Don’t know how to merge my two flocks

Raul Herrera

In the Brooder
Dec 19, 2017
19
6
36
i have two flicks of different age. One is about seven or eight months old; it consists of my two Delaware hens and my EE hen but I recently moved the EE with the younger flock since she's a bit more docile. The younger flock is about 4 to 5 months old;consists of one New hemisphere hen and a New hemisphere rooster and then the EE. I already tried introducing the rooster to the older ones but the two Delaware hens pretty much jumped him and cornered him. We removed him and put him back to his flock. Ever since he afraid of me touching him. Any advice on merging them. I planning on getting more chicks in the spring but both coops are occupied and building another one would cost too much.
 
Chickens take their social order very seriously, and they don't like strangers. Introductions need to be gradual. A look, but don't touch approach works well. Keeping them in adjacent setups, close enough for both flocks to see each other for at least two weeks lets them get used to each other with territorial aggressions. Then, you merge both runs, so that they have separate sleeping quarters, but share a very large run. Adding multiple food and water stations and breaking up sight lines can go a long way towards reducing aggression. By the way, it's much easier to integrate chicks into flock than it is to integrate adults. Mature birds don't see the little ones as threats to their pecking order, so they generally ignore young birds.
 
How big are these coops and runs? Generally you fence them next to each other for a few weeks than you start letting them mingle under supervision. Keep it up until they mostly get along. It could take a while.

If your set ups are too small you will see cornering and pecking behaviors as the birds can't get away. Birds can kill each other, so having places for them to get away from each other can help. Birds will defend their territory against other birds. The more room, the less you see aggression.
 

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