Introducing young hens to sole remaining chook

[elivingston]

I lost 2 of my 3 chooks and have sent my one lonely Wyandotte to the neighbour's hen hilton for a well deserved rest. Tomorrow i am collecting 6 new hens aged around 9 weeks. I would like to get my Wyandotte back but am wondering what is the best way to establish a new flock. They will all be going into a brand new coop away from the old coop so I am wondering whether the "newness" of it to both the older hen and the younger hens might reduce the fighting? Also, my Wyandotte is still young enough that she is isn't laying so will they distinguish young from old?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Emily

 

[jackson8]

I think you should be fine with the intro, they should be old enough to to get away from the older one.

I had to do the same thing when I intro 3 six week old chicks into my coop with older hens there was a bit of chaseing going on but after 3 days they were all settled in.

Good luck with the introduction, maybe put a smaller cage with the chicks inside of coop for the older one to get used to them aswell.

 

[elivingston]

Thanks a lot for the advice. I have a big dog crate that I might leave the littlies in to start off with!

 

[Judy]

Um, I'm glad things went well for Jackson8, but that's not always the case,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock

 

[elmo]

Sometimes it goes ok, other times the chicks are killed. That's why it's usually recommended to wait until the younger birds are almost full grown before beginning to integrate. A lot depends on the amount of space in the run, too, and whether there are places for a bullied bird to hide from her tormenters.