Has anyone ever just "thrown them in" when integrating new birds into a flock?

[Shezadandy]

you just have to keep filling up the waterer and feeder for the chicks because the mother hen will knock them over or drink all the water and eat their food.

I have 2 magic tricks for broody hens who like to demolish the water. Inside the coop, I screw 2x4's into the floor so they tightly hold my water container for the chicks so she can't get it- always against a wall.

For outside, I have those plastic water heater pans (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-24-in-Plastic-Drain-Pan-15021/205681003) which offer a nice shallow water level for chicks but carry enough water to keep everyone hydrated- and I put a huge rock in the middle. So she can still splash it around … but there's enough for tiny beaks to get what they need.


Ta da!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Here me out. I have 5 grown hens, and four 5-7 week old chicks that are currently outside. I have PLENTY of space, the run is 18/24 feet. When I took the chickies outside I thought that before I put them in their cage in the run I should just plop them down with the other birds and observe carefully to see what happens.

It went really well, there was of course quite a bit of pecking in the beginning but the hens only ever pecked the chicks if they were in their way or trying to eat some of their food, and there was no blood, just some pulled feathers when the rooster chick challenged the top hen (it didn't go well). Other than that, they leave each other alone. I put out 2 new feeders and waterers so everyone gets fed, plus lots of treats to occupy the big ones. I ended up leaving them like that all day long yesterday, but I was going out every 20 minutes to check on them.

When it was time to go to bed the hens went into the coop and the chicks followed them and they let them stay there! Granted they slept on the floor and there was a lot of squawking from the big hens (but no biting), but still. I shut them in together but woke up half an hour before sunrise and opened the coop so it would not be light out and the chicks would be trapped. It went well they all made it through the night.

I am still watching them VERY carefully. And I know we all hear the horror stories of hens scalping chicks or eating them like hyenas, but this seems to be going very well. Is it likely at some point the hens will just "snap" and kill them? And is this normal or is my flock special? I have an uncle who integrates chickens the same way (but with adult hens), and it's the same thing. They get a good peck if they come too close but otherwise they're left alone.

Let me know what you think and please your experiences. Please be kind.

That’s great that it worked for you! Personally I would not do it that way, just because I don’t like injuries or anything going wrong if it can be prevented. I would just be too afraid to do that. I would definitely do a more slow approach.

 

[WELDON99]

Pretty much what I have done as well. I have 4 coops. All are in sight of each other. I have plans to make a larger, common yard for the birds and want to see if I can let them all hang together! My girls range from about 4 years old to 6 weeks. I lost my Brahma Roo last week. I pulled a mixed breed Roo from another cage and and I guess he thinks he has died and gone to heaven!! He has 11 hens all to himself! Brahmas and Gold Stars!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Yes, it's possible. Having a lot of space, hiding spots, a docile flock, and time to monitor them is imperative for it to go smoothly.

I have watched my friend plop chicks in with her adult hens numerous times with very little (if any) issues. Once they are feathered out and no longer need a heat source, that's old enough for her to feel comfortable integrating.

I have a pretty eleborate covered run set up with a door that can be closed on the end, sectioning off a 4'x10' area for whatever my needs may be, whether for the "see but don't touch" method or as a broody pen, sick bay, bully quarters, etc. I have a hook to keep the door open when not in use for separating. With all of that said, I had 5-6 week old chicks in there and then my broody hatched her chicks. Long story short, I decided to put her in the sectioned off area with her chicks as well as the "teenager" chicks that were already in there. She didn't adopt them but she didn't bother them either. A few days later she was clearly ready to teach the babies about free ranging because she kept pacing by the door so I just figured, what the heck, let's see what happens. None of my docile flock seemed to care at all, as a matter of fact, they were more concerned about getting to eat the chick crumble in their area than the chicks themselves, lol.
I got really brave after this and added 5 more 3 week old chicks to the motley crew. It is warm during the day and again, even though my broody didn't adopt any of the chicks and they seem to stay in their own "clicks" during the day, then all sleep around and under her for warmth at night so I haven't needed to use another heat source. I know this isn't exactly what you asked about because I have the addition of my broody hen to my situation but she doesn't protect the other babies at all during the day because they're spread out around the yard and I'm sure you'll notice the lack of me mentioning my adult flock much...there are 10 mature hens and none of them cared about the chicks at all. The 1 hen that just started laying and is at the bottom of the pecking order is the only one that pecks the babies at all and no harm has come to them. I think she just wants to make sure she's higher than them on the pecking order at the very least, lol. I hope that helps to answer your question!

