lpyrbby
Songster
Seeking some input on what to expect.
We started out, in May, with four 9 week olds. One we knew was a cockerel. A second cockerel showed himself a few weeks later. About 2 weeks ago, we picked up eight 6 month olds (the first four are now about 5 months old). They've been in an introduction pen next to the coop. Yes, I know, I skipped the 30 day quarantine. I will deal with the repercussions as necessary. So far, so good.
We are having kennel panels delivered tomorrow morning. As soon as I can get those panels up and secured, I want to let all the birds out and standby and see how things go. The 8 birds are in a small, 8x3x3 pen that, at best, can house 6 chickens comfortably. That's what I planned for but when the 8 showed up for sale, I figured a couple of weeks wouldn't be *so* bad so bought them all.
Should I let one group out before the other? How bad is too bad when it comes to bullying? Should I insist that they go back to their respective pens when it's time to go up, or just encourage things if they're okay with roosting together? Input?
This is their current arrangement. The four existing birds are in the big coop. The eight new birds are in the small pen. When we get the kennel panels, one panel will go at the rear, behind the introduction pen. The other panel to close up the expansion will end at the front of the main coop, to the right. We're getting 20x20 worth of 10ft long panels. The shape of the expansion pen is going to be a little weird, but we'll make it work somehow. Either way, they're looking at 30ft on the long side and 18ft or so for the "short" side.
We started out, in May, with four 9 week olds. One we knew was a cockerel. A second cockerel showed himself a few weeks later. About 2 weeks ago, we picked up eight 6 month olds (the first four are now about 5 months old). They've been in an introduction pen next to the coop. Yes, I know, I skipped the 30 day quarantine. I will deal with the repercussions as necessary. So far, so good.
We are having kennel panels delivered tomorrow morning. As soon as I can get those panels up and secured, I want to let all the birds out and standby and see how things go. The 8 birds are in a small, 8x3x3 pen that, at best, can house 6 chickens comfortably. That's what I planned for but when the 8 showed up for sale, I figured a couple of weeks wouldn't be *so* bad so bought them all.
Should I let one group out before the other? How bad is too bad when it comes to bullying? Should I insist that they go back to their respective pens when it's time to go up, or just encourage things if they're okay with roosting together? Input?
This is their current arrangement. The four existing birds are in the big coop. The eight new birds are in the small pen. When we get the kennel panels, one panel will go at the rear, behind the introduction pen. The other panel to close up the expansion will end at the front of the main coop, to the right. We're getting 20x20 worth of 10ft long panels. The shape of the expansion pen is going to be a little weird, but we'll make it work somehow. Either way, they're looking at 30ft on the long side and 18ft or so for the "short" side.