Adding new hens to my flock

[Stephnrobby]

I've decided to add 6 more hens to my flock of 9 I currently have. I believe my flock ages are 9 to 12 months now and the new ones are about 6 months. How can I introduce them to the same coop or do they need to stay seperate? I'm still new to the chicken farm just started in June 2019.

 

[aart]

I've decided to add 6 more hens to my flock of 9 I currently have. I believe my flock ages are 9 to 12 months now and the new ones are about 6 months. How can I introduce them to the same coop or do they need to stay seperate? I'm still new to the chicken farm just started in June 2019.

Might be better to wait until spring and add chicks, easier to integrate if your setup is conducive or can be made so.
Wait! What?.....you already have chicks brewing!?:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-day-old-chicks.1346373/

Might want to think about this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

I don't know how much room you have or how your room is set up. That is pretty important. If you have sufficient room it could be pretty easy. If space is tight it could be more of a challenge.

Very important!

@aart has a copy and paste section that gives the generic recommendations which are as specific as we can get since we don't know what you have to work with. Hopefully she is online and willing to share.

But, Of Course!

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/

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm just going to integrate my babies when they get old enough. They hatch this Wednesday. I decided not to buy the other 6 hens.

My brooder is in the coop. I put chicks in there straight from the incubator or post office, even if the outdoor temperatures are below freezing. As long as one area is warm enough in the coolest temperatures and one area is cool enough in the warmest conditions they do a really good job or regulating their own temperatures. To me the biggest challenge to brooding out of doors is the wild temperature swings. I've gone from the 20's to the 70's in 36 hours. The brooder has to be able to handle both.

I have a lot of area outside fenced in. A 12' x 32' main run and an additional 45' x 60' in electric netting. My adults spend practically all day every day outside except for when laying eggs. Since mine are essentially raised with the flock my integration consists of opening the brooder door when they are 5 weeks old. That's it, I just walk away. It can be that easy.

Even if you were willing to brood in the coop I'm not sure you have time to set it up. So what I suggest is that you build a "grow-out" pen in that big coop you have. Or finish off that other section where you are planning on building that coop. I don't know what you have for a run, but either section off part of your run or build a new one that shares a fence. Make a way to let the chicks out into their section of the run. After they have been across the fence from each other for a few weeks, try integrating them.

Will this work each and every time? It does for me but it's always possibly you have one of those hens that is a true brute. Or you may not have much room outside. If they are shoehorned together there is a lot more risk. They need room and I don't know how much you have in a run. Occasionally free ranging them doesn't count.

 

[Mrs. K]

so much advice and we are all thinking of all that space you have with envy. And of course all advice comes from experience quite different than perhaps yours. So here is mine...

The outside area - with the roof- I would not make another coop, I would fence that as a run. I would even extend it so that part of the run is covered with the present roof, and part is out in the open. I like to let mine wander around, but there are times when it is good to be able to lock them up and keep them safe.

• if you get hit by a predator
• if you want to go on vacation for a few days
• if you want to add more birds

A good secure run, is a very important asset when raising chickens.

Mrs K

 

[B-Goock]

Some people keep them separate but in view of each other "to get used to each other" & quarantine for disease.
I use the put them on the roost in the dark method. In the morning they almost act like they are just supposed to be there. I only use this method if I'm going to be home & can watch them in case there is excessive pecking.
However you do it there will be tussels.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know how much room you have or how your room is set up. That is pretty important. If you have sufficient room it could be pretty easy. If space is tight it could be more of a challenge.

@aart has a copy and paste section that gives the generic recommendations which are as specific as we can get since we don't know what you have to work with. Hopefully she is online and willing to share.

If your six month olds are laying the older ones should treat them as adults. They will sort out the pecking order and soon merge to one flock. It's often a little more violent but is typically quickly settled. The more room the better.

If the young ones are not yet laying they will likely stay separate from the older ones, sort of forming a sub-flock. They will probably avoid the older ones during the day and not sleep on the same roosts at night. If you have enough room for them to avoid the older ones day and night it's usually more peaceful but takes longer. There are always exceptions since you are dealing with living animals but we are talking generic, not specifics. If space is tight it can become quite violent.

 

[Mrs. K]

You are nearly doubling your flock. Which will take a lot more room. Space is key as stated above. 15 birds should have a coop about 60 sq feet. So about 6 x 10 feet or 8x8 would be minimum.

Another aspect is age, not in as will these birds get along together, but as in laying patterns.
Your original flock will begin laying well pretty soon. even though the new birds are about three months younger, more than likely they will all go into a hard molt late next fall, and drastically reduce the eggs produced. You basically will have a one generational flock. The 3 months will not make a difference come the fall.

It might be better, to add chicks this spring, those birds will begin laying in the fall and should lay through out the winter. To get more consistent egg laying, one should add and cull each year. Some people don't like to do that.

 

[Stephnrobby]

 

[Stephnrobby]

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I'd really reconsider the heat lamp. Unless you're raising new chicks in a brooder in the coop, they definitely don't need it and it's more of a fire hazard than anything else. They can fall, the bulbs can shatter, someone recently even had a bird somehow get lodged into one. Chickens can tolerate below freezing temps without a problem as long as they have protection from wind and rain, which your coop looks like it handles without issue.

On the plus side you really do have coop space plenty for quite a good number of birds (most of us have nothing near as big, so we're jealous!) so even without adding a second coop like you're suggesting you should be able to grow your flock without the issues that many others face.

I'd adjust the roost too to be higher with rungs a little more separated but if you're satisfied with their current sleeping habits then that's not a huge deal to me.

I have turned heat lamp off since reading your advice.

 

[aart]

They have been roosting on top the nesting boxes. And my gate up against wall to the left. I'm curious if I should move the nesting boxes down to ground since the babies will be hatching soon that's under my broody hen? Any advice on that?

The top of nests is probably much more comfortable that the metal gate 'roosts'.
Put a sharply angled board(~45° or steeper) above nests, so they can't roost there.

I would be risky to move the broody at this point, you might break her broodiness.
Once the chicks start hatching I would put a piece of cage mesh in front of nest so chicks don't fall out.
But I would prepare a floor nest for her to move into once the chicks hatch.