First post..Mixing our flocks ?

magikk

In the Brooder
11 Years
Jul 25, 2008
28
0
32
central PA
Hi everyone,First off I'd like to thank everyone for this wonderful board.I've picked up alot of info in the last few months.Ok last winter my wife & I decided to get some chickens. So this spring I built a coop & we bought some birds locally.We got 15 RIR they are about 18 weeks old now.A week after getting the first batch I got 10 Americaunas,5 bar Rocks & five assorted bantams(the guy gave me the bantams for free) they would be about 16 weeks.They've been free ranging for about 3 months but lately they keep going to my neighbors yard( usually in the mornings & never in the evening).So we decided to keep them in the run & maybe leave them out in the evenings.They have been roosting together for months & there is the ocassional squirmish in the yard
(the two flocks stay seperate in the yard),but today is the first day in the run together all day & we are worried.They have one run out the back of the coop 24ftx30ft & one out the front 12ftx15ft.I've read some of the older posts & they say to just grin & bear it & let them establish a new pecking order.My first batch of RIR turned out to be 7 roosters. I butchered 4 yesterday & may do a few more Saturday depending on how they get along this week.I used my small knife to puncture the roof of the mouth to kill the birds & the traffic cones to hold the birds. I read about that process on here & it worked very well.
So any advice on mixing my flocks or should I just give them time to work it out on their own.It's not even been a day & we feel so bad for not letting them free range all day but have to try & keep the peace with the neighbor.
Sorry for being so long winded.& thanks again Mike
 
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Welcome to BYC! I can see that you are already addicted to chickens.
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So, you'll fit right in here and we'll have much less work to do on you.
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If noone is being physically damaged (no blood drawn) then I would suggest letting them work it out but with you keeping a watchful eye on them. It can take days or even longer for chickens to work out their pecking order but you don't want any of them being seriously hurt during that time.
 

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