Introducing new hens

[Hannekens]

We're brand new to backyard chickens. Purchased 6 hens, fairly certain 2 are roosters. They are all now 9 weeks old and moved into their coop. (Until the roosters start crowing, we're happy to hold onto them.) We wanted more layers, but didn't want to repeat the brooder process right now, so we have a friend who just purchased 4 more (hopefully) hens that he'll raise to coop-age for us, along with some for his own flock. Being that my original hens will still be fairly new to coop life when the newbies move in, (having been in for about 6 weeks when the others are ready to join) and with the relatively minor age difference between the two 'batches' of birds, do I need to worry about a slow, separated approach to introducing the new birds? We have Easter Eggers and Cinnamon Queens, all very friendly. (Even the roosters!) All of our current and future hens were purchased at TSC, from hatcheries.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

At this point, the age difference isn't likely to be a problem but I worry about quarantine.
Are you planning a quarantine period far from your original chickens?

 

[aart]

Age 'sameness' won't matter, they are old enough for territoriality issues,
and 6 weeks is plenty of time to 'home' to the new territory.

You should know by 9 weeks if you have males, post pics.
I would remove the males the same day you add the new girls,
will create some distraction due to pecking order changes.

How much space you have can make a huge difference in ease of integration.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You don't get guarantees with living animals and their behaviors. No matter how much room you have or what techniques you use it could go really smoothly or it could be a mess. Unfortunately that's just the way it works.

In my opinion how much room you have in your coop and how it is laid out, how much room you have outside and how it is laid out, and how you manage those two can have a big impact on how it goes. The more room you have the better and the more clutter (things that breaks line of sight) the better the quality of that room.

I don't have a clue what your facilities look like or your management techniques. Dad would raise chicks in a box on the back porch until they were three weeks old (warm weather) and then just dump them at the hen house. I saw him do that a few times growing up and it worked. But his flock free ranged in a pasture. Most slept in the hen house but a few slept in trees. I don't do it that way, my facilities and management techniques are quite different, I imagine yours are too.

If you can tell us about your facilities we might be able to make specific suggestions that better fit your situation. In general having them across wire for a while is usually a good idea. Spreading out feeding and watering stations can help a lot. The more room and the better the quality of your room the better. Be patient. Don't try to force them together so they can work it out, that's a good way to incite violence. Give them as much time and room to work things out at their pace as you can. Them sleeping in separate locations for a while can be a good thing.

Good luck! These things often go much better than you expect.

 

[Hannekens]

Thank you all for your input! The idea of removing the roosters the same day the new hens join makes a lot of sense to me. As far as living quarters, coop is about 4ft x 12ft, with 8 ft of roosting space and 3 nesting boxes. (Currently blocked off)
Their coop connects to a 2ft x 8ft “alley”, turn a corner and you’re in their 10ft x 20ft (ish) enclosed run.
The two we believe are Aracaunas are the 2 we think to be roosters, based on behavior. (And the darker of the 2 straight-up cockadoodle-dooed weeks ago, but we haven’t heard it since. I think he knows he’s on borrowed time...)

 

[Ridgerunner]

The redder one is a male, no question. Pretty sure the buff is too. Sorry.

Not sure how I'd approach integration with that. That narrow alleyway may or may not pose some problems, they can't get by each other in it without encroaching on each other's personal space. But overall you have room, much better than many backyard flocks. And once you get rid of those two the numbers aren't that bad at all.

One thing for sure, have food and water inside the coop and also out in that run. Spreading it like that can help reduce competition a lot.

If you can do it when you can observe you could just try turning them loose in there and see what happens. I'd want the two boys gone, either that day or earlier. It could be that easy. Have a plan in case you do need to separate them. My definition of a successful integration is that no one gets hurt. If they want to hang in separate groups during the day, good, no one is fighting. If they want to sleep separately, good (as long as they are predator safe), they are not fighting.

It's quite possible you will need to toss the new ones in the coop after dark. As long as it is dark in there they should be OK. But be down there at the break of day to see how it is going. It might be a good time to open the pop door and let them have more room. But base your actions on what you see.

A safer way would be to build a pen inside that coop or some place predator safe and house them across wire form each other for a week or more. It can help for them to get to know each other before they can mingle. But you will still have to base your actions on what you see when you let them mingle.

Good luck!