 

[chaz65]

In my situation I had a hen go broody literally in January when it was freezing out. I started to retrieve her eggs every day but she would constantly just stay in the nesting box so I decided to let her try to hatch out eggs. So basically when a hen goes broody she will only leave the nesting box to quickly drink and eat usually only once a day. While she is out other hens tend to lay their eggs in the same box. So when the first chick hatched after 21 days I put my stall divider in place to separate the mother hen and chick from the other hens and our rooster. (I was actually collecting eggs when the first chick hatched it was crazy to be there at that moment) Unfortunately even though I had a divider in place another hen was able to squeeze through an opening up high and scare the mother hen and chick out of the nesting box. By the time I found out the eggs had went cold for several hours. I still let her sit on the eggs for several days until she rejected them just to make sure. But I'm assuming the chick that hatched was her first egg she laid before the other hens filled up her nest with their eggs. So I'm pretty sure had I secured the area a little tighter I would have had more eggs hatch. Yes the mothers will protect their chicks with their life, but it's still good to separate them for a while from the flock. I wouldn't say you have to constantly monitor them you just have to keep filling up the waterer and feeder for the chicks because the mother hen will knock them over or drink all the water and eat their food.

Hi there I have had lots of chickens go broody
What I do to stop other chickens laying there eggs in the broody is to separate the broody hen and eggs in a separate area where no can get in but let her out to eat and drink and also keep food and water in there I had all eggs hatch
I just had one very small hen hatch 4 eggs as that's is only what she can lay on
But on the other hand one other hen hatch 11 chicks but rejected them all now my very small hen lots after all of them 15 in total

 

[henhubble]

I think available perch space is also important to them. Seems if there's "excess" linear perch space there's less to fight about. I added more linear feet of perch in my latest coop so will test the theory with our new flock.

yes, there can be a lot of jostling for position and bullying on the roost. As a youth, I used to try to arrange them beak to tail on the roost. Best to have more than 1 perch

 

[ceceuu]

Thank you for your post! I have only integrated once and I went to a ton of work with a grow out pen and observing for days. Maybe this time of integrating 6 chicks into an existing flock of 10 hens (5 and 3 year olds) will go smoother. They are a gentle lot and the only problem I had three years ago was with a Gold Star, who was surprisingly aggressive and ended up dropping dead during the integration, which was kind of a blessing in disguise because she was being so awful. Good Luck with your continued success with this and thank you again for your encouraging post.

 

[Moonwolf]

Here me out. I have 5 grown hens, and four 5-7 week old chicks that are currently outside. I have PLENTY of space, the run is 18/24 feet. When I took the chickies outside I thought that before I put them in their cage in the run I should just plop them down with the other birds and observe carefully to see what happens.

It went really well, there was of course quite a bit of pecking in the beginning but the hens only ever pecked the chicks if they were in their way or trying to eat some of their food, and there was no blood, just some pulled feathers when the rooster chick challenged the top hen (it didn't go well). Other than that, they leave each other alone. I put out 2 new feeders and waterers so everyone gets fed, plus lots of treats to occupy the big ones. I ended up leaving them like that all day long yesterday, but I was going out every 20 minutes to check on them.

When it was time to go to bed the hens went into the coop and the chicks followed them and they let them stay there! Granted they slept on the floor and there was a lot of squawking from the big hens (but no biting), but still. I shut them in together but woke up half an hour before sunrise and opened the coop so it would not be light out and the chicks would be trapped. It went well they all made it through the night.

I am still watching them VERY carefully. And I know we all hear the horror stories of hens scalping chicks or eating them like hyenas, but this seems to be going very well. Is it likely at some point the hens will just "snap" and kill them? And is this normal or is my flock special? I have an uncle who integrates chickens the same way (but with adult hens), and it's the same thing. They get a good peck if they come too close but otherwise they're left alone.

Let me know what you think and please your experiences. Please be kind.

I think it depends on breed and individuals and space.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think it also depends on if the the flock has had chicks before. Because the more I do this, the easier it gets.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I think it also depends on if the the flock has had chicks before. Because the more I do this, the easier it gets.

I agree with this wholeheartedly! I think once the flock is used to seeing newbies they don't seem to get as worked up about it.