How should I integrate new birds

GitaBooks said:

Put the new birds into a pen besides the main flock so they can see and hear one another but not interact. Do this for about a week, and then try an introduction. You can do this during the day, when they are calm and distracted, just opening the pen, or you can do it at night, slipping them onto the perches so they wake up together. You can't watch them in the morning, so this could he a little risky.
They will have to establish a pecking order, so expect a little pecking now and then, but feather plucking, attacking, or chasing are going too far. Make sure there are multiple food and water sites.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

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GitaBooks said:

Could you partition them off for a few hours? Do you have a dog crate available? You could try just slipping them in at night, but quarantine and a slow introduction tends to lead to better results. Do you free range your chicks?

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GitaBooks said:

If you have any extra fencing you could section off a piece of the run and give the new birds a dog crate or some form of shelter for a day or two before introduction. This will also help them get use to their new pen, so that they won't just try to escape.

Best of luck!

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GitaBooks said:

You can use anything that provides shelter from wind, rain, and cold and allows them to perch a few inches off the ground. Wooden, plastic, an old shelf, or an old dog house, ect.

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GitaBooks said:

You can use anything that provides shelter from wind, rain, and cold and allows them to perch a few inches off the ground. Wooden, plastic, an old shelf, or an old dog house, ect.

Click to expand...