Merging Babies with older chickens

alma.adele

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I am newer to the chicken keeping world. We have 4 year old chickens ( 2 RIR and 1 americauna hens and 1 Buff rooster).
I am trying to merge them with 9 new little ones.

They mostly get along when out in the run but I cannot figure out to get my older ones to let the babies into the coop at night or even to train the babies to go into the coop at night. So I have been going out to move them in the coop each night and they seem to get along once they settle into the coop.

I have until this weekend to figure it out before my husband turns the older 4 into dinner.

Any advice....or help?

Thanks!!!!
 
Okay then. Chickens nearly full grown require a different approach when integrating than small babies where the panic room method works so well.

Even though nearly three-month old chicks are getting to a size where they don't appear to be so vulnerable, they still lack rank, confidence, and experience that help them cope with their places in the pecking order.

They need a little help. One thing I do for my chicks as they are getting larger but still lack the self confidence to buck the pecking order to get the essentials they need is to install a vertical refuge. This can be a shelf in the run or something as homely as an old card table or patio table.

This is where I place their food and water. I show them once where it is, and they are quick to see it as a place where they can escape the pressure of trying to compete at the flock feeder down low. They also find it a comfortable and secure place to relax and nap.

As for going into the coop at night, they need your help there, too. First, see to it that there are enough roosting perches where the chicks don't need to try to crowd in with the adults, risking being shoved off the perch. Usually, the adults will have their favorite spots on the perches, so you need to encourage the youngsters to roost at the opposite end, or even make a temporary perch down low for them.

To teach them to go inside at night, wait until the adults have roosted. Younger chickens naturally will wait to go in last, even as they've reached maturity. It helps to have a light inside the coop if it happens to be dim in there, making it darker inside than out. Chicks need to see that where they're going is safe.

I will give them a gentle shove to get them to go in or I will get inside and call them in. Then I will place them on the perch where they will feel safe from the adults. If they are agitated, I will place my hand lightly on their heads, exerting soft downward pressure while making a shh-ing sound. This comforts and relaxes them.

It only takes a few nights of this and they will be going in and roosting on their own. Of course, if there's an adult bully, you will need to be prepared to deal with that. I have a fly swatter handy that I use to thrust in between an adult bully and her target. Believe me, this sends a message pretty quickly, and all I need to do is brandish the swatter and the bully backs right down.
 
To me it sounds like you have had a very successful integration and things are proceeding normally. The older are not trying to kill the younger. With that age difference that is success. Until they mature, immature chicks are typically afraid of adults. If they crowd the personal pace of the adults they are likely to get pecked, but if they avoid the adults they are often left alone. They quickly learn to not crown the adults.

I don't know how big your coop is or how it is laid out inside. They may feel too close to the adults in there, even thought he adults are not attacking them when they are inside. I've seen that behavior before even with a large coop and not a lot of chickens though mine typically will go in after the others are in and on the roosts.

My suggestion is to keep doing what you are doing since it is working. I think you will find that when the older hens are removed this weekend they will be pretty quick to go in on their own though you may need to put them in a time or two afterwards.
 
IF the coop is to dark when they are ready to go in, they will not want to go in. If they can see just let them have some extra time as the older birds go to roost first, and then they younger birds. (just like our kids want to stay up)
You may give them a few more minutes to go in,,,,
 
install a vertical refuge. This can be a shelf in the run or something as homely as an old card table or patio table.

This is where I place their food and water. I show them once where it is, and they are quick to see it as a place where they can escape the pressure of trying to compete at the flock feeder down low. They also find it a comfortable and secure place to relax and nap.
What's to keep the older birds from also accessing this oasis?
 
So I have been going out to move them in the coop each night and they seem to get along once they settle into the coop.

I have until this weekend to figure it out before my husband turns the older 4 into dinner.
Do you have a separate roost for the youngers?
How big is your coop?
Dimensions and pics inside and out would help.
 
What's to keep the older birds from also accessing this oasis?
Nothing except for their laziness.

I have a flock ranging in age from one year to ten years, and the "oasis" never seemed to be something the other chickens were interested in. If they did become interested in hopping up there, there are still two other feeding stations for the chicks to access.

Remember that chickens are creatures of habit. Eating food on a card table is not something that is a habit for the older flock. Once they find the food is the same as the stuff on the ground, they lose interest.
 

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