i have struggled over the past year with the chickens i've inherited tormenting the chickens i've raised from chicks. today i gave away 5 standards (one of my special favorites - boo hoo) because my bantams were so tormented they lost ALL their head feathers and because i have 4 silkies waiting to join the big girls. how do you all manage introducing new hens to your coop? i am switching to more silkies and bantam cochins and want my coop to be relatively peaceful. am i being too naive? (sp?)
The way I introduced seemed to work for me so I'll tell ya how I did it. I know that there are many ways! First I put the new chickens in a large wire dog kennel along side my out door run and let them stay a few hours at a time. Then move the kennel inside the run and work up to leaving it in there all day. Last but not least when you feel they are familiar you should put the new chickens in the coop at roosting time. Maybe even after they have settled down for the night. There is still a little pecking to establish a new order but it all seemed to go fairly smooth for me. Hope this helps!!
I was able to separate my babies from the older girls with a split coop for several months. My hubby put up chicken a chicken wire wall so they could see each other but not physically interact. Integration took a long time for me, but I think it was because of my inexperience....I want everyone to get along NOW ! The 2 groups could see each other and I did not mix them until after the babies were close to the same size. When I did I placed my big girls, one hour after dark into the babies area, then woke up early and let them all out. I did this for about a week. Because they were used to the split coop, the big girls would roost in their own area.....so I moved them to the other area until I took down the wire separation. The wire separation came down the week one of the pullets laid an egg...then they took to the nesting boxes very quickly. Because they free range during the day when I am home everyone was able to interact with lots of room to run away if things got out of hand. I worried and fretted a lot....again, perhaps my inexperience. I did have one BR that absoultely went out of her way to attack the young ones with an aggression I had never seen before. First time ever I took one of my hens to the feed store...she just wouldn't stop. Now, everyone gets along well, and the integration is complete. I hope this helps you. Bottom line, separate areas where they can see each other for awhile worked for me. Place them together after dark. Similiar size is important too I think. Anne