integrating 2wo chicks with flock - at night - is it worth it?

[cityeggs]

I have four 2/3week old chicks and three 1yo hens. It has taken longer to get the chicks outside than I had planned (as always!) but I think everything is pretty much set. I have a chick-proofed dog crate set up inside the coop, ran a long extension cord for the heat pad cave and plan to do the look don't touch for a while before testing the waters.

I've seen the recommendation of starting integration into the flock at night so they all just wake up with the new flock members and forget they weren't always there. Is this still worth doing if the chicks will be visible but not roosting with everyone else (but still in the same area at night)? Is this more for adult birds than adults with chicks (aside from trying to sneak chicks under a broody)?

My first attempt at integration with my second batch of chicks this past fall went poorly, so I'm willing to try just about anything if there's a chance it will help things go more smoothly with these chicks. If it's unlikely to make much of a difference in this situation, it would certainly be easier to do it all in the daylight especially so I can check to make sure they're warm enough without staying up for a while. I'm hoping that with 4 chicks this time instead of 2 (who both turned out to be cockerels, so there wasn't really ever full integration since I couldn't keep them) and having everyone in the coop it will go more smoothly. Last time, I kept the chicks in the house for a while longer just bc of logistics and brought them out every day, so my guess is they may have been seen more like visitors than new flock members until they were bigger and cockerel-y, and they still weren't sleeping up in the coop but down in the enclosed run in their own little crate.

 

[CaretakerCarol]

I think it is definitely worth cooping them separately but making them visible. I have never tried to put chicks that young in with adult hens, but I don't see that going very well for the chicks. I usually don't place my new chickens into the main coop until they are 14-16 weeks old. I do, however, place them into their own, coop/run within the larger hen yard at about 4 weeks old. That age depends on the weather. If it is still getting down to 20s/30s at night, I usually keep them in a brooding setup with a heater in my garage. Once they are ready to go outside, I don't use any artificial heat.

As this is the only method I have used, there may be others who have done differently with success.

 

[maceleneo]

You can do it in the daylight if the situation is going to be see no touch, it doesn't change much in my opinion.
I just integrated 4 chicks in my flock, I kept them in a cage in the coop so they could be seen but not touched for about a week and everything went smooth, with adult birds this always took me longer!

 

[aart]

You can do it in the daylight if the situation is going to be see no touch, it doesn't change much in my opinion.

Yes.
The adding at night is fallacy and see no touch is the way to go.

 

[NatJ]

I've seen the recommendation of starting integration into the flock at night so they all just wake up with the new flock members and forget they weren't always there.

Even chickens are not THAT stupid.

Usually, when a chicken sees a flockmate, she knows where it is in the pecking order (above or below her.) With a new chicken, she will not know that, so she will still have to settle the pecking order.

Any kind of integration works some of the time, because some chickens just don't care enough to cause trouble for new ones.

And any kind of integration fails sometimes, because some chickens just won't accept the new flockmates, no matter what you do.

But sticking them in at night doesn't seem to have much more success than just sticking them in during the day with no preparation at all (I've seen that method work sometimes too.) If the chickens settle the pecking order issues first thing, before the person gets up to see, the person might assume it was more peaceful than it really was.

Is this still worth doing if the chicks will be visible but not roosting with everyone else (but still in the same area at night)? Is this more for adult birds than adults with chicks

As others have said, I don't think it would matter when you are doing a see no touch setup.

Yes, putting them in at night is more for adult birds who are big enough to survive the pecking order scuffles when they all wake up in the morning.

(aside from trying to sneak chicks under a broody)?

Yes, that is a case where putting them under at night does seem to help.

I don't think the broody is fooled about whether they are new.
I think she just starts to form a relationship during that night, with her clucking and them peeping, before daylight lets the chicks see enough to run around and the broody see enough to peck them. Spending the night under the broody also helps the chicks learn that warmth and safety are underneath that big feathery thing that clucks.

 

[aart]

Even chickens are not THAT stupid.

