I am going to add 2 pullets to my flock of 2 hens and 1 roo

Bryce Thomas

Songster
Mar 21, 2021
731
707
201
Gilbert, AZ
Is there anything I need to do? Like would I push the new chickens beaks into the waterers like you do with chicks to show them where the water is? Yes I have a lot of hides so the pullets can hide
 
It's good you have a lot of places for them to hide! It took me weeks to combine my 4 week old chicks with my 8 week old "older" girls, even though they lived with a wire door between them and could see each other. Sheesh, like middle school kids pushing around the new 7th graders!! I really feared for their safety, the older pullets were so mean. I guess I would be mostly worried about making sure nobody gets beat up too seriously....
On the other hand, I just bought a huge rooster and two of his 12-week-old pullets and just threw them in with my 16-week old flock. The rooster protected his girls (allowing a random peck here and there), so all went well...
 
Consider biological/medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article


Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better.
Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/
 
A good technique is to let the older birds out of the set up, let them out into the yard, or put them where you currently have the chicks. Locking the newbies into the set up, giving them a day to explore without being chased for their lives. This lets them find the hideouts. Let the older birds back in very close to dark.

Add multiple feed stations, and make them hidden, so that a bird eating at one station cannot be seen from a bird eating at the main station or other feed bowl.

Mrs K
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom