cross posting for help

[daniellecm]

Hi
I posted this in another section however maybe this one is where it should be for some answers

Hello All

So as some of you know we had a baby chick squatting on our property last year. He must have been about 6 weeks
when I found him in the back yard. Well its been a year and he's still with us. He has made himself a home in the barn and roosts
above my old retired mare.
A month ago I got myself some baby Dom's. So cute and cant believe I didn't do this sooner. Anyhow they have been living in a brooder in the spare bedroom as we are building the coop.

My plan is to put them outside at about 6-8 weeks old and to have them live in the coop and run we build and let the rooster free range as per usual. This I was planning for at least a few weeks.

So questions.

I hear a lot about segregating new ones even downwind from other chickens. Is this a concern I should have with popcorn free ranging around them ? Is a few weeks enough for him to get used to them through the chicken wire and then maybe letting them free range while im home to get used to each other ?

Id ideally like to get to the point where they all share the same coop at night and as well the run in the day. Im just not 100% sure how to do that. I certainly do not want anyone to get sick either.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

 

[Den in Penn]

Quarantine is usually for four weeks. That is less then the time that chicks are in a brooder. And yes a good quarantine setup is down wind at some distance from the main flock. It also involves a complete isolation including your clothes shoes and feed handling. If either the rooster or the chicks are carrying something there is no way to be sure other then testing. So most of us just put them together after the separation period and hope non are carriers.
Your plan to introduce them sounds good. The best way to get them to stay in the new coop is after you have introduced them is to pen them all in the coop/run for a week to get the rooster reset, to that be his new home.

 

[daniellecm]

Thank you for you response. Are you saying when I move the girls out I should put then all in the coop together? I was thinking let them get to know each other through the fence first

 

[chfite]

When I mix flocks, I have them separated by a fence for a couple of weeks to get to know each other. When they mix, there will be the usual establishment of a new pecking order.

Chris

 

[Den in Penn]

Yes a period of through the wire introduction is best. I was thinking that the rooster being used to roosting above the mare would try to get the hens to follow him. So after the introduction period if he tries that a penning in the coop might be in order.

 

[daniellecm]

Thank you for your suggestions! I will let them get used to each other through the fence then coop them up together
hope all goes well