Dropping new chickens into a flock

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Just dropped three 2.5 month old chickens into my established flock of seven 10 month old chickens 4 days ago. Was this a bad idea? How long will it take for them to integrate into the flock? I have separate feed and water stations and they all stay in their own space. My lowest ranking hen will attack them every once in a while but my rooster and the other hens leave them alone. Can chickens that are dropped into a new flock grow up to be calm healthy birds?

 

[limited25]

Hope you quarantined them first for 30 days to make sure they don't bring diseases or problems to your present flock. Since you've already integrated them I would just keep an eye on them. I can't imagine why they wouldn't become calm, healthy birds. What breed of chickens do you have?

 

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The people that I got them from are reliable and honest chicken owners they told me that they are healthy and disease free. The new ones are australorps, my existing flock are 5 dominique hens, 1 dom rooster and one dark brahma bantam roo. I definitely monitor their behavior and it's interesting to note that only one of the lorps is brave enough to come out of the coop to free-range while the other two stay inside. My doms are very gentle and easy-going I imagine in no time everyone will be getting along.

 

[azygous]

Actually, your new chickens are well ahead of the curve. That there has been so little conflict is and excellent sign that integration is proceeding smoothly and quickly.

I wrote an article integrating a single hen into my flock. It wasn't without a certain amount of drama. You may want to read it and compare notes. You'll see that your flock is adapting to the newcomers splendidly. It's the third article linked below my post.

 

[RonP]

I do the same thing every year.

3-4 17 week olds into the existing flock.

I keep reminding myself it's just the hazing before being accepted into the sorority...

Always a bit of drama, takes about 3 weeks before the "babies" are allowed to even venture out of the coop.

Food and water inside and out.

All settled in about a month.

I try not to watch...just monitor for excessive abuse, which thankfully has yet to happen.

In other words, lost feathers but no bloodshed.