HELP! I have 4 "sets" of chickens and need to integrate them all into our large brand new coop. How.

[FriendlyFlocker]

Hello, I am a new member and have a question I can't seem to find the answer for in these forums. I hope I am adding this question in the right place. I have 3 5 month old Belgian Qail D'anvers (one roo and two hens) that run free range during the day. I have 3 7 week old banty assortment (not sure if they are roos or hens yet) living in a small coop in the yard. I also have 5 large breed chicks that are about 3 weeks old living in a brooder in my house (they are big and no longer using a heat lamp so I gotta get them outside! Lol!) AND just today had a friend bring me 3 2 month old bantys that she could no longer take care of. I am running out of places to keep them all separated and the goal is to have them all thriving happily together in our large chicken coop/run that is just about finished being built. (See the tailfeather cottage link here, this is what we copied when building our coop/run: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/tailfeather-cottage ) My question is...can I place all of the younger ones (not including the 5 month olds) into the coop together at the same time and just watch them for a while to see how it goes? And then, slowly integrate the 5 month olds as the younger ones get older? Or is this a bad idea? Total amount of chickens will eventually be 5 large breed, and 9 bantys. Any advice would be helpful! Thanks in advance!

 

[Judy]

There isn't a simple answer to this. When you mix chickens, they must sort out their new pecking order. This can range from mild pecking and chasing to very serious attacks. Any chicken who has blood drawn is best removed from the group til healed.

Some people find the transition is nearly trouble free, and some have much worse experiences, even losing a bird or more.

They do best when they live side by side for a while before being mixed, when they are all about the same size. When mixing, things like lots of space, places to hide, more than one feed and water tation, and distractions such as treats all help. Another method is to place a new bird or two on the roost just after dark, but I don't think this is the way to go in your situation.

Here is a thread where this is discussed at length; I hope it helps!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/803815/integrating-two-groups/0_20

 

[FriendlyFlocker]

Thanks! We did not finish the coop yesterday and I was stressing over what to do with the new 2 month olds I got (as they were being housed for the moment in our 5 month old Bantys house and the 5 month olds were wanting to go to bed and not too happy about not being able to access their normal home). So I put the 2 month olds in with the 7 week olds I have. Even though the 2 month olds are bigger. Everything seems to be working out alright. There are 2 that seem to not like each other and don't want to back down but today they are steering clear of each other and everyone is co-habitating. However, my 5 month old rooster discovered the younger newbies and was challenging the younger roo (yep he was trying to crow this morning so guess I got 2 of them now!) It was interesting to see because the younger one was not intimidated at all and ended up making the older one back away from his enclosure. (hmmm...? I hope it works out in the long run or I will have to find a home for one of these guys). Now I have my 3 week olds outside in a small coop, enjoying their first day outside. Hopefully this will help everyone get used to each other. Now...to finish the coop today (I HOPE!!!)

 

[FriendlyFlocker]

Just a quick update on this. The coop is finished and all the chickens are happily living together (except the 6 month olds, they get to see the other chickens but I have not put them together as of yet since the young ones don't seem quite ready for that, lol! Thanks for all of your help! Here are a few pics of the coop and chicks!

 

[cafarmgirl]

That looks like a great coop! Love the all the windows and natural light, great ventilation. I'm sure your birds love it to!

 

[FriendlyFlocker]

Thanks, everyone says our chickens are spoiled. We built this coop after a model shown here on BYC. My husband looked at the pics and just figured it out. He has lots of construction, framing, building experience so I am very lucky!

 

[aart]

Glad you figured out the integration.....that huge coop certainly helped I'm sure, the more room the better.

GREAT coop....wants to see more pics of it!

 

[FriendlyFlocker]

Sure! I stole the idea directly from here! I showed my hubby a pic and he went right to work!



This little outside area has a door on it where we can reach in and collect eggs from outside. There are three nesting boxes inside.

 

[aart]

Oh nice!!