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OK, here we go...I have a situation that I would like some input from y'all. My first chicks will be 16 weeks old when I take the new girls out to their coop. I am over crowded in my A-frame coops. I need to move 9 girls in with my adults. Is 16 weeks ok for them to integrate? My present roo is very docile but I know one of my leghorn ladies is aggressive. She is definitely at the top of the order!

Any thoughts?


Joe
 
wsmith said:
Joe,

Do you have a way for the two groups to be right next to each other, so they could become accustomed to one another, without placing the younger ones in danger?
Click to expand...
The adult coop/run is joining the duck area...but there is only 2 dog houses in there, so the ladies won't have a place to stay at night. So I guess the answer would be no. The runs are not near each other.

How long do they need to be close but not together? I have a pullet coop/run that is move-able, but it only has chicken wire on it..not too predator-resistant! It is a 9x6 run with a 5x6 coop. As long as I put them in at night...I guess they would be ok.
 
wattsjadajoe said:
The adult coop/run is joining the duck area...but there is only 2 dog houses in there, so the ladies won't have a place to stay at night. So I guess the answer would be no. The runs are not near each other.

How long do they need to be close but not together? I have a pullet coop/run that is move-able, but it only has chicken wire on it..not too predator-resistant! It is a 9x6 run with a 5x6 coop. As long as I put them in at night...I guess they would be ok.
Click to expand...
If you're ok with putting them in at night, that should help towards integration. My ladies are closer in age than yours but it went pretty well for me. At about 10 weeks (big girls) and 6 weeks (babies) I put their brooders next to each other so they could see eachother through chicken wire. I left it that way for a week or two and then tried putting the babies in with the big girls and boys. It didn't go well. The big boys were really picking on the babies. The big girls didn't care much. So we moved the big boys out to the coop before it was 100% done. The next day we put the babies back in with the big girls and one boy and it went much better. The boy wasn't happy about the intruders but as long as they stayed away they were fine. It took about two weeks for the two groups to merge from their different sides of the brooder, but now they're one big family.

I'd definitely give them a few days of seeing each other without having direct contact and then give it a go. Something else you can do for the first meeting is give the agressive girl time out while everyone else meets and then reintroduce her once the others are getting along.
 
Thanks...I'll see what I can come up with. I do want to mention that my 16 week-olds are as large or larger in physical size than my leghorns.... The leghorns I have are kinda small. But they produce!!! An egg a day!

So does physical size have anything to do with it?

Joe
 
PHysical size can be a factor, but not always. Some birds are just timid, while others are aggressive.

Most are just bird brained.......
big_smile.png
 
Well, it's 99.9% done! We are waiting for one metal art piece to hang on the front, plus the 'yard' decorations after the one neighbor sells. And there is now a red metal flower on the side; DH hung it after I snapped these. I was going to use stencils for the flowers and cross, but it didn't turn out too well so I changed tactics.

 

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