Assistance needed on how and when to Introduce new hens to a flock.

[Chicken6000]

I currently own 1 Rooster (Breed N/A), & 1 Hen (Black Japanese Bantam) They are around 3-4 Months old. Me and my family are looking into introducing and adding more hens to the little group! Currently, we are only able to add 5 new hens. Now here are my questions, How should I introduce them? (Separate? Far?) How many should I introduce at a time? (All at once? 1 at a time?)

Thank you all for the support!

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

I currently own 1 Rooster (Breed N/A), & 1 Hen (Black Japanese Bantam) They are around 3-4 Months old. Me and my family are looking into introducing and adding more hens to the little group! Currently, we are only able to add 5 new hens. Now here are my questions, How should I introduce them? (Separate? Far?) How many should I introduce at a time? (All at once? 1 at a time?)

Thank you all for the support!

I’ve heard slipping them in the coop at night with them works

 

[aart]

I’ve heard slipping them in the coop at night with them works

That often ends in disaster.
Like bobbie-j sez:
"chickens aren't the brightest animals on this planet, but they're not that stupid."

I currently own 1 Rooster (Breed N/A), & 1 Hen (Black Japanese Bantam) They are around 3-4 Months old. Me and my family are looking into introducing and adding more hens to the little group! Currently, we are only able to add 5 new hens. Now here are my questions, How should I introduce them? (Separate? Far?) How many should I introduce at a time? (All at once? 1 at a time?)

How big is your coop and run, in feet by feet?
How old are the new birds?
Consider biological/medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article


Here's some tips about......
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
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.

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

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 copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, 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'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.

Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Ridgerunner]

Assistance needed on how and when to Introduce new hens to a flock.​

I currently own 1 Rooster (Breed N/A), & 1 Hen (Black Japanese Bantam) They are around 3-4 Months old. Me and my family are looking into introducing and adding more hens to the little group! Currently, we are only able to add 5 new hens. Now here are my questions, How should I introduce them? (Separate? Far?) How many should I introduce at a time? (All at once? 1 at a time?)

Without knowing a lot more the only question I can answer is that you need to do all at the same time. Aart's questions are important. Age can have a big influence on how they interact or even housing needs. What you have to work with is important. That includes the size of your coop and the size of your run. Do your current two free range or are they confined? Where do those two sleep at night?

Without detailed knowledge of what you are working with Aart's generic comments are the best we can do. Those are proven things that can make the integration process go smoother. Do those things always work? Nope, occasionally you can still have problems even if you do all that. Is it a guaranteed failure if you don't do all of that? Nope, sometimes integration is extremely easy, though having more room can help with that. Individual personality of the separate chickens has a huge influence. Sometimes you can just throw them together day or night and it works. Sometimes you try that and you wind up with dead chickens.

A lot of us go through this all of the time and really successfully. There are some tricks and processes that can really help your chances, many that Aart mentioned. There can be others based on your specific situation, but we can't get very specific without knowing your specific conditions.

 

[Chicken6000]

That often ends in disaster.
Like bobbie-j sez:
"chickens aren't the brightest animals on this planet, but they're not that stupid."


How big is your coop and run, in feet by feet?
How old are the new birds?
Consider biological/medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article


Here's some tips about......
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
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.

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

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 copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, 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'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.

Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

Thank you for the detailed response! They are all the same age (4 months) the coop is from this website! Go ahead and check it out, It has everything you need to know about the coop we have https://www.thisoldhouse.com/yards/21017545/how-to-build-a-chicken-coop The 2 chickens we have currently live in the coop, as for run, the run is still in a work in progress, so far its 6x4, we currently have 1 food station and 1 water station (Currently working on getting another food and water station for them) Here are some questions I have

1. Will the hens fight? Would the Rooster?
2. Do I introduce all the new hens at once? (Separated and Segregated Of Course)
3. Is the coop and run size I provided a good amount?

 

[Chicken6000]

Without knowing a lot more the only question I can answer is that you need to do all at the same time. Aart's questions are important. Age can have a big influence on how they interact or even housing needs. What you have to work with is important. That includes the size of your coop and the size of your run. Do your current two free range or are they confined? Where do those two sleep at night?

Without detailed knowledge of what you are working with Aart's generic comments are the best we can do. Those are proven things that can make the integration process go smoother. Do those things always work? Nope, occasionally you can still have problems even if you do all that. Is it a guaranteed failure if you don't do all of that? Nope, sometimes integration is extremely easy, though having more room can help with that. Individual personality of the separate chickens has a huge influence. Sometimes you can just throw them together day or night and it works. Sometimes you try that and you wind up with dead chickens.

A lot of us go through this all of the time and really successfully. There are some tricks and processes that can really help your chances, many that Aart mentioned. There can be others based on your specific situation, but we can't get very specific without knowing your specific conditions.

Thanks for the response! I answered aarts questions, you can go read them If it helps! They are all the same age, I'm going to follow and take note on what aart said, Ill probably keep you guys updated If I need anything, Thanks for the help!

 

[jpalmatier83]

Thanks for the response! I answered aarts questions, you can go read them If it helps! They are all the same age, I'm going to follow and take note on what aart said, Ill probably keep you guys updated If I need anything, Thanks for the help!

The question I would ask to pile onto @aart and @Ridgerunner would be:

Are the five new birds a cohesive group, or are you talking about adding five more, one at a time? Makes a big difference.

Also, can’t see an answer to @aarts questions anywhere.

 

[Chicken6000]

The question I would ask to pile onto @aart and @Ridgerunner would be:

Are the five new birds a cohesive group, or are you talking about adding five more, one at a time? Makes a big difference.

The new birds will be cohesive, they are from a aunt of ours!

 

[jpalmatier83]

The new birds will be cohesive, they are from a aunt of ours!

Ok, so, art and ridge are better than me. But at 3-4 months, I think you might want to think more about adding your current two to the new five. Particularly if the five are cohesive. A new environment may give your existing birds the home field advantage, but a group of five has the numbers.

 

[Chicken6000]

Ok, so, art and ridge are better than me. But at 3-4 months, I think you might want to think more about adding your current two to the new five. Particularly if the five are cohesive. A new environment may give your existing birds the home field advantage, but a group of five has the numbers.

Okay, I just got some new Info, we can only get 2, My aunt has her reasons, would adding 2 to 2 be okay?