Combining / integrating mature flocks

[pieville]

Hi all. I recently lost 4 hens to a fox & am down to 5 chickens. They’re happy, healthy & laying well. They have worked out pecking order & get along, no issues.
I’ve had an offer to take over an existing flock of 6 hens - the owner is moving & can’t take them. I have a big enough coop & a huge run so space isn’t an issue. I haven’t seen them yet, she says they’re healthy & they get along together.
She is willing to give them away in 2s or 3s if she can’t rehome them all together.
I’m experienced adding baby chicks into a flock, but this would be new to me. It would be nice to get layers - 3 of the 4 I lost to the fox had only been laying for a couple months.
Any advice? Am I crazy?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are not crazy.

Any flock can possibly have parasite or disease issues, including yours. Chickens can build flock immunities , never showing symptoms themselves but being carriers and can infect or infest other chickens. Coccidiosis is a good example. But just because it can happen doesn't mean it will.

Quarantine is one way to partially protect your flock when you bring in new chickens. This is where you isolate them for an extended time, maybe a month, to see if they develop a disease and to check them for parasites. This is mainly for chickens that have been exposed to other chickens recently, like from a swap, show, or auction. If that other flock has been a closed flock, no new chickens for over a month, it has been in quarantine if the owner would recognize a disease if they saw it and would tell you about it.

I'd chat with the owner about how isolated those chickens have been and what symptoms they may have shown. If you are happy with that and they look healthy I'd take them. If something doesn't sound right or they don't look healthy, do not take them.

 

[pieville]

Thanks Ridgerunner. I’m still in the “thinking about it” mode, but that’s good advice.

 

[aart]

Did the fox strike while free ranging?

More info on quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article

How old are these birds?
They may not lay right away due to moving and integration stress.
If older than about 14 months, and you live in the northern hemisphere,
they may molt and not lay until after Solstice.

Then there's integration, not sure how you integrated chicks,
but here's some thoughts 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/

 

[pieville]

They don’t free range - we have a big hawk population here. The fox found a opening in (I have a very large fenced run) at 3am. Some of my gals had taken to sleeping on the coop roof at night. They’ve always done this in summer. Not any longer.
thanks for all your input.