Integrating pullets with existing, older chickens - should we build a temporary coop?

[socalchickens76]

Hi all -

I need some advice on integrating our four pullets (two months old) with our existing flock of two older hens (4 years old). The pullets co-mingle with the older hens (sort of anyway) in their protected enclosures which consist of two large runs that are connected by a tunnel. They also free range together. And when I say together, I don't mean they actually hang out...the pullets typically stay away from the older hens but they are outside free ranging at the same time. One of my older hens (the easter egger) likes to charge at the pullets and so the pullets are really scared of her.

We really want the pullets to move into the coop at night with the older hens. They are currently still sleeping in our garage. The problem is they are so scared of the older hens that they freak out when we put them in the coop. As soon as I put a pullet in the coop, our easter egger heads over to punk the pullet and the poor thing just absolutely freaks out. I just can't see how this is going to ever work. Poor pullets are terrified I'm also afraid of just sticking them in the coop at night after dark like some people suggest. I feel like the older hens will just absolutely terrorize the pullets as soon as the daylight breaks.

At this point, I think we are going to build a temporary coop for the littles to get them out of the garage and used to sleeping outside. Has anyone done this before? If so, did your flock eventually integrate and sleep in the same coop? It seems kind of ridiculous to have two coops but I don't see any other option.

Thanks!

 

[Debbie292d]

We made a temporary coop for ours. Ours mingled too out in the yard, but it'd be another two months before we dared try get them to sleep in the coop at night without being pecked and harassed by day in there. Then, we had more I hatched and made another temp coop. Our backyard is starting to look like a homeless camp.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you have room in your coop for a cage or a crate, that would be my first option. Or partitioning a section of it off would work as well. Because they do need to learn to co-exist in a coop sooner or later.

 

[socalchickens76]

We made a temporary coop for ours. Ours mingled too out in the yard, but it'd be another two months before we dared try get them to sleep in the coop at night without being pecked and harassed by day in there. Then, we had more I hatched and made another temp coop. Our backyard is starting to look like a homeless camp.

homeless camp!! That's hilarious! Ok, good to know I'm not crazy for wanting to build a temporary coop.

 

[socalchickens76]

If you have room in your coop for a cage or a crate, that would be my first option. Or partitioning a section of it off would work as well. Because they do need to learn to co-exist in a coop sooner or later.

We were thinking of setting up the dog crate in the run. Another option we have is to create an enclosed area right underneath the coop (which is raised off the ground 3 feet or so).

 

[rosemarythyme]

We were thinking of setting up the dog crate in the run. Another option we have is to create an enclosed area right underneath the coop (which is raised off the ground 3 feet or so).

If the point is to get them to sleep in the coop, the enclosure needs to be inside the coop. Mine's pretty simple, a rat cage on the floor:

No the chicks won't like it. But so far mine seem to have figured it out pretty quickly afterwards, that they need to return to the coop at night, even if they need to be manually caged up until they figure out how to roost. But once they figure it out:

 

[socalchickens76]

If the point is to get them to sleep in the coop, the enclosure needs to be inside the coop. Mine's pretty simple, a rat cage on the floor:
View attachment 3857845

No the chicks won't like it. But so far mine seem to have figured it out pretty quickly afterwards, that they need to return to the coop at night, even if they need to be manually caged up until they figure out how to roost. But once they figure it out:
View attachment 3857846

Yes, I want them to sleep in the coop, but they are terrified of the older hens (and rightfully so as one of my older girls likes to charge at the younger ones).

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes, I want them to sleep in the coop, but they are terrified of the older hens (and rightfully so as one of my older girls likes to charge at the younger ones).

You could also try flipping the script and crating up the troublemaker instead, if the other birds seem more accepting of the younger ones...

 

[Ridgerunner]

How big in feet or meters is your coop? Do you have a photo showing what it looks like inside? To me it sounds like you don't have enough room in the coop for integration. To make specific suggestions I need to know what you are working with. So I'll stay generic.

when I say together, I don't mean they actually hang out...the pullets typically stay away from the older hens but they are outside free ranging at the same time. One of my older hens (the easter egger) likes to charge at the pullets and so the pullets are really scared of her.

