Adding three new hens

[Unicornlife3316]

Good afternoon everyone -

I want to add three hens to my existing flock of 16. I have an isolation pen ready for them, their own water and feed, to make sure they won’t get my birds sick or get sick from mine. Safely. Anyways - my girls free range - so how do I move them from the isolation pen to the coop and then freeranging with the ready of my flock safely? They’re roughly the same age. Same breeds that I have. Any advice appreciated - thank you!

 

[cherrynberry]

Good afternoon everyone -

I want to add three hens to my existing flock of 16. I have an isolation pen ready for them, their own water and feed, to make sure they won’t get my birds sick or get sick from mine. Safely. Anyways - my girls free range - so how do I move them from the isolation pen to the coop and then freeranging with the ready of my flock safely? They’re roughly the same age. Same breeds that I have. Any advice appreciated - thank you!

I keep new birds far away from my original flock. To prevent diseases. You won't want your flock to be free ranging around their pen. 4 weeks. That's how long I separate them in that set up. I deworm them during that time. I also make sure to limit touch and not to spread diseases via clothing. By the 5th week, I use the see no touch method, placing a mini coop inside my larger coop for the original flock. The new birds stay in the smaller coop inside the normal coop for a week. During that time, the flock gets used to them and they learn where their coop is. Lastly, I let the new birds out of the coop and allow them to free range together. Pecking is normal, blood is not. I place extra feeders and waterers out for a week. Then, the integration is finished.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Maybe I'm misreading but it sounds like you're trying to do two things at the same time, that don't work together.

A medical quarantine requires that the birds are kept completely apart from one another, no direct contact at all (nor ground or air space sharing) for around 30 days. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

See but don't touch integration on the other hand means the birds are in visual contact with each other so they start to acclimate to the fact that there's new birds there. In your case that would have to begin after the 30 day quarantine period, for around 1-2 weeks, before you could start trying to let them meet without fencing in between them.

 

[Unicornlife3316]

Maybe I'm misreading but it sounds like you're trying to do two things at the same time, that don't work together.

A medical quarantine requires that the birds are kept completely apart from one another, no direct contact at all (nor ground or air space sharing) for around 30 days. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

See but don't touch integration on the other hand means the birds are in visual contact with each other so they start to acclimate to the fact that there's new birds there. In your case that would have to begin after the 30 day quarantine period, for around 1-2 weeks, before you could start trying to let them meet without fencing in between them.

yes I was writing quickly and didn’t explain properly. My isolation pen is behind my shop nowhere near where my chickens free range- they won’t even be able to see each other as the OG flock is at the barn & coop.

My question is - after isolation is over - and the see/no touch period is over - how do I transition them from see/no touch to free range? Won’t they want to go back to the see/no touch pen? Or will they get lost free ranging?

 

[cherrynberry]

yes I was writing quickly and didn’t explain properly. My isolation pen is behind my shop nowhere near where my chickens free range- they won’t even be able to see each other as the OG flock is at the barn & coop.

My question is - after isolation is over - and the see/no touch period is over - how do I transition them from see/no touch to free range? Won’t they want to go back to the see/no touch pen? Or will they get lost free ranging?

Thats why I keep the see no touch pen in the coop, you dont need to move it outside. That way, when the see no touch pen is gone, they know to go back to the coop. Plus, it the rest of the flock goes in the coop at night, usually the new birds follow. If thats what you are asking...

 

[rosemarythyme]

My question is - after isolation is over - and the see/no touch period is over - how do I transition them from see/no touch to free range? Won’t they want to go back to the see/no touch pen? Or will they get lost free ranging?

(Now I don't free range but I do need to rewire chicks into accepting the coop as their home instead of the outdoor brooder, so using that as basis for this.)

During see but no touch phase, the isolation pen (or a similar enclosure) should be placed somewhere in the vicinity of the coop so the new birds think of that location as home base. Then once they start to mingle with the flock block off access to the isolation pen so they can't go back in there. They'll hopefully follow the lead of the original flock back to the coop, though you may find a few stragglers hanging out by the isolation pen. Those can be manually put in the coop once it's almost dark, and they should get the hint after a few days.

 

[Unicornlife3316]

(Now I don't free range but I do need to rewire chicks into accepting the coop as their home instead of the outdoor brooder, so using that as basis for this.)

During see but no touch phase, the isolation pen (or a similar enclosure) should be placed somewhere in the vicinity of the coop so the new birds think of that location as home base. Then once they start to mingle with the flock block off access to the isolation pen so they can't go back in there. They'll hopefully follow the lead of the original flock back to the coop, though you may find a few stragglers hanging out by the isolation pen. Those can be manually put in the coop once it's almost dark, and they should get the hint after a few days.

Perfect. This totally makes sense. Thank you!!