adding New to established flock.

[barnmack2023]

I have 2 separate pens. one has only 4 a rooster and 3hens. They are cross breed easter egger and brahma. I incubated 6 of their eggs and ended up with 3hen and 3roos. So they are a couple of months old and for the last 2 months have been in the left side of my 12x12 which also holds my rabbits. They are nearly the same size as the hens so 2 nights ago i moved them into the other side which houses 12 hens. it remained quiet thru the night and when i went to feed the 6 were hanging out together. i realized they are more slender built then then most of the hens but are a little taller. None of the roos are crowing yet. The boss of the hens has been putting them in their place. Hoping to get a good roo from the 3. They are only free ranged a few evenings a week when i can be home so they will be locked up together until tomorrow hoping it will be enough time for them to settle in some. Unfortunately will have to cut their wings to make sure they don't fly over perimeter fence and get in the garden. Hoping like the hens they will learn their boundaries 1/4 acre. Lately i have seen some vent gleet and working on that. I have boosted their food by adding a mix of bread crumbs, ground eggshells, cayenne, onion, ginger and oregano all powdered. It seems to have perked them up a bit. Will be adding some comfrey in the next mix. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[DobieLover]

You shouldn't have to clip wings. The new comers will learn from the established flock that they stay in the pen. After my first flock of birds had to be clipped to prevent them from flying over the gates, they acclimated to the fact they had to stay in the pen. Their wing feathers all molted back in but they never again attempted to leave the pen. All subsequent chicks growing up in the flock have never attempted to leave. In fact, one day the gate was inadvertently left unlatched and it blew open and not one bird left the pen.

When a new group of birds is introduced to an established flock slowly through the "look don't touch" method and they have lots of space and things to do in that space, the integration goes smoothly. It still take months for full flock integration to happen, usually when the youngsters start to lay. Until that takes place, you will have two sub-flocks sharing the space.

I hope you figure out soon which cockerel you want to keep and rehome or process the others before they start tormenting their sisters.

boosted their food by adding a mix of bread crumbs, ground eggshells, cayenne, onion, ginger and oregano all powdered.

It would be unusual for multiple birds to develop vent gleet. And what you are putting into their food aren't good boosters, especially the bread crumbs. If multiple birds have dirty vent feathers, I would suspect worms and would collect a mixed fecal sample and get a float done on it at the vet to know if they have internal parasites and treat with an appropriate anthelmintic.

A better choice for boosting food value is to ferment it and/or add some Greek yogurt or kefir to the mix for probiotics. You can also add some electrolytes with probiotics to the ferment every day for 3 to 5 days with copious amounts of plain fresh water available at all times. Then just add it during times of stress like during the molt or temperature extremes.