Hello everyone! Question for those more experienced chicken keepers out there.... We have a flock of 10 mixed breed pullets 5 weeks old. A friend approached me and asked if we would be willing to adopt in a 10 week old rescue. They have two adult hens that won't allow it in the coop (I don't know details about the behavior). So they currently have this poor bird in a pen by herself. I am concerned, however, about how that dynamic would work given the age difference. Thoughts about this? It is the opposite of most integration issues. I would also love to hear thoughts about quarantine times and methods. Thank you for any help!
I would not imagine that the integration problems will be so great, depending on how much space you have. The new, older bird is not likely to pick on any specific youngster since there are quite a few of them. Multiple feed stations will be a good idea. - here's a link or two that may help a little https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1098683/introducing-new-chickens-to-old-flock#post_16895615 Quarantine should be at least 1 month. I'm sure other members will be along during the course of the day to help you out further.
I would direct your friends to this forum to learn about integration and aggressive behavioral problems rather than taking on this bird yourself. I would advise against complicating your fledgling flock keeping by taking in a 'rescue' that is someone else's problem due to poor planning and/or lack of experience and/or lack of knowledge. Integration is integration no matter the ages in most cases, it's more about territory than anything else, although size and/or maturity can definitely be a factor. Any existing birds are going to defend their space and resources(food/water) against new birds brought into the flock. It can be ugly and takes extra space and management to go smoothly, and even 'smoothly' can have it's bits of ugly, chickens can be vicious. Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration This is good place to start reading: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock Consider biological/medical quarantine: BYC Medical Quarantine Article Poultry Biosecurity BYC 'medical quarantine' search
