Yabadabadoo
Songster
Hello! We have chicks (we had a mature flock, but all have passed), and this is my first experience raising chicks and integrating flocks. In part because we didn’t know what we didn’t know, we ended up with a 3-5 week age difference between our two groupings, then due to space constraints, we have had to wait to integrate them (separate brooders/adolescent coops).
They have been able to see, not touch, for a few weeks now with adjacent chicken runs. We have let them all integrate while free ranging (human supervised for up to 4-5 hours, multiple days in past week), and they have been in and out of each other’s yards. There is a little chasing around here and there, but mostly in the first 10-15 minutes of excitement. They then really just behave like two flocks (see pic in run
Our bigger coop will be finished this week (yay!!!!) and I am wondering if there is a “better” way to move all birds into their new home.
The new coop is 8x8 and will have an attached 12’x12’ run (pics attached; birds will free range once they are bigger and smarter). There is currently 15’ of roost bar in the coop, but I expect most of our birds to still sleep in a pile. I live in AZ and nights are in the 50s so I am not worried about anyone being cold (all are outdoors acclimated). (For future reference, we also have two smaller coops so as birds grow they will have choice.)
Should I let one flock sleep in the new coop without the other first or do I just throw them all in there together the first night?
I can continue manual, supervised integration during the day, but on some level it is dragging out integration. Also my smaller pens are waaaaay across my yard from the big coop so they won’t see each other anymore.
All were pullets; I think there is only one secret rooster.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. You all are such a tremendous resource.
They have been able to see, not touch, for a few weeks now with adjacent chicken runs. We have let them all integrate while free ranging (human supervised for up to 4-5 hours, multiple days in past week), and they have been in and out of each other’s yards. There is a little chasing around here and there, but mostly in the first 10-15 minutes of excitement. They then really just behave like two flocks (see pic in run
Our bigger coop will be finished this week (yay!!!!) and I am wondering if there is a “better” way to move all birds into their new home.
The new coop is 8x8 and will have an attached 12’x12’ run (pics attached; birds will free range once they are bigger and smarter). There is currently 15’ of roost bar in the coop, but I expect most of our birds to still sleep in a pile. I live in AZ and nights are in the 50s so I am not worried about anyone being cold (all are outdoors acclimated). (For future reference, we also have two smaller coops so as birds grow they will have choice.)
Should I let one flock sleep in the new coop without the other first or do I just throw them all in there together the first night?
I can continue manual, supervised integration during the day, but on some level it is dragging out integration. Also my smaller pens are waaaaay across my yard from the big coop so they won’t see each other anymore.
All were pullets; I think there is only one secret rooster.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. You all are such a tremendous resource.
