I have two separate broods - group 1 is 10 weeks old and consists of 4 BR pullets. Group 2 is a mix of 8 weeks olds- 2 roos and 2 pullets. I know I shouldn't have waited this long to combine them (I also know they are WAY too big to still be living in my laundry room) but typical weekend coop project turned into a "month worth of weekends" coop project. Alas- it's FINALLY done and moving day is slated for Friday evening. Unfortunately I don't have the room inside to make them one big house so the only time they've been introduced is when they've been in their temporary outside run (pretty much all day every weekend for the past 3-4 weeks and most evenings for 2-3 hours) with no major squabbles- the BR's who are slightly bigger do get a little bossy and chase the younger ones around from time to time but no major squabbles have occur ed.
My thought was to put them all outside in their temporary run Friday when I get home and instead of bringing them into the house for the night put them all together in the coop, have a large glass of wine to ease the stress, cross my fingers and hope for the best. I'm thinking they'll be OK right? Or have I created a mess with this situation? The coop is 6x10 with 12 feet of roosting space and we even built a lean to hide thing so any bullied chicks can go hide behind if they'd like. I will put in two feeders and two waterers on opposite sides of the coop. Anything else I need to take into consideration? It's probably best to put them all in there at once right? Instead of moving a few at a time? I'm hoping since it's new territory to everyone that in itself might alleviate some territorial issues.... I'm probably far more worried than I should be I just want everyone to survive the move. Any suggestions for how I can make the move and the merge go as smoothly as possible? Do I need to make any special considerations since there are roos involved? Thanks!!
My thought was to put them all outside in their temporary run Friday when I get home and instead of bringing them into the house for the night put them all together in the coop, have a large glass of wine to ease the stress, cross my fingers and hope for the best. I'm thinking they'll be OK right? Or have I created a mess with this situation? The coop is 6x10 with 12 feet of roosting space and we even built a lean to hide thing so any bullied chicks can go hide behind if they'd like. I will put in two feeders and two waterers on opposite sides of the coop. Anything else I need to take into consideration? It's probably best to put them all in there at once right? Instead of moving a few at a time? I'm hoping since it's new territory to everyone that in itself might alleviate some territorial issues.... I'm probably far more worried than I should be I just want everyone to survive the move. Any suggestions for how I can make the move and the merge go as smoothly as possible? Do I need to make any special considerations since there are roos involved? Thanks!!
