introducing new birds to my flock

[PapaPollo]

I have 8 pullets that are approximately 8 weeks old (ordered from a hatchery) I have 4 more started pullets coming (16-20wks from a hatchery) this week... Any suggestions on what is the best way to add them to my flock?
Also I have an opportunity to add a rooster to my flock for protection etc (healthy bird from my dads flock)... Should I add him at the same time with the others or before the others or wait until the pullets have worked it out between themselves or not at all? One of my thoughts is maybe he could make things go smoother and bring order to the group since he will be the only rooster.

I'm new to this and appreciate any input and can take constructive criticism etc.

My current flock of 8 have been allowed out of the run for the past few evenings (supervised by myself). But this is why I want a rooster to help me extend their free ranging time etc... I understand I'll need to coop train the new ones and the rooster as I have the current flock. But my ultimate goal is to allow them access to leave the coop and run during the day...

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! I would wait until all your birds are fully grown before adding them together. This way everyone is on equal foot and smaller birds won't get bullied as much. Here is a lovely article on the look but don't method of adding new birds ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method

I've used this with great success and got all birds together with the minimal of fuss.

Wishing you the very best of luck and enjoy BYC

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Definitely wait until the younger ones are at least 3 months of age before mixing. They need to be of good size and be able to defend themselves.

When I mix in new chicks, what I do is keep the new chicks in an enclosure in the run starting at 6 weeks of age. They stay in the coop and run with the older chickens like this until they are 3 months of age. Everybody has seen everybody else. Generally the squabbling is minimal at mixing time.

If I were mixing in adult birds with other adult birds, I would keep the newbies in an enclosure for 3 or 4 weeks so everybody sees, but nobody touches. Then I would mix them all together after a month.

However it takes months for a flock to completely integrate and sometimes there will always be squabbling. So always add more food and watering stations when adding new birds. The original flock can completely starve out the new birds.

And make sure you have enough room....4 or 5 square feet per bird in the coop, 10 square feet per bird in the run. Over crowding causes fighting and aggression.

Good luck and welcome to our flock!

 

[drumstick diva]

You have gotten very good advice on integrating your birds, so I will just say "Welcome to Backyard chickens, glad you joined the flock.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!