Svyetii
Chirping
Hey all!
So Ive successfully integrated four poulets into my flock of four hens. They are now roosting together and occupying the same enclosed coop without issue. They have been in the same space with partitions and escape areas for the last three weeks. The poulets are now 9 weeks old.
The original plan had been to give two of these hens to my neighbor as I didn’t have room for them (my daughter brought home four chicks from school
); however, they didn’t have a space to brood the chicks, so I offered to, and then they didn’t have their coop ready when it was time to move the chicks out of the brooder, so I expanded setup to accommodate them.
While it wasn’t the plan, I can now accommodate everyone happily. The neighbors have since finished their coop and adopted a hen that had been rehomed twice because all the other hens pick on her badly. The hen can’t be integrated into their existing flock because their hens also pick on her, so they have her in a separate coop by herself. They were hoping to add the two chicks from my flock with her in the hopes they would get along with her since they’re young. They don’t free range any of the hens, so they’d be cooped up together fulltime.
So, my two questions:
1: how stressful/disruptive will it be to the poulets if we relocate two now given that they’ve just adjusted to their current flock? How long should our neighbors expect the integration to take, the same amount of time as the first one?
2. What’s the likelihood that the 9w/o poulets will get along with this other hen? Does it seem like a good age to introduce them to a hen with baggage, or is starting with babies better?
Im inclined to keep the hens, but if it seems like an easy or straightforward move, Im open to it.
I appreciate any advice you have that might be helpful.
Sarah
So Ive successfully integrated four poulets into my flock of four hens. They are now roosting together and occupying the same enclosed coop without issue. They have been in the same space with partitions and escape areas for the last three weeks. The poulets are now 9 weeks old.
The original plan had been to give two of these hens to my neighbor as I didn’t have room for them (my daughter brought home four chicks from school
); however, they didn’t have a space to brood the chicks, so I offered to, and then they didn’t have their coop ready when it was time to move the chicks out of the brooder, so I expanded setup to accommodate them. While it wasn’t the plan, I can now accommodate everyone happily. The neighbors have since finished their coop and adopted a hen that had been rehomed twice because all the other hens pick on her badly. The hen can’t be integrated into their existing flock because their hens also pick on her, so they have her in a separate coop by herself. They were hoping to add the two chicks from my flock with her in the hopes they would get along with her since they’re young. They don’t free range any of the hens, so they’d be cooped up together fulltime.
So, my two questions:
1: how stressful/disruptive will it be to the poulets if we relocate two now given that they’ve just adjusted to their current flock? How long should our neighbors expect the integration to take, the same amount of time as the first one?
2. What’s the likelihood that the 9w/o poulets will get along with this other hen? Does it seem like a good age to introduce them to a hen with baggage, or is starting with babies better?
Im inclined to keep the hens, but if it seems like an easy or straightforward move, Im open to it.
I appreciate any advice you have that might be helpful.
Sarah
