Integrating 8 new pullets to 2 existing hens in a completely new coop

[kerriganchicks]

Hi there,

I have 2 hens in a coop and will be getting 8 new pullets soon.

We're building a chicken tractor to be ready for when the pullets come.

We're hoping to get all the chickens into the new chicken tractor so that we can do some upgrades in the current coop.

How should we go about integrating these chickens?

Would we be able to just put them all together in the new chicken tractor since it will be new territory to everyone or is that asking for trouble?

The 8 pullets are a mix of different breeds from a hatchery and the 2 hens are about a year old and have been together since hatched.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mrskenmore]

I think throwing them in together is asking for trouble.

How old will the pullets be?

I would divide the tractor in half with chicken wire or hardware cloth. They will most likely be on different feed anyway so it will be easier to keep them separate. This way they can look but not touch. Keep them this way for several weeks until the are on the same feed and slowly integrate.

Here is a great article

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-integrate-your-chicken-flock-the-easy-way.63034/

Good luck and enjoy your new flock members!!

 

[kerriganchicks]

Not sure how old they will be, they're advertised as "ready-to-lay"

 

[mrskenmore]

Ok so probably around 16 weeks.. I would still separate

 

[David61]

At lest two weeks of no touch looking across wire.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well you will have a lot more pullets than old hens. Generally it is the old hens that will be aggressive, especially as it is their home territory. But because the pullets outnumber them, and chasing and pecking is a lot of work, I would expect this to settle rather quickly in MY set up.

People (me included) tend to give advice from their perspective. However, the tractor makes me a little Leary. HOW big is it? Does it have hide outs? Does it have multiple feed bowls, that cannot be seen when eating at another food bowl? Does it have platforms and mini walls, and boxes.... or is it just an open rectangle?

10 birds need a lot of space in the run. What do you mean about a tractor? Usually they are smaller so they can be moved around? But smaller is smaller -

Mrs K

 

[David61]

tractor as a coop at night and turned out in the day run?

 

[aart]

10 birds need a lot of space in the run. What do you mean about a tractor? Usually they are smaller so they can be moved around? But smaller is smaller

This^^^ was my first thought.

 

[3KillerBs]

10 birds need a lot of space in the run. What do you mean about a tractor? Usually they are smaller so they can be moved around? But smaller is smaller -

My thought too.

10 birds need 40 square feet of coop space and 100 square feet of run space. That's a 12x12 structure -- quite a tractor.

Integration takes extra space and crowding decreases the chance of success.

 

[kerriganchicks]

The chicken tractor will end up being pretty big. We haven't built it yet but my husband says we'll have to use our tractor to actually move it. Think giant A-frame with the coop raised? We'll definitely incorporate all those things you've mentioned!

I think from the responses, we'll set the new chicken tractor beside the hens' currently run so they can see each other without touching.

Thanks!