Adding new chickens to your flock?

[MairyMai]

The other day my exiting flock was free-ranging, my only worry was that my new chickens were going to run away or get bullied out of the coop at night. However, It Washington and this morning I woke up to 3 inches of snow, and my few new chickens are in a greenhouse. They seem fine, however, they need to have the warmth of the existing flock during the night. So, I have 5 new chickens and 7 existing chickens, should I add all of them together at once, or one by one? I did noticed that when I put a chicken out, the rooster would run up to it and push it towards the flock... Is that normal for a Rooster?

 

[lazy gardener]

You have a good rooster! He's keeping the flock together! Was it one of the new birds that he was pushing towards the rest of the flock? If so, he's going to take care of your integration for you. A good roo will not put up with any hen fights.

If you are putting them together at night, then separating them for the day, every time you separate them, they have to re-establish the pecking order. So, IMO, once you've put them together, further interference is counterproductive. (unless there is blood shed).

It's always best to add all the new members at once, and the more you add at one time, the easier the integration will go. (Unless your set up is over crowded. In which case, it may be a bloody affair no matter how you do it.)

 

[MairyMai]

You have a good rooster! He's keeping the flock together! Was it one of the new birds that he was pushing towards the rest of the flock? If so, he's going to take care of your integration for you. A good roo will not put up with any hen fights.

Yes, my rooster was sort of protecting the new hen and he even fought with one of his ladies to keep the other chicken safe.

I have lots of property at my house, 12 acres to be exact, although they dont wander near that far. So do you think when I add the new chickens to the flock I should keep them in their run, or let them all free range?

 

[MairyMai]

There run is very large.

 

[lazy gardener]

When I integrate younger birds into the flock, I do their first face to face meeting during free range time. I spread some scratch so they spend their time "digging for nuggets" instead of participating in "play ground bullying." I would try the first "free range" opportunity towards the end of the day. Let them all out together, and be around to supervise bed time. The roo may very well herd the new ladies into his coop and put them to bed with his old biddies. This would make for a very easy integration. How long have you had the new girls? As long as you've had them for close to a week, and they've been roosting in a safe building during that time, they will either return to last night's roost, or they will go where the roo tells them to go. There is safety in numbers, and at this point, they will probably welcome being part of his harem.

As their flock master, only you are in a position to supervise, and determine how well it's going, and how soon you trust the new girls to be safe in your current set up. Every coop/run/yard set up is different. Every flock dynamic is different, and every flock master has a different standard re: how much they will tolerate in pecking order issues.

 

[MairyMai]

Thank you so much! This has been very helpful!

 

[MairyMai]

Just for kicks, this is my rooster StarLord.

 

[deepbluesea]

View attachment 1177421 Just for kicks, this is my rooster StarLord.

Love the name, love the movie!

 

[MairyMai]

yeah, its hard not to be a guardians of the galaxy nerd. I love the movie as well!