Introducing new chickens

[aart]

Thank you. That does help, as do the other pics and comments in that thread; my run is smaller than yours, but I have a larger, enclosed yard that encircles the coop and run. I'll be adding some items into that large yard too.

It doesn't take much, just something for them to explore.
Good to keep them 'portable' so you can rearrange when they get bored.

 

[Orit]

Do you have any pics of Your coop/run with pallets or other constructed "walls?" I have 4 different vertical-space areas in my run (one a 3-step ladder, one a 2-step stool, one actual roost bar, and one tree branch roost bar in a corner), but nothing to block sight like you've mentioned. I'm introducing a young rooster (4 months old) to two veteran hens who recently lost their rooster and another hen to coyotes. I want to modify the space once I get them together for their first full day in the same coop.
I have a small coop and run that sits in a t-shape/perpendicular to a cemented-down tractor coop and run. These runs touch each other but are now separated (for this new rooster's benefit) by hardware cloth stapled to the wall (the wall would normally be an opening from one coop to the other). Thus the two ladies have their own, larger tractor coop & run, and he has his own smaller coop & run. They stand and look at each other through the wire every day since I got him 11 days ago; the hens stare at him coldy. ("I dare ya!") After the 7th day, I let them all outside to forage together in the evening. I've continued to do this outdoor-together foraging-in-evening for 4 days now. There's been no blood at all, but the hens chase him away big time. He went into their tractor coop a few times after they'd gone back in, but they chased him out; but he's gone back in a couple other days while they were still outside. He's eaten out of their feeder & drunk from their water now and then, and they definitely have done the same from his when they ventured into his space while he was out.
I feel bad that I brought him by himself to join this flock, but he was all who was available from the most safe, reliable source I've been using for our chickens. And if he were a full-grown rooster already, I would placed him in the roost together with them after week one. Also, I've never integrated new birds this way - foraging together and then having the new ones sleep in a different coop -- unless they wanted to and placed themselves there, which has happened before, for a while anyway. I just remember how bossy one of my hens got with some additions a couple years ago - she stood in the doorway to the new coop all day long, for days on end, daring them to come in to eat and drink. So I'm trying to be extra careful about this lone, young rooster.
Anyway, I thought I'd keep him in his adjoining coop til day (Not night-) 14, when I figured I'd let them out together, remove the wire wall, and keep the 2nd feeding space I already have for him, for whomever to use while they're in different parts of this larger coop. That will be a Friday afternoon, and I can monitor them for the rest of the weekend before returning to work on Monday a.m.
I wonder how this all sounds, and, again, if I might do well to erect some temporary barriers. I was wondering if you had any pics of them too, because what I'm picturing makes me afraid that if I set food behind one, one of the hens could just creep up on him to harass him while he's eating in there? Or would they simply leave him alone because by being hidden he's showing deference?
Sorry this is so long!

My run is VERY small. I just have a pallet leaning against a corner with a feeder behind it. The "babies" eat there but the bully always makes it around the pallet and sneaks up behind them and freaks them out. In the meantime, everyone free ranges in my yard during the day so all is peaceful for that part of the day. It's just when they're locked in the run, which is going to happen more often with daylight savings time and the loss of foliage from the trees/bushes, making them more visible to hawks. I'm getting worried about that as I really don't have enough space. The pallet (and 2 new roosts) are helpful, but the problem still exists. I'll try to take a photo tomorrow when it's light.

 

[khind]

My run is VERY small. I just have a pallet leaning against a corner with a feeder behind it. The "babies" eat there but the bully always makes it around the pallet and sneaks up behind them and freaks them out. In the meantime, everyone free ranges in my yard during the day so all is peaceful for that part of the day. It's just when they're locked in the run, which is going to happen more often with daylight savings time and the loss of foliage from the trees/bushes, making them more visible to hawks. I'm getting worried about that as I really don't have enough space. The pallet (and 2 new roosts) are helpful, but the problem still exists. I'll try to take a photo tomorrow when it's light.

I'm also not crazy about the fewer hours of sunlight while still in these early stages of introducing my young rooster to the bossy hens. I've let them out as much as possible once I get home until it gets dark, but the time will soon arrive at which it'll already get dark while I'm still on the road. My run is small too.