Introducing 4 Americauna chicks to flock of 3 heirloom hens

[rosemarythyme]

How long do you suggest? My 2 Jumbo heirlooms are pretty mellow and lived on a farm, but the battery hen may be the one to watch out for. She's small but she no play.

I usually suggest 1-2 weeks. My method of judging if it's time to try letting them meet face to face is to wait until the adults have mostly lost interest in the chicks. My last group of chicks got to come out for a supervised face to face meeting after about 8 days of see but no touch, while the adults were dust bathing and not too inclined to chase after them.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Your hens are lovely! Just to clear up a misconception, though, all egg-laying does not take place in the morning. It's my understanding that it takes about 25 hours to produce an egg, so each hen's egg will appear an hour later than it did the day before. At some point she should skip a day, then start early in the morning again. That's assuming she's pretty much a daily layer, not all hens are. I always check my nests just before bedtime even if I've already gathered eggs earlier in the day; sometimes I get a "Pullet Surprise!" Sorry, could not resist.

 

[DeeAnn5]

Ok thanks. This is really helpful! Someone was telling me today about a neighbor who put some young chicks in a coop with an established flock. They were pecking the Little's head so much it was bleeding. The people had to come home from work to rescue it. Fortunately it was okay, but they still haven't been able to integrate and it's living in the basement. I integrated before and it was fine, but I had a separate A frame coop which I no longer have.

 

[DeeAnn5]

Your hens are lovely! Just to clear up a misconception, though, all egg-laying does not take place in the morning. It's my understanding that it takes about 25 hours to produce an egg, so each hen's egg will appear an hour later than it did the day before. At some point she should skip a day, then start early in the morning again. That's assuming she's pretty much a daily layer, not all hens are. I always check my nests just before bedtime even if I've already gathered eggs earlier in the day; sometimes I get a "Pullet Surprise!" Sorry, could not resist.

Thanks! they're doing great!! Yes, I'm considering leaving the nest box open and making a ramp for the Bigs, so much easier than building a separate run for the Littles. Then I just close the divider and the Bigs can still have the roost/nest area throughout the day.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It's kind of hard to tell from your pics how big your coop and run actually are, esp as I'm viewing it on a cell phone. A general rule of thumb is that it's good to allow about 4 sq ft per hen of clear floor space inside the coop, not counting nesting boxes or space occupied by feeders or waterers; and 10 sq ft minimum per bird in the run. As for roosting space, I've heard both one linear foot and half a linear foot, so I can't speak with authority on that, we'll have to see what others say. Does that sound close to what your facilities offer?

 

[DeeAnn5]

They are only locked in the tractor from dusk to dawn and are essentially free range during the day (in the dog-free area), so I'm not really following why the coop size is important. The 3 Bigs roost together and one is a Brahma. It's wide enough for these 2 heirloom Bigs and 1 battery hen to share a perch. So I figured the 4 Americaunas could snuggle on the other perch.... I can measure tomorrow to confirm the dimensions though.