Picking Up Chicks

I picked up some chicks in Zimmerman tonight.  They arrived in the mail on Wednesday so that makes their birthday (hatch day?) May 22, 2012.  The chicks look identical.  They have tawny heads - like the color of a wheat field in the fall.  Their backs are slightly lighter in color and their abdomens are a creamy beige.  All their feathers are downy with the exception of some really short wing feathers.   The chicks look comfortable in their new home (a blue recycling box).  I've got the heat lamp on them and will try to keep them around 90 degrees for the first week.  They peep very softly.  I took six.  Since 2 of the group I took them from were roosters and I couldn't distinguish the males from the females, I thought six was a good number.  If it turns out I got both roosters, I can cull them and still have four females.  My coop holds 4 to 6 full grown chickens.  If all six turn out to be females, then I will have to do something because I still have Meredith and seven is a large group for that coop.  Chickens don't get along with each other if they are introduced later in life. If I tried to add two females in six months, they would not get along.  Even introducing them a week later can lead to life-long turmoil and hen-pecking.  I hope Meredith gets along with this group.  I have seen her sitting on eggs so that makes me think she has maternal instincts.  And she might be lonely by herself all the time.  I'm not sure if I should introduce her to them now or wait until they're older and can fend better for themselves. Eventually these new chicks will be bigger than her so it may be to her advantage to introduce them now.  I will show Meredith her new sisters and see how she does with them tomorrow.  She can't be with them all the time.  They need the warmth and 90 degrees would be too hot and too confining for her.  Today is a big day for me.  My responsibilities as a pet owner quadrupled.  I went from 1 canary and 1 hen to 1 canary, one hen, and six buff Orpington chicks.