Exactly!!

 

[cityeggs]

But sticking them in at night doesn't seem to have much more success than just sticking them in during the day with no preparation at all (I've seen that method work sometimes too.) If the chickens settle the pecking order issues first thing, before the person gets up to see, the person might assume it was more peaceful than it really was.

THAT makes sense - thank you!

I know they can recognize individuals, including humans, so I couldn't imagine that it was that they just didn't know, but I could see some possibility that maybe a - you kept me warm last night, so you must be kind of ok enough to be here social behavior possibility, but your explanation makes a lot more sense

 

[NatJ]

THAT makes sense - thank you!

I know they can recognize individuals, including humans, so I couldn't imagine that it was that they just didn't know, but I could see some possibility that maybe a - you kept me warm last night, so you must be kind of ok enough to be here social behavior possibility, but your explanation makes a lot more sense

You might be onto something there too.
I know chickens sometimes make sounds during the night.

So maybe by morning they feel half-acquainted and can settle the pecking order a little more gently than they otherwise would.

I haven't integrated enough adult chickens to know for sure about how & why it works.
The few times I have integrated adult chickens, I typically just put one set in the pen with the others, by day or night according to what was convenient for me. Mostly it worked.

I expect all chickens to become dinner for me eventually, so I solve many problems by butchering the offending chicken. The ones that cause the least trouble end up living the longest. That means I'm quite willing to butcher one or two bullies to help bring peace, or butcher a victim rather than trying to help her fit in. It also means I have little practice with other solutions to chicken social problems

(I am more careful when integrating young chicks with adult chickens. Your plan of look no touch sounds good to me.)

 

[path.otto]

I've only done this twice with single adult chickens. I will always remember the post from the woman who said she tried "the sneaking the new chickens onto the roost" method and woke up to a blood bath in the coop the following morning. Not for the faint of heart!

My best results came from the "look, but don't touch method." It takes longer and there is much posturing at the barrier but eventually, they were scratching and eating peacefully side by side and a few days later were an integrated flock.

Good luck!

 

[jreardon1918]

I have four 2/3week old chicks and three 1yo hens. It has taken longer to get the chicks outside than I had planned (as always!) but I think everything is pretty much set. I have a chick-proofed dog crate set up inside the coop, ran a long extension cord for the heat pad cave and plan to do the look don't touch for a while before testing the waters.

I've seen the recommendation of starting integration into the flock at night so they all just wake up with the new flock members and forget they weren't always there. Is this still worth doing if the chicks will be visible but not roosting with everyone else (but still in the same area at night)? Is this more for adult birds than adults with chicks (aside from trying to sneak chicks under a broody)?

My first attempt at integration with my second batch of chicks this past fall went poorly, so I'm willing to try just about anything if there's a chance it will help things go more smoothly with these chicks. If it's unlikely to make much of a difference in this situation, it would certainly be easier to do it all in the daylight especially so I can check to make sure they're warm enough without staying up for a while. I'm hoping that with 4 chicks this time instead of 2 (who both turned out to be cockerels, so there wasn't really ever full integration since I couldn't keep them) and having everyone in the coop it will go more smoothly. Last time, I kept the chicks in the house for a while longer just bc of logistics and brought them out every day, so my guess is they may have been seen more like visitors than new flock members until they were bigger and cockerel-y, and they still weren't sleeping up in the coop but down in the enclosed run in their own little crate.

You are at a nice point to integrate on the chicks schedule. At 2-3 weeks old they are still quite small and fast. Can you cut little chick doors in the crate? Big enough for the chicks to venture into the run and coop at their leisure. That is how we do it. We open the chick doors at 4 weeks old. The chicks venture out as they wish and are fast enough to return to safety when chased. Somewhere around 8 weeks they just move themselves into the coop and run. We based this strategy from a really nice integration article. Here is my attempt to document it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/brooder-in-covered-run-updated-7-11-six-weeks.75584/
But it is not as detailed as the original.