Free ranging but staying separate is what I expect to see with mine. If my immature chickens invade the personal space of a mature chicken they are likely to get pecked or chased. It usually does not take long for them to learn to avoid the adults, just put distance between them.

Is the only time your EE charges them when they are in the coop together or does she do that when they are separated? When she does this makes a difference in how to proceed.

I'm also afraid of just sticking them in the coop at night after dark like some people suggest. I feel like the older hens will just absolutely terrorize the pullets as soon as the daylight breaks.

If the coop is dark enough the chicks should be safe until daybreak. If you are down there by daybreak you can open the pop door so the chicks can escape before they are injured if there is violence.

I try this when mine have proven to me that they can coexist in the run without a hen charging them as long as the chicks keep their distance. I also have a lot of room in my 8 feet xc 12 feet coop. What I normally find is that it is peaceful with the chicks on my 5 feet high roosts while the adults are on the coop floor. After being down there at daybreak two days in a row I am usually comfortable they will be OK and I go back to sleeping in.

At this point, I think we are going to build a temporary coop for the littles to get them out of the garage and used to sleeping outside. Has anyone done this before? If so, did your flock eventually integrate and sleep in the same coop? It seems kind of ridiculous to have two coops but I don't see any other option.

How big is your coop? To me the preferred way is to put a wire "brooder" or cage in the coop to house the chicks long enough for them to learn that coop is where they need to spend the night and to expose them to the adults. But you have to have enough room to put a cage in there or maybe build a pen/brooder. I'd keep them locked in there at least a week before I let them out to see how it goes. They might try to return to that coop to sleep at night or your hens may intimidate them and keep them out.

My immature chickens do not sleep on the roosts with the adults unless they are being raised by a broody hen. They may sleep on the coop floor or find another place in the coop separate from the hens. I don't care where they sleep as long as it is predator safe and not in my nests.

My brooder is built inside the coop. The chicks go in there straight from the incubator or post office. When they are five weeks old I open the brooder door and walk away. They have grown up with the flock, you are too late to do that. My adults spend all day every day outside with over 2,000 square feet except when they are laying. Yours free range so you should be OK with that.

When my coop gets crowded I move the 5-week-old chicks to a "grow-out" coop. They have their own 8' x 12' run where the adults can see them. After I'm convinced they have decided that grow-out coop is where they need to spend the night I let them roam with the rest of the flock. Once they have grown to butcher age and I've put enough in the freezer I move the remaining ones back to the main coop to sleep. This is not the situation you have but it is what I'm basing my suggestions on.

I personally like having a separate coop. It gives a place to isolate a chicken if I need to. Sometimes one gets injured or appears sick. Sometimes one may need an attitude adjustment like your EE possibly may. I made both my brooder and grow-out coop with a wire floor so either can be used as a broody buster. You only have a total of 6, all female. I have over 50 at peak of the growing season with some male and some female. A totally different situation.

Good luck!

 

[SamLockwood]

My setup for newcomers is a small coop with a mini run under it with a ramp that I can open or close. I typically move the chicks to the nursery coop with a heat plate at two weeks of age. When I let the adults out to free range I lower the ramp in the nursery run.

The chicks usually take a week or two before they venture down the ramp. I then monitor how they interact with the adults.

When the aggression level across the wire tones down, I let the youngsters out for limited supervised free ranging. This is usually at six to 8 weeks of age, and only for an hour or two before sunset.

Eventually I just let everyone out to mingle in the morning.

Starting around 3 months old one or two of the more ambitious youngsters will start trying to roost with the big birds, and once that starts the rest of the youngsters migrate to the big coop within a month or so.

I'm general, I try not to force things with integration but then sort things out on their own.

The nursery.

The boys checking out the new arrivals.