Adding new birds?

[nana74331]

I started in the spring with a RIR rooster and 5 RIR hens and lost the rooster and 1 hen the first week in August. Then got a Barred Rock rooster. Went to the swap Labor Day weekend and got 3 Barred Rock hens. Have 2 RIR bully hens, they wouldn't let the new girls out. Then they wouldn't let them to the nests and shooed them to trees in the backyard. Last night when they all went into nest, I put the 2 bullies in the cage and the newbies are coming out of the trees a little bit more this morning. May leave them there for a couple of days. Kept waiting for them to all settle in together, but decided that they were going to be stubborn.
Kathryn

 

[ghostwolf211]

Ok....Now my Chicks are going to be 7 weeks old on Monday....They are fully feathered...The nights here are ranging from the low 40's to upper 40's....Are they old enough to go outside with the bigger hens as long as they are separated at night?

 

[newbie32]

Ok....Now my Chicks are going to be 7 weeks old on Monday....They are fully feathered...The nights here are ranging from the low 40's to upper 40's....Are they old enough to go outside with the bigger hens as long as they are separated at night?

I wasn't integrating mine into an established flock-they are the flock-but mine went out at 4 1/2 weeks and are fine

 

[annagarret]

So today I came home to a hawk eatting one of my birds. Another dead in the corner and the third and last left in the coop. I feel like crap. But want to get her friends ASAP so I called the guy I got my 3 ee from and he is going to get me 2 10wk. Old RR on Tuesday. So hopefully jan will not be lonely for long...

Anyone have experience with bringing 2 10wk olds into a coop with a 24 wk old?

Sad day

So sorry, it always hurts

 

[Ashona]

Hello all BYC friends, I'm also adding to my 2 chickens and was wondering how long I have to keep them separated at night. We have just got Rose today and she is in Violet's broody pen.


This is their full Coop and run, the only time they spend in there is if we are at work or go to town to do shopping, as soon as we get home they are let out to free range around the garden. The top picture you can see rose in the broody pen.

We have had her running around with Beatrix and violet, Beatrix had a go for a bit and that was that but Violet is not happy at the moment. Opinion's greatly appreciated.

 

[dwgov]

Well I have a flock of 10 & added 5 more. It took a while for them to all get along, approximately a couple weeks. One off my RSL's wouldn't leave them alone. She chased them all over the place. I think their sqauking made it worse. They're all doing fine now, but she still shows them who's boos.

 

[ll]

I attempted introducing one-on-one with success, and created a page about it -

How we introduced one single hen to another hen
(actually pullet to pullet)


https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-one-hen-to-another

​

Good luck to everyone adding chickens

 

[cluck cluck 123]

While the rest of the flock is sleeping add them in.

 

[Gramma Chick]

So today I came home to a hawk eatting one of my birds. Another dead in the corner and the third and last left in the coop. I feel like crap. But want to get her friends ASAP so I called the guy I got my 3 ee from and he is going to get me 2 10wk. Old RR on Tuesday. So hopefully jan will not be lonely for long...

Anyone have experience with bringing 2 10wk olds into a coop with a 24 wk old?

Sad day

So sorry ! Were they in a run or free range ? You cant always protect them totally .
We only let ours free range when we are home ..I still lost a 4 month old one .
When they are in the run they are protected from most everything it is covered ..
At 1st it was covered with galvanized horse fencing ..now it is covered with a roof

the sooner you introduce them the better for the lone chicken .
Let them see each other for a few days ..but not together ... then try introducing them when you are with them ..
There will be some pecking ...by the older hen or put them together at night 1st after the 2 day - I see you

 

[Junibutt]

I am having a hard time integrating 3 x 17 week pullets with my existing 3 x 23 week hens. I introduced them slowly being visible in a separate pen for 3 days. Then letting the older ones free range for 4 days while the younger ones stayed in the coop. Finally I introduced the younger ones into the coop at night after 1 week. Night went by fine, at the break of dawn I woke up to see what was going on. Within 15 minutes (as the light became stronger), all hell broke lose on the young ones. My 2 RSLs went after them like crazy while they huddled into a corner and hid their heads. But the pecking wouldn't stop. Meanwhile my 3rd older RIR stayed aloof. I watched it for almost 2 hrs and could not take it anymore and took them out and placed in the pen again. Since the first debacle, I have tried everything, free-ranging together, letting the younger ones stay in the coop all day while keeping the older ones in the pen but its the same story every morning. I can't even leave them in with the RIR now because even she has joined in on the beating up. The 2 Wyandottes (younger ones) are kinda able to protect themselves by huddling in the corner or behind the food container but the Australorp gets chased around like crazy.

Even when they are free-ranging (in the 4 parking spots in my backyard), the older ones would come from 40-50 feet away if they watch the younger ones eating something and chase them. They even leave their dust-bath to do so.

What am I doing wrong? I have tried the peck repellent spray (supposed to taste bad) to no avail. I really think that now they are being pecked because they are so scared that they start running at the sight/sound of older ones, creating a ruckus that invites the older hens fury.

Any suggestions since its been more than 3 weeks now and am I tired of constantly shuffling their cages all day?