chickens

willet

Hatching
Feb 27, 2017
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My husband and I started raising chickens last Mar. 2016. We have 5 hens and 2 roosters. We bought them at the same time, so they get along great. We are looking into increasing our flock by 4. Will there be a problem between the older ones and the babies? Kathy and Davy Willett retired. By the way, they are been raised in the back yard.
 
Welcome to BYC!
Integrating new birds, whether they are chicks or adult birds, is a process - there are several approaches that can be taken to doing so that wil help make it as painless as possible for all involved. I would suggest doing some reading of various discussions on integrating birds here on BYC (you can search the term in the search bar up at the top of the forum). @azygous has some great posts on this as does @Blooie -
 
G’Day from down under Kathy and Davy
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Welcome!

Great tips from Ol Grey Mare, so I will just wish you all the best.

You might want to also pop in and say hello on your local thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you ‘Find your State’s thread.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. Unlike non chicken loving friends, family and colleagues, BYC’ers never tire of stories or pictures that feature our feathered and non feathered friends
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x2 on reading up on integration...chickens don't take change easily. First isolate the new ones away from your existing flock to be sure they are healthy and won't introduce an illness or pests to your existing birds. Then let the 2 groups see each other without being able to touch for at least a couple of weeks. When it's time to mingle them, make sure there are hiding places or safe zones so if there are signs of aggression, the picked on ones will be able to get away. Some people will let the groups mingle while free ranging so there's room to run if needed.

Good luck to you!

P.S. I wouldn't get any more roosters unless you're looking at setting up 2 separate flocks. 1 rooster can easily handle 8-10 females...if you have fewer females to males, over-mating can cause problems.
 

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