Introducing new chickens and opening the nesting box

[Kchud22]

Hello everyone. I just finished my run and chicken math has hit me. I'm picking up 3 more girls tomorrow. What's the best way to introduce them to the 6 I already have? They will all be the same age give or take a week. Also when should I start thinking about opening up my nesting boxes? My girls are 13-14 weeks right now. Thanks for the help.

 

[3KillerBs]

First thing, do you plan to quarantine the newcombers? https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ckens-how-to-and-what-you-need-to-know.67731/

Here are some useful articles on integration:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

 

[Ridgerunner]

What's the best way to introduce them to the 6 I already have?

A lot of that depends on what your coop and run look like and how you manage them. What do you have to work with? In feet, how big is your coop? In feet, how big is your run? Do you free range? A photo of your coop/run and another photo showing inside the coop could be helpful. If you have a lot of room this could be pretty easy.

In general it is usually a good idea to house them across wire for a few days to sort of get them used to each other. If you free range that could help imprint on them where to spend the night instead of sleeping in trees. If room is tight you can perhaps improve the quality of what room you have by adding clutter. That means things they can hide behind, under, or over. Widely separated food and water stations can help.

when should I start thinking about opening up my nesting boxes? My girls are 13-14 weeks right now.

I would want mine open about a week before they start to lay. When will they start to lay? No one knows. I've had some lay as early as 16 weeks. I've had plenty wait 6 months or longer.

Some pullets seem to not have a clue that the first egg is coming. They may drop it anywhere they are, from the roost or just walking around. But many seem to know that first egg is coming. About a week before it comes they start looking for a good place to make a nest. I want my nests open so they are in consideration. I don't want to teach them to lay somewhere else because my nests are closed when they are looking.

Part of that looking often involves a lot of scratching. If you find your nest bedding and a fake egg scratched out of the nest and on the floor that's a pretty good sign they are getting ready to lay. It's also a good sign you might need to raise the lip on your nest so they can't scratch the bedding and eggs out so easily.

Why are your nests closed now? Let me guess, you read on here that they will sleep in the nests if they are open. If your roosts are higher than the nests that doesn't happen that often. In spite of what you might read on here it really doesn't happen that often. If your roosts are not higher than your nests it happens a lot more regularly.

Even if your roosts are higher you can sometimes get some chickens sleeping in the nests. If that happens I'd want to know before I started getting poopy eggs so I could fix the problem.

Since you are integrating that could happen to you. It helps that they are all the same age, but sometimes certain ones won't let others sleep on the main roosts with them. The ones run off the roosts look for some other place to sleep. Your nests are usually the second highest place in the coop so they are a logical location. There is a way around that. After they have all laid for the day if they are laying, block off the nests to force them to sleep somewhere else. The after it is too dark for the chickens to see to move around unblock the nests so they are available at first light.

I integrate younger birds a lot. To keep them from sleeping in my nests I put in a special roost for them. It is lower than the main roosts, higher than the nests, and horizontally separated from the main roosts by about three feet. Far enough away that the older ones don't bother them. If your coop is big enough and you run into a problem you may consider something like this.

 

[3KillerBs]

Part of that looking often involves a lot of scratching. If you find your nest bedding and a fake egg scratched out of the nest and on the floor that's a pretty good sign they are getting ready to lay. It's also a good sign you might need to raise the lip on your nest so they can't scratch the bedding and eggs out so easily.

I second this!

Also, I find that my POL pullets seem to be the most likely to try to fly out of the fence.