Complex chick re-introduction - currently at 10 weeks - Any advice much appreciated!😁👍

[TheLandProject]

Hi All,

Got a complex flock introducting situation and woud appreciate any thoughts...

Ive had a read through (& got lost down a worm-hole of!) a lot of threads on the various issues, but there isnt any info specific enough to my situation

I've 5 10 week old chicks from my flock of 1 cockerel & 4 hens - Breed "Specifics" for the interested athe bottom(!)

I'm 90% certain my chicks are 4 roos and a pullet.

I really need to reintroduce my "chicks" to the flock as they are currently at home in a too-small run & I have a large run on a seperate plot of land, where my original flock are living - with a good-sized sectioned off part ready for them - I just need to work out how best to re-introduce them all..

I am despatching my current roo as I obviously cant keep probably 5(!) & he's an assh*le who treats his hens badly, but I'm still worried that I'm introducing a "male-heavy" group to a flock that have just lost a cockerel, & am looking into possibly getting some young pullets to try to balance this out, but is that just complicating the intruduction process...? I dont think I can keep the young ones together until I'm certain of the sexes as the probable single pullet is getting a bit overwhelmed.

Any tips or thoughts would be ace..!

Cheers!

Breed "specifics" for the interested: Araucana-cross cockerel & 1 Araucana-cross hen(who went broody but had had enough by week 6 and is now back with the fock), 2 Cream Legbar hens & 1 Reverse Sussex hen. Chicks are probably at least 1 from each of the blue-eggers, and 2 from the Reverse Sussex. The pullet is from a Cream Legbar.

 

[JustCallMeMaple]

Two ways you could try. Set up a mini house and small run next to the main area and let them see each other for a few days or a week then let them mix. Could do the second option shove them together and say figure it out. They're still young so while they may peck and figure out their new pecking order they work out who is in charge. If they have the space and enough food/water things tend to go smoother. Just they will have pecking order squabbles until they decide the hierarchy and once done it'll just become barely noticeable moments.

 

[TheLandProject]

Two ways you could try. Set up a mini house and small run next to the main area and let them see each other for a few days or a week then let them mix. Could do the second option shove them together and say figure it out. They're still young so while they may peck and figure out their new pecking order they work out who is in charge. If they have the space and enough food/water things tend to go smoother. Just they will have pecking order squabbles until they decide the hierarchy and once done it'll just become barely noticeable moments.

Great, thanks for your thoughts!

Do I not need to worry about the male ratio? Is it not really relevant at that age? Im fairly new to chicken parenting so I'm probably over-thinking things...!

 

[JustCallMeMaple]

You will need to fix the ratio at some point but at this age they aren't as hopped up on the how you doing ladies juice to be as aggressive at fighting.

 

[TheLandProject]

You will need to fix the ratio at some point but at this age they aren't as hopped up on the how you doing ladies juice to be as aggressive at fighting.

Ace! So that's a problem for when it presents itself, hopefully not for a month or so...

 

[JustCallMeMaple]

They don't have that rush until closer to 4/5mo old so you have time just don't press your luck and walk in month 5.5 and see a bloodbath because there's too many roos that want to service the ladies.

 

[TheLandProject]

They don't have that rush until closer to 4/5mo old so you have time just don't press your luck and walk in month 5.5 and see a bloodbath because there's too many roos that want to service the ladies.

Brilliant, thanks so much!

 

[JustCallMeMaple]

Anytime, on the plus it gives you more time to see what boy stands out to you the best in terms of personality and temperament so you can give people an idea on that particular bird. They may like knowing hey he's not the top bird but he's an agreeable fellow or he's middle plane but picks fights with the other boys often or never. Chickens are like people some are more confident others are more agreeable in any breed or mix. They are who they are like we are.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.

I have a large run on a seperate plot of land, where my original flock are living - with a good-sized sectioned off part ready for them

The way I understand this, at the location where you want them to be you have facilities where you can house them separately but they have the ability to see each other. By separate facilities I assume they can be separated during the day and sleep separately at night. I don't now how big in feet or meters that "large" run is or the size of the sectioned off parts are. A general photo showing how it looks and what you are working with could be really helpful. The general size of the main coop where you eventually want them to all sleep might help some, but mainly you have what you have.

The general way I'd approach it would be to house the young ones in their separate section until you were comfortable they will put themselves to bed in there every night. At least a week, maybe more. Then let them mingle during the day but sleep separately at night until they demonstrate they can get along during the day. I'd expect them to form two sub-flocks with the younger ones avoiding the older during the day and night. After they all mature they will join into one flock, but as long as they can share a space without any getting hurt I'm happy. If I knew more about what you are working with I may be able to offer specifics but without knowing I can only be generic.

I am despatching my current roo as I obviously cant keep probably 5(!) & he's an assh*le who treats his hens badly

I was going to ask how old the older ones were but since the 10-week-olds hatched from their eggs it doesn't matter. They can be considered adults. If you've decided to get rid of him, get rid of him. Don't waste money feeding him and let the flock sort itself out.

looking into possibly getting some young pullets to try to balance this out, but is that just complicating the intruduction process...?

Yes, unnecessarily adding complications. If you want to have more hens in your flock because you want more hens in your flock and you are going to eventually add them anyway you can work them in. How old they will be and such would be good info to help you plan that. But if you are adding them just because you think it will help you keep more boys I would not bother. You can have the same issues with a boy-girl ratio of 1 to 20 as you can with a ratio of 1 to 2.

I dont think I can keep the young ones together until I'm certain of the sexes as the probable single pullet is getting a bit overwhelmed.

At ten weeks if you can post individual photos of each chick with individual shots showing the head so we can see the comb and wattles, and a second shot showing the legs, posture, and profile of each we can probably help you on sexing them.

At that age I'd keep them all together for now. At some point they are going to hit puberty and you will have some decisions to make. That may be two weeks from now or two months. I prefer to base those decisions on what I see going on instead of using some magic age that doesn't have any magic about it. Each chicken is an individual and each flock has its own dynamics. You never really know what will happen when you are talking about behaviors. We all see different things.

Any tips or thoughts would be ace..!

Probably not a tip you'd expect. I think you are in the UK, which means your Araucana will probably look a lot different from a USA Araucana. It can help on a lot of things if we know where you are. If you modify your profile so that info automatically shows up it can help on a lot of things. Location is very often quite important. It doesn't have to be real specific. Knowing if you are north or south of the equator, what country or state you are in, or enough to help us guess your climate can often be important information.