My 8 month old hen died unexpectedly this week, leaving behind a 8 month old Brahma hen.
To add further challenge, we're going on holidays for 5 weeks in a month's time, and we're planning to move the chicken and their house to a friend's backyard (she also has chickens. We'd keep the flocks separate.)
As first time chicken owner I'd like to ask some advice please:
- do I bother getting new chickens now, considering there's a big disruption coming up anyway, or wait until we're back home?
- will my 8 month old Brahma be okay for another 9 weeks solo? She was hand raised and is a lovely, very friendly hen.
- We'd ideally like 3-4 hens eventually but I'm not sure where to start. Should i get baby chick's when we are back home? Or get older pullets - there are usually 18 week old Isa Browns available locally.
- we only have an Omlet coop along with a garden space to free range, I don't have a second coop/big run to fence off a separate space but might have to look at other solutions to separate new birds?
Am I better off trying to get another heritage breed that will live as long as the Brahma, rather than an Isa Brown with shorter lifespan? Don't want to face to go through this every few years!
Thank you in advance
To add further challenge, we're going on holidays for 5 weeks in a month's time, and we're planning to move the chicken and their house to a friend's backyard (she also has chickens. We'd keep the flocks separate.)
As first time chicken owner I'd like to ask some advice please:
- do I bother getting new chickens now, considering there's a big disruption coming up anyway, or wait until we're back home?
- will my 8 month old Brahma be okay for another 9 weeks solo? She was hand raised and is a lovely, very friendly hen.
- We'd ideally like 3-4 hens eventually but I'm not sure where to start. Should i get baby chick's when we are back home? Or get older pullets - there are usually 18 week old Isa Browns available locally.
- we only have an Omlet coop along with a garden space to free range, I don't have a second coop/big run to fence off a separate space but might have to look at other solutions to separate new birds?
Am I better off trying to get another heritage breed that will live as long as the Brahma, rather than an Isa Brown with shorter lifespan? Don't want to face to go through this every few years!
Thank you in advance