Combining 2 flocks

[amymtaylor2014]

I have 4 girls who are 18 weeks and another 4 who are about 14 weeks. I am trying to combine them and it is not going well. The older ones chase and peck at the younger ones. We put them in at night as I read on this site but it's still not working. Also, the young ones will not go to the coop at night. Any advice?

 

[clickdb]

How long have they been together? I know it takes a few days for chickens to figure out where "home" is and where to go at night. Did the two groups have any exposure to each other before being combined? i have my current flock in my main coop/run, and i've been putting my younger chicks in a smaller run that shares a wall with the main run so they can see but not touch. As far as pecking and chasing goes, it will go on until the new pecking order is established. totally normal. Just make sure there are places for the chasee to escape from the bigger guys.

 

[amymtaylor2014]

For awhile they were in coops right next to each other and now for the past week they have been sleeping together. The older girls have not injures any of the younger ones as they are pretty good at getting away. Also one of my girls from the younger flock is getting brave and is defending the younger flock. Every evening I have to go out and put the young 4 into the coop. They think their roost is my patio furniture. I am pretty sure they don't go to the coop at night because they are not very welcomed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens are flock animals and can tell which chickens are members of their flock. On occasion, a chicken will attack a strange chicken that shows up in their territory. It doesn’t happen a lot but it happens often enough that it is a good idea to house them next to each other for a week or more behind wire so they can see each other but not harm each other. This tends to make integration a lot easier but none of this stuff comes with guarantees. They are living animals and no one knows for sure how they will behave.

When two strange chickens meet, they have to determine how they rank in pecking order. A lot more often than many people think, this is no big deal. They can often immediately tell which one outranks the other. A typical occurrence when one invades the personal space of the other is that one of them pecks the other or tries to intimidate it. If one runs away there might be some chasing and repeat challenges but the pecking order is pretty much determined. If one doesn’t run, then there will likely be a fight. It normally doesn’t take long for one to decide running is a better option. If they are really evenly matched or one cannot run away, it can get pretty bad, even deadly. It is extremely important when integrating that they have a lot of room. They need to be able to run away.

Now a specific issue that you have. A more mature chicken automatically outranks an immature chicken and are often not slow in enforcing their pecking order rights. Your 18 week olds outrank the 14 week olds. It’s not a matter of size, it’s a matter of maturity. When a 14 week old invades the personal pace of an 18 week old, they are most likely going to get picked on. It doesn’t take very long for the younger ones to form their own sub-flock if they have enough room. They quickly learn to avoid the older ones that are going to beat them up. You need to give them the room to avoid. Normally mine merge into one flock when the younger ones mature enough to force their way into the pecking order. That’s usually about the time they start to lay.

A lot of times integration goes so smoothly you wonder what all the worry was about but sometimes it can turn deadly. The more room they have the more likely it is to go smoothly. Also put out extra feeding and watering stations so the younger don’t have to challenge the older to drink or eat. Don’t force them into conflict. If space is a little tight, it helps to have places the younger can hide from the older, somewhere they can get under of behind. If your roosts are high enough that the older ones cannot peck the feet of the younger, roosts are often used as a safe haven. When I’m integrating younger chicks in my flock I often find them up on the roosts in the morning when the older are on the coop floor waiting to be let out.

A lot of times putting the new chickens into the coop at night after dark does work. As I said, sometimes these things go very smoothly. But locking total strangers into a small space where they can’t get away has its risks. Sometimes this is a disaster. Often I move 12 week old chicks from my grow-out coop to the main coop to sleep. They have been free ranging with the flock for a month but had been sleeping in separate quarters. When I put them in the main coop, I’m down there before they wake up the first few mornings to open the pop door so they can run away if they need to.

My brooder is in the coop. If I don’t use my grow-out coop, at about five weeks I open the brooder door and let them mix with the adult flock. They put themselves to bed but the next few mornings I’m down there to open the pop door so they can run away if they need to.

I’ve never lost a chick to an adult member doing this. But I have a big tall coop with high roosts and hiding places. I don’t leave them locked in a small space where they cannot run away.