Integrating Many Pullets to a Small Older Flock

[pkarkos]

@Harmony Fowl @aart @BY Bob @Ridgerunner
Thank you all for your advice and reassurance! I had never heard of the lighting idea before. I didn't know that birds don't like dark places. My little coop is has a window so it's bright during the day, but dark at night. We are working on getting electricity to our hay/feed shed that is closer to the coops than our house, so I might be able to ring up something more permanent for them.
@Swampgal I hope all goes well for you and I would love to hear about your process with your birds too!
A little update: 3 of my 9 chicks nesting IN the coop rather than in the run under it last night. Hopefully, the rest will follow. I don't mind moving them up every night, but it would be nice if they put themselves to bed! Although this is better than my 3 easter eggers that would, when they were teenagers, roost in the trees about 10 feet ABOVE the coop.

 

[aart]

3 of my 9 chicks nesting IN the coop

Maybe I missed it, how old are the newbie nine?
BTW when they go to sleep at night, it's called 'roosting' not 'nesting'....cause they usually sleep on a roost not in the nests.
Glad they went in!

 

[pkarkos]

Maybe I missed it, how old are the newbie nine?
BTW when they go to sleep at night, it's called 'roosting' not 'nesting'....cause they usually sleep on a roost not in the nests.
Glad they went in!

They are about 2 months old. And, yes, I know, but they are not roosting on the roosts. They are sleeping in the nesting boxes so nesting seemed to be a more apt term.

 

[aart]

They are about 2 months old. And, yes, I know, but they are not roosting on the roosts. They are sleeping in the nesting boxes so nesting seemed to be a more apt term.

Ohhh...OK.
Good to cover nests so they don't get in that habit.

 

[pkarkos]

Ohhh...OK.
Good to cover nests so they don't get in that habit.

Yes, I might have to do that, but I am mostly just happy they are going in the coup at night!

 

[Harmony Fowl]

You probably won't need a permanent light for the coop, at least not for them. You might appreciate it, though! It's really so they learn they can go inside. Once that's a settled habit, they will put themselves away even without the light as the sun sets. It's more of a fear of unfamiliar dark spaces. They are safe where they are (or so they think) and who knows what's in the dark void where those big chickens disappear every night? I've had chicks huddle in the freezing cold because the warm but dark space with the heat plate was too dark to risk investigating. Once it's familiar, they won't need the light forever.

 

[Swampgal]

I wanted to report back in after all the help with integrating 6 pullets into an old flock of 6. It took three weeks of evening choreography due to reluctance of pullets to enter run/coop with old girls intimidating. Lots of scratch, a new roost in the coop, moving the new girls from run to coop after dark, but we did it. Now miraculously everyone roosts in the coop without our help. Next frontier: Finding and corralling the eggs LOL. Thanks everyone!