Any issues adding a "little older" pullett to the clan?

[OCChicken]

One of my Barred Rock Pulletts ended up being a Roo

, so I put an add on C-list and I have been offered a trade for an 8 week old BR pullett, the rest of the girls are 5 1/2 weeks. Does anyone see any behavioral issues with this? I will be moving the girls outside this weekend to give them more space, do you think this should help the transition?

Thanks,
OC

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

I am far from an expert but I did just introduce a year old hen to 13 pullets and roos. It was a riot to watch. The little ones surrounded her like a gang out of West Side Story. A few bold ones would go peck at her, she'd peck back and they'd all scatter.

It seems to have been a seamless transition as far as I can tell. It definitely helped that she was bigger and able to hold her own.

 

[fowl weathered friend]

I just had a similar experience in reverse so I think it would be ok as long as you go about introducing them properly (there are many threads on this).
I just found out that it looks like my 3-4 wk old silkie and 2 mo old EE are going to get along just fine.
After they ate this morning, the EE kept running up to the silkie and the silkie would run away and the EE would give chase. At first I thought she was trying to get at her, peck at her, but it seems like she misses the company of another chicken! Whenever the silkie stopped running, the EE would stop too! Wouldn't peck her, just hung out to see what the silkie did next, and then followed suit. She kept following her around.

I have to adjust their temp housing to make it more suitable for the teenier chick, but they move in full-time tomorrow.

For older birds like yours I definitely recommend the "slip the chicken onto the roost in the middle of the night and distract them with treats in the morning"" approach.

 

[fowl weathered friend]

Helps too, i think, that they're all starting out in a new environment so that no one is encroaching on anyone else's territory. That works with cats pretty well.

 

[mom2chicksandpups]

I think it really depends on the chicken. It seems to me like a mixed flock is more accepting of new chickens than a flock that is all the same breed. My husband has a flock of Australorps and a small flock of Barred Rocks who do not accept outsiders. I have a mixed flock with all types of chickens and they seem to accept any chicken that I add to the mix so far. I even have 2 that are about twice the size of all the others and they all get along great together.

 

[cmom]

Quarantine the new bird for at least a month before you put the birds together. You can put them next to each other so they can see each other and get used to each other being there. There will be a period of re-establishing the pecking order once the new bird is put in with the existing flock.

 

[OCChicken]

Thanks for the replies everyone. They are a mixed bunch for the most part, 3 Barred rocks, 1 Black Australorp, 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte, and 1 RR and they all get along well (atleast so far) and also love our 75lb lab, so new things don't seem to bother them.

Thanks,
OC

 

[OCChicken]

Change of plans, the Gal I was trading with had some dogs get into her pen while she was at work and they killed all of her chicks, what a sad day for her.

 

[cmom]

I had a neighborhood mutt kill one of my hens by digging under the fence. Now I have an electric fence.