Adding new chickens to flock

[Aquaman05]

My original flock is about 1 1/2 years of age, the new chickens are 3 months.
They are pretty close on being the same size .

 

[Cory in MI]

I have 2 Peking ducks and 17, 16 weeks old chickens Out in the coupe now.
I have 5 ducks (1 Peking and 4 rouen) and 15 more chicks that I plan to try and merge together when they are old enough
Will the closer age gap make it any easier for me to integrate the flock?
I plan on Separating the ''old and new'' for a few weeks with chicken wire and see what happens.
Any advice would be great

 

[allison finch]

I never integrate pullets into the flock when they are still "cheeping" When they start to cluck, it is time to try.

Good news, the single bird that was having trouble merging into my flock is now fully merged. I sat in the coop and flogged any bird attacking her. Being a "favorite" of the top hen (ME) brought her up in the pecking order. The birds noticed my protecting her and it helped her quite a bit.

 

[critterwhisper]

I have had trouble with all the batch of pullets i had introduced to my older girls,the older ones had the coop to their selfs(RIRs,sexlinks- 15 of them) then added my middle 6 girls,they seemed to stick among themselves.This last 6 gals i added about 4 weeks ago,good grief i felt i was a warden for awhile in a prison yard!!The babes were tramtized,they stuck together like glue.safety in numbers i tell ya- lol.finally they all seem to getting along very nicely,they all seem to hang out with their flock,my 15 older gals they plain well think they are the QUEENS,now they just torment the youngist just for laughs,but today i did witness on of my polish babe flog my middle EE gal for no appearent reason ,until my easter egger put her in check. But i guess all in all after some carefull watching my flocks have finally made ranks and peace

 

[NewbeeDoo]

Hello! I have a similar question but different too...we just "inherreted" a single hen (her gal pal didn't make it) and are set to have her proper coop ready next week. A friend of ours found out and is giving us 5 3 month old hens once it's ready (leftover Easter gifts!)! To complicate matter further, my husband has a breeder friend that needs a home for a 3 classroom hatchlings and while we were at the babies I wanted to get a Black Copper Marans which the breeder doesn't like to sell unless they're a month old so he's got a better guess of the sex.

My question is what is my order of operation? Do I leave the hen in the coop alone so she gets used to it before I introduce the 3 month olds, or do I throw them all in together? Do I keep the chicks with the 1 month old or do I just wait till the chicks are a month old to get the BCM or is that worse? I know I'll keep the little guys separate for a while but what should my immediate call to action be??? Thanks for all the helpful advice too! MUCH appreciated!!

 

[Ehlena99]

My question is kind of along the same lines.... I have 6 (3BR, 3 Red stars) that are 5 weeks older than the 3 (2 red stars and 1 Black star) that came to replace roosters. I put the 3 younger ones in a dog kennel inside the coop, but am wondering how long to leave them? Or, is 5 weeks close enough that I might not have to worry as much? They all seem to be getting used to each other in the coop (after the first day) but they are still segregated.

 

[Aquaman05]

I kinda pushed mine out the door into the mix. It went ok at first and I was happy but after about 15 mins a few fights broke out. Not real bad but they really was feeling the heat from the others . I still have mine in a separate area but try to mix them in free range style ( which they just run away) hoping they can stay together real soon . I did try to slip one in the coop on a rainy day but this was a mistake. I'm guessing if I did t Stay to watch this would have ended badly .
Good luck

 

[floggingwalley]

I have 8 hens black sex links1 year old, have 6 new chicks10 weeks old is there a certain age to go by to introduce them to the flock

 

[Homestead girl]

I am new to the chicken world, But this is what I did. My first batch 6 Buff Orpingtons went in the coop first, Two weeks later I had to put in the 6 GLW . I was told to just put them in and it would be okay. Well the pecking order began. The same two weeks later with the Giants. They got it bad cause they had 12 Chicks after them giving them the initiation to the coop. I felt really bad for them.
I still had 13 more EE in the house that had to go out in another two weeks. So this time I took the big wire dog kennel and moved it into the coop and left them in it for about 4 or 5 days.
This gave everyone time to check them out and they couldn't get to them. It seemed to work since I let them out the EE haven't really got the initiation to the coop routine like the other's did.
If I get any new chickens this is what I will do again.

 

[Aquaman05]

I have 8 hens black sex links1 year old, have 6 new chicks10 weeks old is there a certain age to go by to introduce them to the flock

They need to be about the same size .