Combine ing mix ages?

[Five Points John]

I knonw that the pecking order will happen. But there is 3 weeks age differce. They are free rangeing during the day. The bigger ones will make the smaller one squawl, but no missing feathers or blood. I want to put them in one big coop. My questoin is should I build a retreat for the smaller one with food and water and a place to get a way from the bigger ones? Or just let them work it out? It is 90 some degress out today. Thanks in advance John

 

[TigerLilly]

I have a separate area for my younger chicks (which is also a quarantine area) that is within sight/sound of the other, older chicks. They get moved right next to the older ones after about 30 days or so where they can get up close & personal, but not have physical contact. Integrating them after that has not been a problem, just the normal pecking-order stuff. If you can't do something like that, then yes, I would say to give them something the bigger ones cant get into so they will have a 'safe haven.'

 

[abbey808]

I recently integrated a much smaller and younger chick with two of my older girls. I kept the little one separated for a few weeks to quarantine her in her own cage, but it was close enough so the bigger girls could see and hear her. When I finally put them together, it wasn't like they were total strangers. There was some pecking and squabbling on their first day together, but by the next day they were all walking around together like they've known each other for ages.

Gook luck! Let us know how it goes.

Leigh

 

[Jeffross1968]

I just introduced 5 new ones to a flock of 6 others, and after 4 days it's gone mostly well. We had one too many roosters, so he had to go. But since then, things have gone really well. I put them together after dark the first night. Things are much more calm that part of the day, and there was a little positioning for the roost, but it was the best move we made. After that, there was some pecking, mostly by the roo we got rid of...some obvious reshuffling of the pecking order, but after only 4 days we let them out to free range yesterday, and there wasn't a single issue between them, and they all dutifully returned about an hour before dark.

We have a real mix breed, with only the 3 leghorns sharing breed. The others are all different, so I doubt that had anything to do with smooth integration. All but one is under 1 year and that might have helped. I also made sure there was a 2nd water and feed station, so that if the bully of the group doesn't want them around, there are other options. I'm extremely happy how things went. I hope you have the same luck!