Adding hens to my flock

NevadaJon

Chirping
5 Years
May 1, 2019
10
21
99
Tonopah, Nevada
My Coop
My Coop
I have ordered 6 chicks to add to my flock. Well, to add to my existing pair of hens. Some background - I inherited a pair of Plymouth Rock hens, a coop and run from a friend who moved. They are 2 years old. The coop is 4'x8', and tall enough to stand up straight in. Inside, there is a raised sleeping area where my 2 ladies sleep next to each other. It is about 4' across and 2' wide, filled with bedding. THeir coop is inside a 12' X 21' fenced run, but they wander around my sizeable fenced in yard most days. I am pretty comfortable raising the chicks in the house. I am a teacher and have done that before in my classroom. However, once they are old enough, or too big for the house, I am a little at a loss as to what to do next. Questions I have are:
1) Do I need to add another sleeping loft to the coop?
2) If I split the run to allow them to acclimate to one another, how do I split the coop so they can all sleep inside, separately?
3) How long will it take the new hens to learn to go to bed at night time. My current pair retire for the evening without any prompting.

I suddenly feel like I was ready for some new chicks, but woefully unprepared for them to be hens! Do I need to start building?

Thank you in advance for any assistance!
By the way, I am getting 2 Australorps, 2 Bielfelders, and 2
 
1.) I'm bad at measurements, but I'd just stick your new babies in there and see what they do on their own. If it looks like there's not enough sleeping space for all of them, add some more. Otherwise, they'll be fine.
2.) I wouldn't immediately split the run unless something goes wrong when they meet. For the most part, when I've introduced younger chickens to adult chickens there aren't too many issues. If there are, it's usually a rooster causing the problems.
3.) My new chickens usually automatically go back inside on their own on the first night. I think if your two older hens do it, the others will likely follow.
 
I like to integrate chicks young, it's gone much smoother than waiting until they are 'big enough'. But it does take some prep, several ways to do it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

@NevadaJon I would strongly suggest you split off part of the run for the chicks and set up some kind of shelter for them.
Pics of your coop and run should garner some specific and viable suggestions.

It's rarely as simple as just 'putting them in there'.
Some things to think about....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better.
Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/
 
Inside, there is a raised sleeping area where my 2 ladies sleep next to each other. It is about 4' across and 2' wide, filled with bedding.

Interesting info. It sounds like they are sleeping on the bedding, not on a roost above it. That's different form most people. Does that mean you have a poop free area under it? How tall is it? As always a photo might help.

once they are old enough, or too big for the house

What temperatures will you be facing when they are about 4 weeks old, especially nighttime lows? Most chicks fully feather at 4 to 5 weeks. You will probably be able to put them outside with no supplemental heat then.

1) Do I need to add another sleeping loft to the coop?

We all get different results because we have different conditions and set-ups, but my pullets generally refuse to sleep with the adults until they mature enough to force their way into the pecking order. For mine that's typically when they start to lay. If my immature pullets encroach on the personal space of the mature hens during the day or at night, they tend to get pecked, maybe even attacked. It doesn't always happen but it's common enough that during the day they tend to form a sub-flock and avoid the mature hens. At night they look for a different place to sleep. Some people worry about this. As long as mine are not sleeping in the nests and are somewhere predator safe I'm happy.

Your 2x4 sleeping loft is probably big enough for 8 hens to sleep together, You'll need to watch the poop and see how that builds up. With 8 instead of 2 you will be managing poop more anyway.

Chickens tend to like to sleep in the highest location possible. If that's not your sleep loft that might be your nests. I used to have that problem a lot, so I put up a juvenile roost lower than the main roosts but higher than the nests to give them an attractive, safe place to go. That's part of why I'm wondering how high your sleep loft is. Do you have enough room underneath to put a juvenile roost or maybe another sleep loft that is higher than the nests? When they mature enough they will move on up on their own. If they decide to sleep somewhere other than your nests I would not worry about this.

2) If I split the run to allow them to acclimate to one another, how do I split the coop so they can all sleep inside, separately?

This is where photos could come in handy, coop and run. What do you have to work with? I'm not concerned about when they are all adults, it's when they are immature that I have concerns. When immature birds encroach on the personal space of mature birds it can get violent. That's one aspect, they need room to avoid. And as Aart mentions it is tremendously helpful for them to get used to each other before they are allowed to mingle. I consider this more important for juveniles than when you are integrating adults to each other. You have a fair amount of room outside for 8 chickens, more than a lot of people. But you need more room when you integrate, especially immature chickens.

You can fence off a section of your coop and keep them in there for a week or two before you try to integrate them. My brooder is in the coop so they essentially grow up with the flock. When mine hit 5 weeks I just open the brooder door. It's done. But my coop is 3 times the size of yours and I have well over 50 square feet per chicken outside. You don't have that kind of room and you do not plan on raising them in the coop. Still, if you house them in the coop for a couple of weeks it might work.

When my coop is really full I move them to a shelter in my run instead of just letting them go. The idea is to teach them to sleep in that shelter instead of in the coop until I butcher enough that they fit. Putting a shelter in the run can make integration easier. My biggest integration issues tend to come as they are going to bed, not during the day but I have more outside room. Also, each integration is unique. Some are easier than others.

One technique some people with limited space use is the panic room/safe haven concept. I don't use it but the idea is to leave the shelter/pen up when you integrate but cut holes just big enough for the young ones to go through. That way if the older ones start beating them up they run to safety. There are a lot of little tricks like that we sometimes use to make it easier. The more we know about your situation the better we may be able to advise you. Hint, hint - photos

3) How long will it take the new hens to learn to go to bed at night time. My current pair retire for the evening without any prompting.

They will go to bed when it gets dark. The question is where. Since mine might get beat up if they try to sleep with the adults they look for other places to sleep. On occasion that has been outside the coop. My grow-out shelter is elevated with a section of run dedicated to it. Often when I first put them in that run/shelter area they want to sleep on the ground instead of up in the shelter. That's even when I house them for over a week in that shelter before they get access to the run section. I generally don't have that problem when my shelter is on the ground. I go down after they put themselves to bed on the ground and lock them in that shelter until they get the message. One time it only took once, a couple of time sit took three weeks. Typically it takes about a week.
 
Thanks for everyone's responses. I posted a few pictures of my coop, will add some of the run.

They sleep perched on the very edge of the "attic space". In looking at other coops, it looks like I should add some roosting space. Remember, this coop was inherited, and I am a COMPLETE newbie!
 

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