Arizona Coop & Run on a budget.....TIGHT budget ;-)

[tfwall]

Just a quick note....been monitoring the weather, and today, will be the 1st day the girls will spend in their new home. Altho that big barred rock is starting to suspiciously resemble a roo....hmmm.

 

[aart]

Just a quick note....been monitoring the weather, and today, will be the 1st day the girls will spend in their new home. Altho that big barred rock is starting to suspiciously resemble a roo....hmmm.

So is the large red one to the left...maybe you already knew that.

 

[BBQJOE]

That's quite the coop for a tight budget!

 

[tfwall]

Aart: I was afraid of that. So much for my chicks being 98% correct lol

Bbqjoe: The budget is kinda a ghost now....decided to err on the side of secure and safe.

 

[tfwall]

Ok, so well, the Missus and I talked it over and decided the Roo's had to go.

So we took em back to the feed store we bought them from...and left with 3 Plymouth Rocks. ( they were sold out of Barred.)

I have noticed the RIR's seem to be more skittish than the Rocks.....so we will see what happens.

 

[aart]

Ok, so well, the Missus and I talked it over and decided the Roo's had to go.

So we took em back to the feed store we bought them from...and left with 3 Plymouth Rocks. ( they were sold out of Barred.)

I have noticed the RIR's seem to be more skittish than the Rocks.....so we will see what happens.

Good for you!
Are the new birds the same age as the exiting ones?

Now you can experience the next chapter of your chickeneering learning curve.......integration.
Here's some tips:


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

It's about territory and resources(space/food/water). Existing birds will almost always attack new ones.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

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.

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.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best of mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

Another option, if possible, is to put all birds in a new coop and run, this takes the territoriality issues away.

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.

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

 

[marieff]

So is the large red one to the left...maybe you already knew that.

Agreed!

 

[tfwall]

Thanks for advice and links. I had already found most of that, but refreshers never hurt ;-)

So far, things have gone pretty decently. Due to the configuration of the coop and available materials, I was unable to do a decent separation screen.

I added food and water stations, "get away" areas, attention getters (IE Mirror, dangling cabbage ball, weed piles) and the girls also lost their Roo's the same day. So from the jump everybody was a bit dis-oriented.

I also had to remove the upper roost bar, because the new birds wanted to hide under it, and you know how poop bombing goes ;-)

I observed the introductions for a couple hours, and kept my nose out of it lol.

The new birds I think also have an issue with so much space. When I picked them up, there were 10 birds in a little 2x2 cage. They still run and stick their noses in the corner when I open the main door......I think eventually they will overcome that. Only time will tell.

I didnt do the quarantine, I know bad me, but they were all from the same hatch/delivery, and had been all in the same location.

 

[tfwall]

so tonight I put the upper roost bar back in so hopefully the Plymouths will stop sleeping on the floor, and this weekend the hidey-hole comes out. Don';t want nest sleepers when they open up.

This weekend, I will do temporary fencing on the end of the run, and muck it out so they can come outside for a while. argh...also have to build a looong chicken ramp ;-)

It's just been deep cold here with some wind, that I have been avoiding it. Who woulda thought Arizona would be cold right?

I can see the end in sight for the build, I just need to get back on the push and get'er done ;-)

 

[tfwall]

Just an update on the integration, I have been so busy around here, I have fallen behind on these.

So as of right now, ALL 7 birds sleep on the top bar. The original 4 as I call them 2 RIR and 2 BARs, go to bed first, the the plymouths follow about 10 minutes or so later.

They get on well, and the newbies have finally started joining the group at treat times, even if just at the edges of the group.

As for getting close to me, not gonna happen. They are very elusive. Oh well, I can live with that ;-)

Coop and run is pretty much done, I still need to procure some more sand for the run, but money has gotten super tight of late. I may have to take a run to the wash, I'm just nervous about that.....don't want sick birds.

Ill have to do a little more research on that.