Integration of new & old flock

[Asheville Ckn]

Co-mingling of new and old flock; If anyone has any advice on this I'd like to hear it. My issue; We have one bird left from our original flock (Millie). She's an Americuana about 3 years old. She was always the beta chicken and my favorite. Always the easiest to pick up and very social and a great layer. We decided to add to the flock after we lost one of ours to an impacted egg. We brought in two Barnvelders (pullets) and introduced them. Millie was not happy and has proceeded to bully them for the past 3 weeks. No blood / carnage but a steady stream of "I'm head hen!" I know this is normal, however as they have grown it has not seemed to subside that much. The pullets (16 weeks) are now able to go into the coop at night without too much of a fight. It's seems to be more of a stand-off. I thought that bringing in one more newbie would dilute the issue and help even the flock out so I just picked up a beautiful Road Island Red about 20 weeks old. Very sociable and well built. The initial meeting with the to younger pullets went as expected; ruffled feathers and some squawking then everything settled down. The the Head Hen came over and we had a cock(less) fight which looked like it was going to end badly until I intervened. The head hen has become very aggressive to all the newbies and also very stressed out. The Road Island Red (Rosie) really held her own and I was quite surprised. One thing that concerned me is that she has very sharp talons and a mean beak. More so than the others We've had and quite more than the head hen. To keep peace I separated the the head hen and the Red for the night in separate pens. Now, the big question. How is the best was to integrate them? I really don't want to have a blood bath (I've seen it happen to others) and since the coop / run is not that big, and it's difficult to get to them if I need to. I have come up with 3 choices: 1) Let them fight and see where it goes (Darwin's Theory) 2) Get rid of Red and see how things play out with the two new pullets, as they have been there for 3 weeks and are still alive 3) Get rid of the Head Hen and start over. (I really don't want to just kick her out of her home) Any advice would be great. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[cackleberrycam]

There are many ways to introduce the pullets to the established flock, so I will give you a few in case you end up going that route:

One way is to separate them through a fence of chicken wire and let them interact through it while still not being able to fight each another. You can then eventually put them in together and their pecking order will not be so bad because they will already be somewhat accustomed to each other.

You can also put them on the roost full of the established hens at night so that when the established hens wake up in the morning and see all the new pullets with them, the will not realize that they are newcomers and will not treat them badly.

You can also just stick them right in with the hens and let them sort out the pecking order on their own.

Cackleberrycam

 

[Suzie]

I have had this scenario a few times now..I was advised to put the new members into the coop at night and spray each and every one of them with a water and vinegar solution....this supposedly disguises any new smell...sometimes it does work and sometimes it will take up to eight days for the new ones to be accepted...I have also introduced new members during daylight hours...I have a free range flock here and they have many acres to feed and forage from....newbies do not understand their refuge and so I need to encourage them that the coop is their new home..many hours spent chasing them into their new home to be confronted with the senior members of the flock..daunting but with perseverance it works out.trial and error for me are the order of the day...what works for one does not always work for another.

Good luck.

Just realised ( doh) that this is not the appropriated area for the op to post...can this be moved to a more fitting area....

 

[cackleberrycam]

I have had this scenario a few times now..I was advised to put the new members into the coop at night and spray each and every one of them with a water and vinegar solution....this supposedly disguises any new smell...sometimes it does work and sometimes it will take up to eight days for the new ones to be accepted...I have also introduced new members during daylight hours...I have a free range flock here and they have many acres to feed and forage from....newbies do not understand their refuge and so I need to encourage them that the coop is their new home..many hours spent chasing them into their new home to be confronted with the senior members of the flock..daunting but with perseverance it works out.trial and error for me are the order of the day...what works for one does not always work for another.

Good luck.

Just realised ( doh) that this is not the appropriated area for the op to post...can this be moved to a more fitting area....

That is cool!