Integration questions

[Tre3hugger]

So I got 10 more keets to add to my flock of 4. My older ones are about 4-5 months old. The babes are only a week old rn but plan on integrating them at around 4 weeks. I co-op my "adults" at night and free range in the day.

how would you go about integrating the babes? I was thinking maybe a dog crate in or near the co-op for transition time? What do you guys think? TIA for any help!

 

[R2elk]

So I got 10 more keets to add to my flock of 4. My older ones are about 4-5 months old. The babes are only a week old rn but plan on integrating them at around 4 weeks. I co-op my "adults" at night and free range in the day.

how would you go about integrating the babes? I was thinking maybe a dog crate in or near the co-op for transition time? What do you guys think? TIA for any help!

I made a 3 sided cage which I screw to a wall on the inside of the coop. I place the new additions in the cage and wait for the attacks at the cage to stop before beginning to release the new ones. If there are more than one, I release one or two at a time each day until they are all released. After they are all released and doing fine, I remove the cage until the next time.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I made a 3 sided cage which I screw to a wall on the inside of the coop. I place the new additions in the cage and wait for the attacks at the cage to stop before beginning to release the new ones. If there are more than one, I release one or two at a time each day until they are all released. After they are all released and doing fine, I remove the cage until the next time.

Thank you very much. This is approximately what I had planned using a dog crate in the coop. I hadn't thought of releasing just a couple at a time though, so thanks!

 

[My2butterflies]

This is my setup for introducing my 4wk olds to my flock.

My adults have minimal interest in the babies. They will look at them a bit and then go about their business. Since the adults free range all day the only time they spend together is evenings/overnight. I’ll start slow releasing once they are 6-8wks old. I can’t really remember what size they’ll be at those ages, so I’ll be playing it by ear. I have outside cats and need them big enough that the cats won’t bother with them.

 

[Sydney65]

After the adults were back in their run today, I took mine outside in a shoe box and set them at the door. Rosie ran into the coop at the sound of chirping to check her own eggs, confirmed it wasn't hers and resumed scratching. The males sidestepped their way toward me, hopped up on their "picnic table", cocked their head to one-eye the keets, and then promptly ignored them.