What age to introduce new chickens to existing flock?

[Ocala RIR]

Looking at the date posted. I figured maybe you have a better idea how to mix younger chickens (almost 4 monthes) with older hens. Yea been building additions to the main coop. I hatched 2 batches a month apart in ages. course they are mixed. RIRs first and second are leghorns. Got RIR 2 roosters in the first batch. They are bad. Attacked everybody except the older hens. The older hens just flat out chase the roosters away. They are extremely scared of them. lol! Lately I seen the 2 roosters fight among themselves. Anyway the second batch there are 2 roosters too. I can mixed these two batches together and the hens doesn't seem to mind. There is a isa brownies 3 pullets I bought. Figured a month younger than my last hatch. My wife fell inlove with these brown looking chicks. Course size starting to catch up with everyone. Everybody is still separated. I figured I have to get rid of the RIR roosters so everybody can get along. Breaks my heart because I incubated these guys and are still loveable. Can pet these guys still.

 

[Den in Penn]

Ocala RIR: If you are raising them all in the coop, but separated the integration should go easy. Yes you could mix the batches together. Once the youngest are of a size they can take a little of the pecking while the new pecking order is being established. Or you could integrate them to the older established hens as they become large/old enough.

 

[Tifnie]

I am having a similar problem but with less luck. I introduced my young flock at just under 2 months old with my 3 year old hens. Slow transition as I placed the young flock inside the coop inside a play pen then back to the trough for the night. After 3 weeks of doing this I left them integrate with the older girls and while there was some dominance they seem to be doing well though they keep separate from each other. Now, my next issue is the coop itself. The older girls won't let the young girls inside the coop at night. Grant it our nights are not cold but I would like them to be inside. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of kicking the older hens out and locking the young girls inside. ??!!

 

[aart]

I am having a similar problem but with less luck. I introduced my young flock at just under 2 months old with my 3 year old hens. Slow transition as I placed the young flock inside the coop inside a play pen then back to the trough for the night. After 3 weeks of doing this I left them integrate with the older girls and while there was some dominance they seem to be doing well though they keep separate from each other. Now, my next issue is the coop itself. The older girls won't let the young girls inside the coop at night. Grant it our nights are not cold but I would like them to be inside. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of kicking the older hens out and locking the young girls inside. ??!!

How big is coop? Pics and feet by feet dimensions are always good.
Add a separate roost for youngers....and put them up there after dark if necessary for a few nights, see if that that helps.

 

[All Ball]

Any thoughts on how much chasing you can expect as adult hens and chicks sort it out, and any experiences on dealing with an adult hen who is trying to attack chicks coming in to the coop at night - how much do you let the pecking order get established, how much do you intervene?

I'm not worried about light pecks to establish order, but worry about the stories of chicks pecked through to the skull...don't know how to differentiate.

My situation: 3 adult hens; the lead hen is a broody and is brooding 8 chicks with the flock - everyone free-ranges during the day. Chicks are 5 weeks old, still with mommy in the nest but that will likely end soon. The chicks will try their best to keep away from the other 2 adults. That's not enough for the lowest-ranking hen, who feels the need to chase them and lately is causing the evening drama. She will jump off the roost to peck at the last chicks coming in for the night. I've started either holding her down or holding her in my arms so the chicks can come in and I can go eat dinner! But I know that's not a good long-term solution - she needs to feel secure in her status as being over the chicks (both pullets and roos). Broody hen will go after her sometimes.

I'm going to be selling/giving away all the chicks except one pullet, who will need to integrate with the flock - so it doesn't make sense to build a 2nd coop. I'm thinking of adding a lower-down roost for the chicks for the time-being, but am afraid the 2 adults will still peck at them - it's kind of a small coop. Have folks found that adult hens will tolerate the chicks on a roost if it's a lot lower than theirs is?

The question for me is whether I should trust broody mamma to know when to intervene, and when to let the order establish.

 

[hentown]

Hey All!

I have 4 RIR's, 3 Delaware's, 1 pollish rooster and one bantam Old English rooster. Everyone gets along well, sharing hens and co-sharing the crowing and protection duties.

