introducing new ladies to the flock

[Sandie55]

My neighbor is moving and I am taking her chickens, 6 hens & hoping to introduce them into my flock. I have 4 hens & 1 small rooster. The hens I will be getting are the same age and some of them are the same breed also. We got them at the same time. Any suggestion on how to introduce the new ladies? I'm thinking of having her put them in a large metal dog crate and putting it in the pen so my flock can be around them but not "get at" them. If I do this, how long should I do it and what do I do with them at night if they can't go into the hen house? Maybe just move them into the tack room to be warm??? Any suggestion would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

[sumi]

Have a look here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[Mrs. K]

I would not worry about it at all if you have enough room in your coup/run set up. If they are the same age, and same size, there should be only minimal flurries because you are adding a group of chickens that is slightly bigger than your flock. Your flock has the home town advantage, the "new" flock has the numbers.

Put in some hideouts, a couple of food bowls and water bowls, and there won't be any trouble. You don't need the dog crate.

Mrs k

 

[aart]

How big is your coop? Most important, how much roost length do you have?
How big is your run?
Do they free range?

The smaller the space the more possibility of problems.
Iif you have lots of coop and roost space and lots of run space or free range, the less possibility of problems.

 

[Sandie55]

My pen is approx. 12' X 8'. It has an old branch in it with crooked limbs that they can roost on and sit under. I would run a a fence down the middle of it to let them get used to each other but it's too cold for any of them to stay out at night and I'm nervous about shutting them in together in the hen house too soon. Also, some of the new ones & mine were raised together when they were chicks until we seperated them about a year ago. So, maybe I won't have much of a problem. Or just little ones hopefully. I do let them out several times a week to run around and have fun for a few hours. I have lots of predators! I watched a bald eagle fly off with one last year. Thanks for taking the time to advise me.