Integrating Pullets to existing flock...

[Sally PB]

Thanks for the quarantine article link, @aart. I'll file that away for future reference too!

 

[Softheart]

How did your integration work outit turned out great. But didn't go as planned. Think God might have let girls do it nature's way. The girls were separated the first day. I went out the next morning and one of the small coop doors was open and all the girls were mingling with the big girls. No issues. Pecking order gets me giggling. They're all doing wonderful.

 

[KyCarolyn]

I'd wait at least a couple weeks.


Eh, not so much.


What the OP is doing is not quarantine.

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/

Thank you for this article

 

[robomb]

Ha - so this thread is a couple months old, but I hopped on here with this same question. My existing girls (down to 4 now) are about 3-5 years old. The 4 new pullets were hatched in early April. I acquired them 3 weeks ago. The 3 new girls are in a separate coop inside my run, so all the girls have been able to see each other for 3 weeks. I used to let the big girls out a half hour before sunset to forage around the backyard, but the babies want so much to test their wings, that I'm afraid if I let them out together, the babies will fly across the fence to escape the pecking (I'm assuming there will be dominance issues). I've integrated before, but it's been awhile. I have one baby who managed to get around the chicken wire and perched herself in the big girl's coop last night, but I took her out and put her in the baby coop. A few years back I found the bones of one of my girls under the coop. I thought she had been taken by a predator or flown over the fence since I never found any evidence of her. After finding the bones, I figured she was pecked to death underneath the coop chickens can be soooo mean.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Ha - so this thread is a couple months old, but I hopped on here with this same question. My existing girls (down to 4 now) are about 3-5 years old. The 4 new pullets were hatched in early April. I acquired them 3 weeks ago. The 3 new girls are in a separate coop inside my run, so all the girls have been able to see each other for 3 weeks. I used to let the big girls out a half hour before sunset to forage around the backyard, but the babies want so much to test their wings, that I'm afraid if I let them out together, the babies will fly across the fence to escape the pecking (I'm assuming there will be dominance issues). I've integrated before, but it's been awhile. I have one baby who managed to get around the chicken wire and perched herself in the big girl's coop last night, but I took her out and put her in the baby coop. A few years back I found the bones of one of my girls under the coop. I thought she had been taken by a predator or flown over the fence since I never found any evidence of her. After finding the bones, I figured she was pecked to death underneath the coop

chickens can be soooo mean.

Oh my...