Introducing Chickens - Eight New to the Four Existing

[dandan111]

I would introduce them in the evening. They will have a pecking order. Seems like one of the big birds always
Is boss. The new birds won't have the good roosts. They might end up under roof but close to the door. Go out
The next morning and they will be getting along i bet.

 

[aart]

Old chair could work, either upright or turned over....any old junk/stuff lying around might work...
.....pallet or piece of plywood leaned against wall-or up on blocks/logs/etc, stumps, logs, concrete blocks, big branches.
Milk crates, big cardboard box turned over with openings cut around.

 

[lpyrbby]

I may have an old pallet to use. I'll take another look at it tomorrow and see how bad the wood has rotted on it.

Anywho, we let them out together tonight.

1. Ringo, our existing cockerel made it VERY clear across the board that *HE* is in charge. Even Wyatt, our other cockerel who's much larger, took a back seat.
2. Watching the hens engage with Ringo in squabbles was alarming.
3. But! To the best of my knowledge, no blood was shed.
4. One of the red/brown birds pretty much immediately went to their coop and created a dust bath and stayed in there for the better part of an hour. The other ladies created their baths out in the expansion.
5. She's the only one in the coop with the 4 original birds since she seemed most amenable.
6. I peeked in on them and she's on one of the roosts, by herself, but with the other birds.
7. Ringo is NOT gentle when he wants to mate. I wasn't prepared to watch him drag the barred rock out of the corner of the coop (with the door wide open and one previous opportunity to escape through said door) to try to mate. He missed and she left some feathers in his beak for his efforts.
8. I was so unnerved by the introductions (general nerves, not that it was insane) that I didn't want to introduce any treats like mealworms to the mix. I'll try that tomorrow (spreading a WIDE handful)
9. My original 4 chickens are prissy little birds with limited chicken skills LOL. They've never dug the ground to make a dust bath. But they certainly didn't mind jumping in after the new girls put in the work to dig some holes.

I would LOVE to share some photos, but I'm having problems getting them to upload or share from Photobucket.

 

[lpyrbby]

You can see the red girl who already moved in and is making a dust bath here

Both pens open

The 8 newbies created a very intricate bathing system here in no time lol

And then the original 4 scared them away and they chose to try them out too

The barred rock peeking from the nest box

I'm at work right now and figured I'd try sharing the pics from last night again. The red girl was fine this morning, although alarmed and feeling alone. I'm dying to leave so i can pick up more bird netting to finish the top of the run, and get home to check on them and let everyone out together again. Hopefully i can get a few more newbies in the main coop.

 

[aart]

Great pics!
Did you leave the one newbie in the big coop while you're at work?

 

[lpyrbby]

Great pics!
Did you leave the one newbie in the big coop while you're at work?

Yes :/ Im hoping husband will go check on them soon. I cooped her with them last night at 8.

 

[lpyrbby]

To update; she was fine. No blood, but not hanging out with them either. I don't think she had a chance to get much water today though since she spent a fair amount of time in the old coop getting something to drink after I let them out. That said, she's cooping with the rest of the noobs for now, with her original flock. I'll just focus on letting them out in the evenings so they can start getting accustomed to one another before trapping any others with the original 4. There were less squabbles today. We also finished covering the rest of the expansion run, so we can work on letting them have more time out of the coops and get to integrating better. I'm going to practice, this week, on getting used to walking away from the run with them in it for a bit, then let them out earlier in the day on the weekend, so I have more time to check on them throughout the day. It'll also give me time to work on creating some more roosts and another hiding space in the main coop.

 

[aart]

To update; she was fine. No blood, but not hanging out with them either. I don't think she had a chance to get much water today though since she spent a fair amount of time in the old coop getting something to drink after I let them out. That said, she's cooping with the rest of the noobs for now, with her original flock. I'll just focus on letting them out in the evenings so they can start getting accustomed to one another before trapping any others with the original 4. There were less squabbles today. We also finished covering the rest of the expansion run, so we can work on letting them have more time out of the coops and get to integrating better. I'm going to practice, this week, on getting used to walking away from the run with them in it for a bit, then let them out earlier in the day on the weekend, so I have more time to check on them throughout the day. It'll also give me time to work on creating some more roosts and another hiding space in the main coop.

Oh good!
Sounds like a good plan.
I find walking among them in their space at least once or twice a day is a very good thing to do ,they get used to you and are calmer overall.

 

[lpyrbby]

Oh good!
Sounds like a good plan.
I find walking among them in their space at least once or twice a day is a very good thing to do ,they get used to you and are calmer overall.

For the most part, they aren't really bothered by me. And now that I can introduce the coveted goodies, they don't really hesitate coming in for a treat. One of the new birds is hanging around with the barred rock (who happens to be the tamest of the bunch) and she's investigating me. She's not really interested in being pet, but she checks me out with interest, mainly looking for treats.

The head roo is still making his rounds and making sure the ladies know to move when he says move. He's slowly improving his mating technique and is doing less raping and more asking of the barred rock.

The second roo and the GLW had a brawl tonight. They faced off and bounced off one another for a good minute before he said "to hell with this!" and snatched her up by the neck and drug her around for a few harrowing seconds. She escaped and is keeping a WIDE distance from them. She gets close to the flock she's known but has no interest in getting involved with any of the noobs. I'm having to learn chicken when herding the new flock back into their pen at night. She's becoming semi-reclusive, in a way.



As you might can tell from this photo, the GLW is not included. She saw the flocks dining and chose to stay at the other end of the pen, hunting for things she valued. There's still segregation. The four on the right are the original birds and the birds on the left are the new birds. Head roo is in between both of them. Wyatt, the splash/blue wyandotte has been mainly taking care of the two existing hens while Ringo goes and asserts his position with the new ladies. It's weird seeing their dynamic, especially with all the talk of the boys sparring wildly over the ladies. Reba, the speckled hen (existing flock) is trying to integrate. She's low girl on the totem pole and wants to interact, but is making it very clear she has NO interest in challenging anyone. Nona, the head girl in the original flock is no longer trying to battle it out with the other ladies. She will defend herself, but then hauls *** away if an altercation starts. She seems to not want to get involved in sparring if she doesn't need to. The EE got a surprise "beat down" from Ringo today and is running if he gets close. Olive, the dark cornish had a moment where she chased Reba around, only to wind up face to face with Ringo. She quickly relented.

I also snagged a brief vid of Ringo getting up from a dust bath to chase the australorp off her dust bath spot. It really seems to be a lot of "you betta' reconize!" I'm really hopeful it simmers down some. Even though Wyatt threw down on the GLW today, there's still not been any bloodshed. The boys haven't tried coming after me yet. It's going to take a bit of time, I realize this. So far, so "good."

 

[aart]

It's fascinating to watch their interactions.