My issue is that one of the hens went broody when I was away from home over a long weekend. She kept a clutch of eggs in a dog house on my porch, and refused to leave them. Two beautiful chicks hatched, and they are now 3 weeks old.

Momma wants to take them outside, she is getting antsy. I am afraid to let them off the protected porch. I could use an old bird cage to put them in the chicken yard to let them see the main flock. My chicken yard is about 20 x 50 and fenced, the RIR's fly out and free range, the Delawares stay in the yard.

Any suggestions are welcome - the babies are so gorgeous ( they are both black and obviously belong to the Polish...).

Thanks everyone for all of your ideas and sharing!

 

[whittychick]

Hey All!

I have 4 RIR's, 3 Delaware's, 1 pollish rooster and one bantam Old English rooster. Everyone gets along well, sharing hens and co-sharing the crowing and protection duties.

My issue is that one of the hens went broody when I was away from home over a long weekend. She kept a clutch of eggs in a dog house on my porch, and refused to leave them. Two beautiful chicks hatched, and they are now 3 weeks old.

Momma wants to take them outside, she is getting antsy. I am afraid to let them off the protected porch. I could use an old bird cage to put them in the chicken yard to let them see the main flock. My chicken yard is about 20 x 50 and fenced, the RIR's fly out and free range, the Delawares stay in the yard.

Any suggestions are welcome - the babies are so gorgeous ( they are both black and obviously belong to the Polish...).

Thanks everyone for all of your ideas and sharing!

With the babies being so young I would defiantly keep them separate. Maybe putting that smaller cage in with the big girls so they can all see each other...I don't add my chicks until they're 8-10 weeks.

 

[dthompson]

I have a 6x12 coop with 9 hens, about 30 weeks old. I have 18 pullets that are 12 weeks old. For 4 weeks the young girls have been in the coop separated by chicken wire. I am almost done building a permanent run that will be 12x12. I would like to take the chic wire down that separates the big from the little soon. Considering waiting until my run is fully done and let the little girls in the run first, then let the big girls go in.

We have a mix of Cinnamon Queens, Barred Rock,Brown and white longhorns and black Jersey giants. I think all 12so olds r female. My main question is, do u think 12 -13 week olds is too young. The is a lot of varying in. This thread and I have read all comments. They r pretty cramped an love it when I lock the big girls out of the coop so they can spread their wings, literally.

 

[lazy gardener]

You have 27 birds. The minimal amount of space for them would be: 108 square feet in the coop, and 270 square feet in the run. This is the minimal recommendation. Even more space would be better. Your current set up is: 72 s.f. in the coop, and 144 s.f. in the run. This would allow for 18 birds. Also, do you have adequate perch space? 10 - 12" per bird, with the perches far enough from the wall that they can perch without their feathers touching the wall? Overcrowding leads to aggression, increased stress, increased risk of disease. Do you allow your birds to free range? That will help some, but I recommend that you decrease your flock size before winter. As far as integration, using the run as the first step makes sense, especially if it is a new run for the entire flock.

 

[dthompson]

I have an elevated roost for them, 5 perchs about 5 feet long. Right now, only 9 are perching and they crowd up together. I have found this odd b/c of the 'recommended space'...but with the amount of space they don't use, I figured it was their choice.

I can always add to the chicken run... I am working on this now. I did not expect to have this many chickens. We had let our hens free range but come home to a fox attack. Only 3 of our original 22 were found in their coop, safe - but scared. The kids wanted new ones right away so we ordered them that night. The next day, 6 more returned. I had already ordered the new ones. I will talk to my hubby about giving some to a neighbor to pair them down some. We cannot expand on our coop right now. they have ramps and floor space, or will when we let the small ones out of the quarantine area.

Because of our fox attack, and a repeated visit (though we had them in a make-shift run) a few days later...we do not want to risk another loss and such heartache we had w/ our kids.

If I have the run built in the next week, do you think it is too early to integrate them? Or should I hold off until 16 weeks as some suggest?