Mixing flocks

[Meadesm]

I have 9 chickens right now and my friend is about to get 20 more. I am wanting to keep 4 of the babies. How would I mix them together and would I still have to quarantine them if I knew where they came from?

 

[DavidKerk]

Once the chickens are 16 weeks, you can just put them in the coop one evening when the other chickens are roosting. This should make the transition smooth.

You might want to even if you know where they came from. There are so many diseases that even the owners don't know about. Personally, I have never quarantined, but it is surely a risk.

I hope you enjoy your new chickens!

 

[Meadesm]

Do they have to be 16 weeks

 

[Mrs. K]

Yes, you need to wait until the chicks have some size on them, your original girls are an established flock of 9. When you are adding new chickens there are a couple of rules.

Size trumps all - bigger birds will pick and peck on smaller birds, and often will kill an undefended chick. If all the birds are the same size, and there is more than one or two new birds you probably won't notice much scuffle at all.

Home territory trumps strangers - the birds in an established flock in their coup will trump new birds sometimes. It is a small advantage.

number of birds in each flock, it is better to add more new birds, then adding a single bird. A single bird, everyone knows is new and gets all the pecking. If you add a bunch of birds, they spread the pecking around. It makes for a bit more chaos, but it is more diluted.

Space - more space is better, not enough space causes a LOT of problems. Even one chicken too many can make for trouble. Space that was enough when the birds were small, can become not enough space when the birds are full grown.

The only way you can add small chicks to an established flock, is with a broody hen. She has to be really broody, not just a nice hen. A broody hen is filled with aggressive hormones, that will actively defend the chicks from the layers. The chicks learn to stay next to mama and away from the layers. Then when the broodiness wears off, the flock has accepted the chicks, they are still the lowest in the pecking order, but will not be killed by the layers.

Mrs K

 

[llpensinger]

I had 2 hens from last year and wanted to add some more hens. So I got 4 new chicks this year and kept them in their own pen with heat lamp until they got bigger and the weather got warmer. When new chicks were about 1/2 their regular size I released them into pen with last years girls. Since there was 4 of them the older girls couldn't keep track of an individual baby, so though they chased them a little bit they couldn't isolate 1 by itself. There are so many variables that would go into deciding when to combine the different ages, I wouldn't say there's any specific way to do it. But the 2 main factors I would say are size and number. Good luck