Introducing a 6 month hen to a 18 week hen,

[Newbeechickenmother]

Hi all so we have discovered that we have 4 roosters and 1 female hen and that sounds like trouble so we have decided to buy same more female hens same breed but the new chicken's will be a around 6 months old and at present my girl is only 18 weeks my question is will the young girl be okay with the older females? I've attached some pictures of the group Of five.

 

[DobieLover]

You will still need to do a proper integration. And you still need to drop the number of males down to no more than 2 at this point. Expect fighting over the females.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Also, be sure to quarantine the new birds. Keep them as far away from your existing flock as possible, and downwind, for 3 to 4 weeks. Handle your existing flock first, always. Change clothes and shoes after handling the new birds, don't wear the shoes you wore in the new birds' pen into the areas your existing flock uses. We've had some sad, sad stories of flocks contaminated with diseases that never go away, by carelessness. Marek's not only kills, it causes the birds that survive to be carriers forever, and the contaminant lives in the soil indefinitely.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like doom and gloom. Just be careful.