Adding to a very small flock

[drmusic]

Until this week I had 4 hens (1 ½ years old) in a movable coop in my backyard. This past Monday when the temperature reached 106 I lost 2. One was outside in the shade; the other had just laid an egg and died in the nest box. The surviving 2 are doing fine (they now have a fan for hot days) but I would really like to have more than 2. I had planned to get more chicks next spring and build a larger coop and run, but I’m not ready for that now.

A farmer not far from my house has pullets for sale. He says that they are ready to lay. I am thinking about buying 2 or 3 of these. I have read about biosecurity measures as well as steps to take to introduce new birds to the flock, but due to my small numbers (2 established hens, 2 or 3 new birds) I was wondering if the full acclimation process is necessary. I am less worried about biosecurity when buying from a nearby farm than if I had bought elsewhere. Keeping the 2 groups safe, separate, and within sight of each other will be difficult at this time. I COULD put them in the extension I use for my coop/run during the daytime, but it would offer little protection from a raccoon at night.

I am thinking about putting them in the extension for a few days, moving them to my garage at night, then combine them.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tanichca]

I am thinking about putting them in the extension for a few days, moving them to my garage at night, then combine them.

That is a great plan! Do that for a bit, and then, at night, put the new birds into the coop. Doing it at night means they'll all wake up together, which means they have a better chance of getting along.

 

[drmusic]

Thanks!

Do you think letting them see each other for a couple of days will be enough before putting them in the same coop?

 

[aart]

'Adding them to the flock at night' might work, but often it does not.
The premise is that the flock won't notice the new chickens upon waking...but....
As bobbie-j sez, "chickens aren't the brightest animals on this planet, but they're not that stupid."

I would have them acclimate, separated by mesh, for at least a week or two.
You kind of have to 'play it by ear' by observing their behaviors.
It might go quick and easy...... and it might not.
With live animals, there aren't many hard and fast rules...and they didn't read the rules anyway.



Here's some notes I've taken on integration that I found to be very helpful.......
......take what applies or might help and ignore the rest.
See if any of them, or the links provided at the bottom, might offer some tips that will assist you in your situation:

Integration of new chickens into flock.

Consider medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article
Poultry Biosecurity
BYC 'medical quarantine' search

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. Integrating new birds of equal size works best.

For smaller chicks I used a large wire dog crate right in the coop for the smallers. I removed the crate door and put up a piece of wire fencing over the opening and bent up one corner just enough for the smallers to fit thru but the biggers could not. Feed and water inside the crate for the smallers. Make sure the smallers know how to get in and out of the crate opening before exposing them to the olders. this worked out great for me, by the time the crate was too small for the them to roost in there(about 3 weeks), they had pretty much integrated themselves to the olders.

If you have too many smallers to fit in a crate you can partition off part of the coop with a wire wall and make the same openings for smallers escape.


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 blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down, 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 and/or up and away from any bully birds.

Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[DaniellePage]

Aart advice sounds great. I don't know about grown birds but I an currently integrating 3 babies to 3 adults. I split the run down the middle with chicken wire. The babies are in the run most days now that they are feathered and old enough. Are inside the brooder in the garage at night. I will be building a roost box for inside the run for while they integrate further. Had to add a card board barrier thing because one of the babies poked her break through the 1 inch hole and one of my big girls was quick to attack. The baby got a bloody hole in her beak. took weeks to heal. Lucky it wasn't worse.
Mine have been exposed to each other for about 2 months and I still do not trust the big girls. I will be waiting until the babies are fully grown before I remove the barrier. That way they have a chance.


Always observe. Don't underestimate the viciousness of hens. Good luck!