Bringing the Flocks Together

[csmith42]

Hi! First time here...

I have a well established flock of 6 hens (used to be more before the fox came through) and in early May got 6 more chicks. Out of the pullets, 5 are hens and I think (hope) 1 is a rooster. My question, when can I put them together? Right now, the pullets are on my workshops porch in a makeshift cage that allows easy access for the current hens to come up and say hi or look at the pullets (which they do throughout the day). Any help you can give would be great!

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Welcome to BYC!

If you got the chicks in early May, by now they would be 6-8 weeks old. I would say you can release them now, but how long have they been seeing each other? Keep in mind that there will be some pecking, but that's normal. They are just figuring out who's who among themselves.

 

[csmith42]

Yes, by my math they would be 8-9 weeks old at this point. I know I have 1 little rooster in the group, and 5 hens. They have been out on the porch, visible to the 6 hens for 4ish weeks now. I will be doing some traveling for July 4th, but may look to let them out after that. Should I release them and let them all free range together, or should I just pull all 12 in the coop and be present as the "referee" in case any pecking gets out of hand?

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Yes, by my math they would be 8-9 weeks old at this point. I know I have 1 little rooster in the group, and 5 hens. They have been out on the porch, visible to the 6 hens for 4ish weeks now. I will be doing some traveling for July 4th, but may look to let them out after that. Should I release them and let them all free range together, or should I just pull all 12 in the coop and be present as the "referee" in case any pecking gets out of hand?

It doesn't really matter that much, I've done mine both ways. If you decide to free-range, you might need to put them back into the coop after nightfall since they don't know where their new home is.

 

[csmith42]

Great! Thank you!

 

[Parront]

Depending on how makeshift their current cage set-up is, you might relocate it to the chicken run with a small entrance that only they can use, in case they need a get-away from the big birds. And some hide-outs for the smaller birds to go in where the big birds can not see them are nice, too. Extra feeders and waterers so that everyone gets a chance, sometimes one bird will guard the feeder and not let the new ones eat. Maybe more perches so no fighting over nighttime space? They will tell you -- listen for loud squawks at roosting time!

 

[Onyxflock]

Great! Thank you!

There is a great article by Rosemarythyme that gives some good ideas about integrating your birds. It really helped me!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/

 

[rosemarythyme]

There is a great article by Rosemarythyme that gives some good ideas about integrating your birds. It really helped me!

Just a caveat to that: 8-9 week old chicks may be too big for some of what I recommend in my article (such as safety gaps). Using clutter and multiple feeders should still help in your scenario. I also don't free range so honestly don't know what would happen if you simply released chicks from brooder to free range... I'd imagine they'd try to return to the brooder, but not sure.

 

[csmith42]

Great! Thank you for the thought and information. I plan to put them together early next week and will let everyone know how it goes!

 

[RooBeeC]

I recommend having them be as close in size as you can manage. A few years back I had a cage separating my newbees for a few weeks. I thought it was ok to move them in with the new flock. Tooootally was not time! I kept them apart a little longer while constructing a place for the little ones to hide and it seemed to go better when they were a little bigger. There still was a good amount of pecking but no bloodshed! Why cant they just get along, I swear! Lol