adding four new chickens

[rgatch]

I currently have 6 chickens, 1 rooster americhauna, 1 hen americhauna, 2 hen leghorns, 2 hen rir, they are all the same age @ 20 weeks.
My question is this: yesterday I purchased 4 Australorp hens @ 8 weeks, I left them in the run with my other chickens for 1/2 the day

later when I leytthem out I thought my rooster was going to kill one of them so back in the travel kennel they went. How do I transition

them in to the the flock safely and peacefully?

thanks,
Rob

 

[gryeyes]

Some people put them in at night, when everybody is roosting in the coop. Supposedly, when they all wake up in the morning, they sorta go, "Oh, hmmmm, guess you belong here."

However, what I do is create a segregation/integration coop & run area. A smaller coop inside the same run, with a temporary run created around the segregation coop with chicken wire and garden stakes. That way the chickens can see, smell, and hear each other, and even bump chests through the chicken wire but nobody gets hurt. I keep the new members in that for about 2 weeks, then remove the temporary fence and let them all mingle. That way the original flock members already "know" the newbies and just work on establishing pecking order at the feeders and waterers and suchlike.

OF COURSE one should also quarantine new birds 30 days - totally away from the flock - before starting the integration process.

 

[rgatch]

I think the seperate run area within a run may be the way to go, after that the roo may have to go.

thanks for help,

Rob