Introducing cockerel & pullet to flock of 8 hens

[sophiaw00]

I have a flock of 8, 17 week old hens. One of my blue andalusians is at the top of the pecking order and does a good job at it - she makes sure no one messes with them. I wanted a rooster after I already got my girls so I split my order with a friend and ordered a rooster and another girl. They are 7 or 8 weeks old now. I've been putting them out in the run inside a small cage. The older girls go crazy with curiosity when they are out there. Some of them peck them, but not aggressively and then others are very aggressive (pull out feathers) so the babies stay in the middle of the crate most of the time so they cant be pecked. The older ones can't get inside the crate and the babies cant get out. I always bring the babies back to their brooder when I lock the older girls in the coop. My question is am I doing this right? My mom really wants the babies to get out to the coop as soon as possible because they are taking up a lot of space in the garage. Will my rooster have trouble getting to the top of the pecking order because there is already an established "leader"? Also when should I start allowing face to face introductions? I was thinking that I could let the babies get a little bigger and then introduce one of the bigger girls at a time to the babies every day until they become friends and then introduce the babies to the full flock once they are friendly with each individual.

 

[sophiaw00]

Bump

 

[pinkmartin73]

Wish I could offer advice. As it is I will be watching for an answer too. I hope to enlarge my own flock.

 

[feathersaloft]

Watching this thread. I started with 6 four month old hens, added 5 older birds, then a single older bird. She is still the outcast.
I'm picking up 8 one month old chicks on Saturday and want them in the pen as soon as they are fully feathered out.


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[aart]

Your cockerel will not likely become the 'leader' until he is at least 5-7 months old at the minimum.

How long have new birds been 'visiting' during the day? .....This should go on for at least a month or so.

How big is your coop and run (feet by feet)?

Lots of space, multiple feed/water stations, places to hide 'out of line of sight' and/or up and away from aggressors will all help.


Adding new birds can be difficult and, IMO, should not be done willy-nilly (without forethought, planning and adequate housing separation)



Here's some notes I've taken on integration that I found to be very helpful.......
......take what applies or might help and ignore the rest.
See if any of them, or the links provided at the bottom, might offer some tips that will assist you in your situation:

Integration of new chickens into flock.

Consider medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article
Poultry Biosecurity
BYC 'medical quarantine' search

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact. Integrating new birds of equal size works best.

For smaller chicks I used a large wire dog crate right in the coop for the smallers. I removed the crate door and put up a piece of wire fencing over the opening and bent up one corner just enough for the smallers to fit thru but the biggers could not. Feed and water inside the crate for the smallers. Make sure the smallers know how to get in and out of the crate opening before exposing them to the olders. this worked out great for me, by the time the crate was too small for the them to roost in there(about 3 weeks), they had pretty much integrated themselves to the olders.

If you have too many smallers to fit in a crate you can partition off part of the coop with a wire wall and make the same openings for smallers escape.


The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide out of line of sight and/or up and away from any bully birds.

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

 

[sophiaw00]

Update: my cockerel has passed away. a raccoon got into the garage and killed him and the other chick I had, Penny.

 

[pinkmartin73]

Update: my cockerel has passed away. a raccoon got into the garage and killed him and the other chick I had, Penny.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I currently have a hawk circling. It can't get in but the flock is still scared so they stay in the coop a lot.

 

[sophiaw00]

I had a hawk circling about a week ago. My chickens didn't really notice it or if they did they didn't care cause they just carried on with their day. It couldn't get in either and maybe they knew that cause they can't get out because of the netting on the top (makes my flightier girls nuts that they can't fly out).

 

[5DuckFarm]

Hi, I have a little barn/coop with 6 6-week old chicks (Colombian Wyandotte, leghorn). I recently bought a buff brahma/Cochin bantam mix from Craigslist and don't know how long it takes for them to get used to each other. Right now the brahma/Cochin (~5 months old) is in a large dog cage inside the coop/barn but she seems like she wants to get out. She's only been in there for about 3 days. As she is brown and the others are white and white/black how long will it take to get used to each other? Thanks for any help in advance

 

[pinkmartin73]

I had a hawk circling about a week ago. My chickens didn't really notice it or if they did they didn't care cause they just carried on with their day. It couldn't get in either and maybe they knew that cause they can't get out because of the netting on the top (makes my flightier girls nuts that they can't fly out).

If hawks weren't "protected" I'd have solved the problem by now. I have neighbors who have lost several chickens to huge owls. They don't have enclosed runs and don't close their coops at night (smh). So far the owls haven't ventured my way. I guess they get easy pickens over there. I think the hawk comes here because its afraid of the owls. Also, my immediate neighbors all feed song birds and squirrels. I've seen the hawk go after small birds. I hope it moves on soon. Even if it can't get in, I don't want my girls scared. As soon as my little roo hears the hawk he sends everyone inside. He's a good protector.