TheBackyardFarmer
Hatching
- Jul 22, 2020
- 1
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Last summer, my neighbors and I decided to build a shared coop on our property. It took ages, but it's finally finished 
Initially, the plan was for each of us to raise some chicks and combine them into a flock so that we could each experience the joy (and anxiety) of raising chicks. I raised a pair of silkies, a hen and a rooster, last summer who are now living in the coop. They are roughly a year old. They've been in the coop for a little over a month and are finally feeling comfortable in it.
My neighbors have decided that rather than raising chicks, they would like egg-laying hens asap. They purchased three laying-age rhode island reds, and now we need to introduce them to the two silkies currently in the coop. The lady they ordered the hens from said that we should just "put them all in the coop when it's pitch dark and they'll be fine." Is that at all true? From reading this forum, it seems like that could end poorly.
How would you go about introducing three rhode island red hens to a coop that currently is occupied by two tiny silkies (a hen and a feisty little rooster). I assume the silkie rooster will be fine, but do I need to worry about the silkie hen? Will the rooster protect her at all, or will he just pick a new hen to dote on? Does it help that the two silkies are "at home" in the coop and have lived there for a while already, and the new hens aren't really an established flock? Thank you!
Initially, the plan was for each of us to raise some chicks and combine them into a flock so that we could each experience the joy (and anxiety) of raising chicks. I raised a pair of silkies, a hen and a rooster, last summer who are now living in the coop. They are roughly a year old. They've been in the coop for a little over a month and are finally feeling comfortable in it.My neighbors have decided that rather than raising chicks, they would like egg-laying hens asap. They purchased three laying-age rhode island reds, and now we need to introduce them to the two silkies currently in the coop. The lady they ordered the hens from said that we should just "put them all in the coop when it's pitch dark and they'll be fine." Is that at all true? From reading this forum, it seems like that could end poorly.
How would you go about introducing three rhode island red hens to a coop that currently is occupied by two tiny silkies (a hen and a feisty little rooster). I assume the silkie rooster will be fine, but do I need to worry about the silkie hen? Will the rooster protect her at all, or will he just pick a new hen to dote on? Does it help that the two silkies are "at home" in the coop and have lived there for a while already, and the new hens aren't really an established flock? Thank you!
