Advice needed on one to one, or two, integration.

[Samjo]

I bought two pullets, and one turned out to be a Rooster!

I have successfully managed to re-home the rooster, and he now has 6 lady friends. I'm sure he's happy!
My questions concerns my replacement hen, or hens.

First question, my coop floor is 3'x4', and my run is 4'x9', not counting the laying boxes and including the area under the coop. There are two roost bars inside the coop, running in the three foot direction. Is that big enough for three laying hens, or should I stick with two?

Second question....I have searched "integration" and skimmed through 10 pages of post, but none of them refer to one on one, or one on two. Can I just open the run and put them all three, (Or two, if y'all think size dictates only two), together right off the bat, or do I need to keep them separate, see but no touch, for a few days? The only way I have to separate them is by putting the new one in the dog crate you see by the run. If they have to be separated, then I'll only get one for sure, no where to separate two.

My hen now, is 18-20 weeks old. (Just started laying last Friday, and it's been one a day since! Yay!) I have distant kinfolk, who is going to give me a hen or two, but at this point I don't know their ages, or even what breed they are. Mine now is Rhode Island Red.

So what do y'all think.....stick with two instead of three due to coop/run size? Throw them all together right off the bat? Separate them for a few days?

Sorry so many questions that are elementary to y'all...but I'm still a rookie chicken keeper.

 

[mrsmistoffelees02]

I bought two pullets, and one turned out to be a Rooster!

I have successfully managed to re-home the rooster, and he now has 6 lady friends. I'm sure he's happy!
My questions concerns my replacement hen, or hens.

First question, my coop floor is 3'x4', and my run is 4'x9', not counting the laying boxes and including the area under the coop. There are two roost bars inside the coop, running in the three foot direction. Is that big enough for three laying hens, or should I stick with two?

Second question....I have searched "integration" and skimmed through 10 pages of post, but none of them refer to one on one, or one on two. Can I just open the run and put them all three, (Or two, if y'all think size dictates only two), together right off the bat, or do I need to keep them separate, see but no touch, for a few days? The only way I have to separate them is by putting the new one in the dog crate you see by the run. If they have to be separated, then I'll only get one for sure, no where to separate two.

My hen now, is 18-20 weeks old. (Just started laying last Friday, and it's been one a day since! Yay!) I have distant kinfolk, who is going to give me a hen or two, but at this point I don't know their ages, or even what breed they are. Mine now is Rhode Island Red.

So what do y'all think.....stick with two instead of three due to coop/run size? Throw them all together right off the bat? Separate them for a few days?

Sorry so many questions that are elementary to y'all...but I'm still a rookie chicken keeper.


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I definitely think you can get a few more and have plenty of space! It’s generally not recommended to integrate just one chicken into an existing flock. I would get at least another pair so the two you have now don’t gang up on the newbie. Try to get the new ones as close to the same age or size as possible.
Being that they are older, I would follow the see but not touch protocol - I use a dog crate within the coop to do this with my chickens. Some people recommend keeping them separate for a few days, others recommend it for weeks… Just depends on your flock. Make sure you have another food and water station so no territorial aggression kicks in It’s best to introduce new chickens around roosting time when everyone is chilled out a bit!

I would research quarantining the new hens before introducing them to your girls now. If they are coming from a different place, even though if the new ones don’t appear sick, they could bring something into your coop that your girls don’t have immunity towards yet (or lice/mites!). I’m not an expert in this area, so that’s about the extent of my knowledge when it comes to quarantining chickens!

 

[NatJ]

Three would be tight but probably doable.
Two could be better (more space) or worse (if something happens to one, and you're back to a single bird again.)

Think about whether to quarantine the new hen(s). Quarantine means having new chickens live completely separate from your current chickens, for several weeks, so you can tell if the new ones have any diseases or parasites, and treat those, before it can spread to the rest of your flock.

Quarantine can be quite useful when someone has a large flock, because it makes a big difference in how many chickens need treating for any problem. But since your current flock is only a single hen, I would probably not bother trying to quarantine any new chickens.

For introduction, I would probably try putting the new one (or new two) in with the current hen, and watch what happens. There will probably be some pecking and chasing, but they might settle it quickly and be fine. Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not, but when it DOES work it's the fastest and easiest way.

If the previous method doesn't work, or if you just don't want to try it, then do the see no touch with the dog crate. But put the current one in the dog crate, not the new ones. That way the new hen (or two new hens) can explore the coop & run and get comfortable, without being chased and pestered by the one who is used to living there.

 

[Samjo]

I haven't even thought about putting my current hen, in the dog crate!

Right now, I'm leaning towards just getting one more, instead of two. I don't want them to be so crowded it's uncomfortable for them.

At this point, my inclination is to get one more, put them together late in the evening, and see how they react to each other. If there's squabbling and fighting, then I'll take my current one to the dog crate for a day or two. I could never keep her in a crate for weeks, but days I could do.

Thank y'all for your replys.....I'm all ears!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd stick with 2. You're going to have a harder time integrating with that amount of space. The space minimums you often seen mentioned on here are for a flock that's already integrated, and doesn't take into account the extra buffer you'd need to add a new bird.

 

[McChooky]

I haven't even thought about putting my current hen, in the dog crate!

Right now, I'm leaning towards just getting one more, instead of two. I don't want them to be so crowded it's uncomfortable for them.

At this point, my inclination is to get one more, put them together late in the evening, and see how they react to each other. If there's squabbling and fighting, then I'll take my current one to the dog crate for a day or two. I could never keep her in a crate for weeks, but days I could do.

Thank y'all for your replys.....I'm all ears!

If they're around the same size you may be able to add her if you go about it slowly. Adding a smaller bird is difficult.

 

[Geena]

then I'll take my current one to the dog crate for a day or two

I wouldn't put her into the crate as pictured or you might end up back down to one chicken again. A raccoon could easily reach through those bars and kill your pullet.

 

[Samjo]

I wouldn't put her into the crate as pictured or you might end up back down to one chicken again. A raccoon could easily reach through those bars and kill your pullet.

Good point.

That cooler you see, is in front of a large door for the run. I could set the dog crate, inside the run. That way it also has the protection of the hardware cloth surrounding the run.

Thanks!

 

[gypsylady32]

When I integrated my younger hens with my older ones, I had them close to each other so they could see each other, but not touch, for a couple weeks. I think the dog crate inside the run would work. I also used the technique of putting the new girls in the coop with the older girls during the night so that they all woke up together. The first couple of weeks when I did finally put them all together, was a bit rough. I read over and other to let them work it out and not to intervene unless there was blood drawn...ugh. It was hard, but it worked. Do make sure they are all about the same size when you put them together. I read that was important.
I believe my coop is the same size as yours and 4 hens seems to be a good amount for that size coop. I did make a bigger run by using doggie fencing and plastic netting over the top. I close them all into the built-in run every night to keep them safe. My makeshift run is not secure for night time.