have plenty of time to raise young birds to adulthood so they can show them at the fall Fairs in their respective counties. I'll make sure that you know the exact date, time and place of the giveaway.

I'm sorry to hear about the little one. Chickens can be mean. Seramas gave some great advice about the pen inside the coop. We introduce like that & it works out fine.

No Auracaunas here, I couldn't find any available either at the time, but I can send you a dozen EE fertilized eggs if you would like to incubate them.

Brendasue

Brenda Sue...I wish I would have know that before I brought the ones I have. sighhhh If you have any guinea eggs I will take you up on that offer!!

Seramas you are a good hearted person. I am sure any 4H group is glad to be of your acquaintance. Not only for the give away but the knowledge I am sure you give them at the same time. Are there any advantages of me being an adult without a lot of knowledge looking up a 4H group? I really do not know much about them.

I got on here to tell you that the peeps and the pullet in my basement. They are all getting along fine. They look to the pullet one as if she were their momma. they even hide under her. LOL sooooo cute. I go down there and there they are peeking from under her wings. I would put the camera down there so I can see what they are doing when I am not around but I still have not figured out how to get it working right. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Now that they have bonded I still wonder what is going to happen when I put them all together with the bigger girls. Have not decided if I want to build another coop, extend the one I have or just put another sleeping box in there. If I put them together I will start them out in the battery cage for a few days though. decisions decisions.

Sorry, no guineas. 2 years ago we were looking for better bug control & decided on the muscovies instead of the loud guineas.

Good luck with the introductions. We use pallets leaned against the wall both for roosting & somewhere for chickens to get away if they want.
Brendasue

its okay maybe I will luck up on some

I'm so sorry to hear about your busy weekend and loss of your chick. That IS a hard lesson. I bought some new chicks this past weekend as well. DH had built me a nice sized cage in the garage for now. I got a few breeds that I didn't set out to get, like a few banties and a few Polish. Right now they are all doing fine together but I wondered about the banties once the other (standard) breeds got bigger. They seem to hold their own, pretty fiesty little ones. Of course it has been soooo cold again here so I have sheets around the cage to hold in the heat from the lamp. So far so good. Lori