Honestly, with an acre for 8 birds, all of the above should be fine. I'd try the option of putting them in the same coop the first night, just make sure that door is open well before sunlight. It seems to me that even arch enemies are fine roosting together, squabbles over spots, but not the "leave or I'll kill ya" stuff in the day time.I've got a flock of 13 pullets; all 22 weeks old. Three are laying, and the rest of the dual purpose birds are headed to the freezer on Wednesday. I also have a separate group of 5 (EE, SLW, GLW, Whiting true blue and whiting true green) that at least 3 are intended to be layers. They are 11 weeks old. They've been kept separate but within sight of the older flock. I want to bring them together, as I want 8 birds to be in the same coop through the winter. My integration plans:
Plan 1: (my plan unless you all advise against) After harvesting the 10 birds, wait until that night and put the other 5 pullets into the coop while the remaining 3 are roosting. My thought is that the hierarchy of the flock will be thrown off by the culling, and there may be more acceptance of the new pullets.
Plan 2: Allow the remaining 3 pullets to spend the night in their coop, and when I let them out to range (within an acre thats netted off) - and let the 5 new, younger pullets range together, and allow the birds to go wherever they want (either coop) for a few days, before removing the grow out coop the after a few days.
Plan 3: The same as plan 2, but remove the grow out coop immediately, forcing the 5 younger pullets to find a place to roost and hopefully they'll follow the older birds to the big coop.
Plan 4: After culling the 10 older birds, leave the remains 3 older pullets in the enclosed run to roost overnight for a few days, and enclose the 5 younger pullets to spend several days alone in the big coop. After a few days, open the pop door to let them mingle.
I know there's never agreement for all - but would love your thoughts and experience to guide me.
Thanks