introducing chickens

Hello, we bought 6 chicks (3 buff orpingtons, 2 Speckled sussexes, and 1 black Australorp) and they are now 8 weeks old. I have the opportunity to add a polish and silkie, both 9 weeks old. Do I need to introduce them gradually? Or since they are all young can you just add them in? Thank you!

Unfortunately I was conned into 4 Roosters because I’m a new owner. So I’ve had to give away all but one rooster. He’s about a month away from full grown and I’m thinking about buying some chicks that are hopefully hens this time. How would I go about introducing them to my rooster when they’re...

We got some new Bantam grow-out chicks (for a multitude of reasons I suppose), but having trouble with the flock accepting them. There's only three of them, 2 hens and one rooster. Thinking it was a mistake to get the roo, as it's making this process harder, but they wouldn't sell me the one hen...

I currently have 6, one week old chicks. I will also be getting 3 hens tomorrow. My coop is currently empty as my chicks are in a brooder indoors at the moment. What would be the best way to go about introducing the hens to the new coop/run and also the chicks to the adults once they’re ready to...

I have a 6 year old Australian Cattle dog (ACD) named Rusty and a 6 year old Boston Terrier named Pip. I had my son last June and since then have been a stay at home Mom. This summer is the first summer of starting our goal of living off our acre more, and part of that is getting chickens for...

Hi, I really need some advice please. It is just beginning to get very cold here in France, 21 December and my Silkie hen has started to moult. I am unsure whether this is a normal moult or whether she is stressed since introducing a new companion 2 weeks ago. Her companion died a year ago...

One of our hens had us worried and stumped us for a bit with what was wrong. After much panic and puzzling we finally figured out it was a combination of going broody and developing sour crop at the same time. We've had her separate while we feed her on scrambled eggs and feed mixed with yogurt...

Will my new chickens integrate with my existing flock. I recently bought 2 new chickens. We have quite a large garden that the existing chickens wander around all day. I’ve kept the 2 new ones together in their own pen with coop for the last 3 nights, but within sight do the existing chickens...

Our rooster recently went to the great beyond (RIP Gentleman Hank, you served us well) and we acquired a new, quite young (9 weeks old) rooster. He is 3/4 American Bresse and 1/4 Rhode Island Red. He is now a bit older than 12 weeks and we were wondering if it was time to let him hang out with...

Recently was given a small hen that I think is a cochin? She has feathered legs and I don't think she's laying yet but I'm unfamiliar with the breed. Anyway, I have a flock of 9 bigger hens that have just started coming into lay (wyandottes, Easter eggers, black giants, columbian rock crosses)...

I hope someone can help me with this! I have three new chickens (now 16 weeks old) and have been in the process of integrating them to my existing flock of three chickens (each about 17 months old) for the last several weeks. Today I noticed that one of the existing chickens, a Maran, has...

Hi all, first post. I am chicken-sitting for a friend who is away (and out of contact) for another week. I’ve managed to get through one thunderstorm and two of the hottest days of the year, but tonight/tomorrow/Tuesday are supposed to continue raining. I have two sets of chickens. 6 laying...

Back story: I’m a pretty new chicken mom. I’ve had my first flock of chickens for a little over a year now. I started with 8, but then had two roosters that needed to be re-homed and then lost two to dogs. I was given 4 chickens who were about a month old in April. I have now been trying for...

Hello everyone! I have got a new flock of ten hens a few days ago. On day two, one of the hens started pecking the bottom of another. I thought it was to establish a pecking order but it went much further and when I checked on them a few hours later she had been pecked to the bone around her...

I've been reading a lot here on BYC about how/when to introduce pullets to an existing flock. I have three approximately 13 week old pullets (salmon faverolle, americana and light brahma) and three in my existing flock (brown leghorn, maran and blue opringtion) that are about 1-1/2 years old. I...

Hi, I have a broody hen with 2 eggs due to hatch any day now and we are adopting 3 chicks from my daughter's school that hatched last week. My question is can I pop those three under my broody hen or will she likely reject them? If she will reject, should I take the two that hopefully hatch and...

Good morning, We are within days of completing our new coop. Our question is what is the best bedding for hot climates? I had thought deep litter method but of our members of BYC did not recommend it. I am not sure why but we are open to advice. Also, I am going to introduce some new hens to my...

I hope this is the right category for this. So my husband and I lost one of our chickens this week and bought a replacement. After doing some research, I discovered that new chickens are best introduced in pairs so that the bullying can be spread between the two and they'll have a buddy in the...