Merging two flocks with one roo (please answer!)

[Ccaplan]

Hi all:
Ok, so after being part of this forum since last May and having chickens for about 9 months - I thought I had a great idea... I have two mobile coops and two flocks on about a 1/2 acre. The area is split in half with each coop. I have one roo on one side. There are eight birds in each area and they have lots of room to roam and be chickens. They cannot get to each other as the fence built between them is hardware cloth but between the birds it's only 4 feet tall. So they can fly over the fence.

All that said - it has been only two days and I'm watching them puff up and challenge each other through the fence. But they cannot access each other. (there is a tiny gate between the two for me but it's locked). Everyone is fine and I haven't gotten in the middle...

1) I've seen roo perched on the top of the middle fence (staring at the "new" chickens) but then luckily he goes into his area...
2) I honestly thought I would be keeping them separate but now I feel like at one point I merge these birds -how long do I wait?
3) What if one of these birds flies over -I have girls almost laying so some young curious not so smart birds may fly over to the roo side!
4) Do I need a new plan? I'll take a pic and post it here in a few but the area is huge and they mostly all go their way after they all stare at each other for a while through the middle fence.

Thank you SO much!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would let them have a good look for about a month before opening it up and seeing what happens. Since they still have their own coops they will still go back to roost in their own coop. You may seem some squabbles between the hens but it shouldn't be bad if they can get away.

Your roosters may or may not fight. With separate coops it will be less of a problem.

 

[Ccaplan]

Thank you! So far so good and the really good news is we have only one roo on one side with the older ladies (3+ years-old). And they have tons of space to get away. Question: IF one silly bird decides to fly over to either coop - do you think the circumstances would be dire? And the small flock would like take out that bird before I can get down there?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thank you! So far so good and the really good news is we have only one roo on one side with the older ladies (3+ years-old). And they have tons of space to get away. Question: IF one silly bird decides to fly over to either coop - do you think the circumstances would be dire? And the small flock would like take out that bird before I can get down there?

Do you have places for birds to escape to? Getting the fence open will help keep that from happening hopefully. I keep two separate flocks that share a common area. In most instances they ignore each other, and blend. All return to their own sheds.

 

[Ccaplan]

Yes for the most part but perhaps I need to add more roost areas - there are roost bars in the coop but that likely wouldn't help one lone bird being chased if she flew over "by accident". There are a lot of trees but no real bushes - it's a large wooded area but to your point if that between gate was open the bird could get back thru -- so it sounds like I need to add some escape type pods. What would you suggest until I merge the two in a month? Maybe a few sawhorses they can fly up and sit on? I imagine the rooster flying over into the other area wouldn't be too terrible outside of trying to court an entirely new flock . let me know what you think as far as escape areas and I'll add those to both areas until we open it up. Thank YOU!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Definitely something to fly up on would help. I just wouldn't put them too close to the fence so it doesn't encourage flying over. My birds won't generally fly over a wire fence. They generally need a top solid rail, but you never know.

 

[Ccaplan]

This has been SO helpful I really appreciate your help with this - newbie chicken keeper here -I don't know what I was thinking with a four foot fence splitting the two areas - the rest of the fence is 7 feet high! I was only thinking predators - I feel so dumb. I'll out the two sawhorses in the middle far from the fence border. Thank you!

 

[Mrs. K]

How many birds do you have in each section? And why do you want two flocks? And really unless you have very unequal numbers, I would not worry about it at all.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Seems like I'm always asking this. How old are the younger ones? Are you dealing with two flocks of hens and roosters or is one flock pullets and a cockerel? How mature they are can have a lot to do with how they react when they get together.

If you put two mature roosters together they will determine which is boss. It might be a fight to the death or they may reach an accommodation and get along. Typically each claim a certain territory and their own harem and stay out of each other's way but I have seen exceptions. Having two different coops would be a bonus but I've seen them share a common coop. You cannot tell ahead of time if it will be a fight to the death or if they will reach an accommodation.

If it is a mature rooster and an immature cockerel, the older male will dominate until the cockerel matures enough to challenge him. Again it is possible the mature rooster will kill the cockerel out of hand but often it's more of a case of running away and chasing. It's possible there will be a fight to the death when the cockerel matures enough to challenge but it is also possible they will reach an accommodation.

In any of these scenarios the more space they have the better. When they fight (males or females) the loser needs to be able to run away and get away. The winner may chase some but usually gives up. If the loser does not have enough room to get away then the winner does not know he/she has won. He continues to attack even if the loser quits fighting back. That often results in a dead chicken.

It's possible you have a brutal bully hen in your flock. She may attack any strange chicken. Usually with mature hens and reasonable space its not a huge problem but problems can happen, especially is space is tight. But mature hens outrank immature pullets and will often attack when he pullet invades their personal space. That may be a peck to run them off or it may be an all-out attack. That's why space is important, they need room to run away and get away. It usually doesn't take long for immature cockerels and pullets to learn to avoid adults as long as hey have enough room to avoid them.

If one of your pullets or hens accidentally flies over the fence and winds up with the other flock, I would not expect much of a problem. If they are of egg laying age the male may try to mate with them and bring her into his flock. She may switch flock loyalties. What I think most likely is that she will hang near that fence to be near her flock. She probably will not know enough to simply fly back over. At bedtime she will probably stay at the fence, desperately wanting to go to her coop but not knowing enough to fly back over. You may have to help her get home. But I don't give guarantees with animals and their behaviors. You really can't tell for sure what will happen.

If you want to merge the two flocks with both roosters or getting rid of one and just keeping the females, I'd try housing them side by side for a while. A week might be enough, a month might be better. Then leave that gate open when you can be around and see what happens. Practically all the excitement should be between the two males. That may be high drama, it may be anticlimactic. I would not expect that much drama involving the females.

 

[Ccaplan]

Yes for the most part but perhaps I need to add more roost areas - there are roost bars in the coop but that likely wouldn't help one lone bird being chased if she flew over "by accident". There are a lot of trees but no real bushes - it's a large wooded area but to your point if that between gate was open the bird could get back thru -- so it sounds like I need to add some escape type pods. What would you suggest until I merge the two in a month? Maybe a few sawhorses they can fly up and sit on? I imagine the rooster flying over into the other area wouldn't be too terrible outside of trying to court an entirely new flock . let me know what you think as far as escape areas and I'll add those to both areas until we open it up. Thank YOU!

How many birds do you have in each section? And why do you want two flocks? And really unless you have very unequal numbers, I would not worry about it at all.

How many birds do you have in each section? And why do you want two flocks? And really unless you have very unequal numbers, I would not worry about it at all.

Hi!
I don't really at all - since they lived in separate coops up until last week I built the fence to split the area in two but only because I knew I needed an intro. period. The numbers are exactly equal, 8 on both sides with one roo on one of those sides. The area in total (both sides) is easily 1/2 acre so they have plenty of space!