I've done this a few times, but usually the birds were a bit older when we added new members to the flock.
We have a flock of about 17 - only about half have molted but all are laying eggs so they're not super old but they have established a pecking order.
I have 17 that I hatched out and have in a pen that is inside the coop wired in so all can see and not touch.
They've been in this 4x4 foot pen for a while. While it has 2 levels it's getting a bit small for all of them. They'd turned all my deep litter to sludge and i had to scoop it out one night and re-fill it.
So my thought is I'll remove the board separating the two sections and let them meet everyone in the morning. They're 10 weeks old so they're about 1/2 to 3/4 the size of the other birds.
Is this a good idea? Should I move all 17 into the main coop at night so they wake up together instead or just let them figure it out?
I don't really have anywhere else for them to go that's bigger so it's either this or they'll be confined in this little area longer.
We have a flock of about 17 - only about half have molted but all are laying eggs so they're not super old but they have established a pecking order.
I have 17 that I hatched out and have in a pen that is inside the coop wired in so all can see and not touch.
They've been in this 4x4 foot pen for a while. While it has 2 levels it's getting a bit small for all of them. They'd turned all my deep litter to sludge and i had to scoop it out one night and re-fill it.
So my thought is I'll remove the board separating the two sections and let them meet everyone in the morning. They're 10 weeks old so they're about 1/2 to 3/4 the size of the other birds.
Is this a good idea? Should I move all 17 into the main coop at night so they wake up together instead or just let them figure it out?
I don't really have anywhere else for them to go that's bigger so it's either this or they'll be confined in this little area longer.