New additions

[joshpruitt89]

Hi, I am in the process of growing my flock. I currently have 5 golden comets in the coop. I also have 3 Rhode Island reds and 3 New Hampshire reds that are between 6 and 7 weeks old who are ready to move in. I put up a temporary run next to the comets and take them out there for a few hours everyday and so I decided after a week or so to put them in the big run and they attacked off and on, injuring my largest "baby's" comb. It's time for them to go out but I don't want to get them killed. Any ideas?

 

[Mrs. K]

Time... you are ready for them to go out, but they are not. Much smaller birds and strangers are going to be picked on, sometimes to the point of death. This is a reality of chicken society.

Many people have had some luck with a one way gate, a sectioned off part of the run, where the chicks can escape to, but the bigger birds can't follow.

But keeping them separate until they are much bigger about 4 months old is the safest practice.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

Here's some notes I've taken on integration that I found to be very helpful. ....take what applies and ignore the rest.
See if any of them, or the links provided at the bottom, might offer some tips that will assist you in your situation:

Integration of new chickens into flock.

Consider medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article
Poultry Biosecurity
BYC 'medical quarantine' search

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact. Integrating new birds of equal size works best.

For smaller chicks I used a large wire dog crate right in the coop for the smallers. I removed the crate door and put up a piece of wire fencing over the opening and bent up one corner just enough for the smallers to fit thru but the biggers could not. Feed and water inside the crate for the smallers. Make sure the smallers know how to get in and out of the crate opening before exposing them to the olders. this worked out great for me, by the time the crate was too small for the them to roost in there(about 3 weeks), they had pretty much integrated themselves to the olders.

If you have too many smallers to fit in a crate you can partition off part of the coop with a wire wall and make the same openings for smallers escape.


The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide out of line of sight and/or up and away from any bully birds.

Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[Imelda P]

Hi! I have 2 girls that are 6.5 years old. We got them when they were about 16 weeks from a neighbour who didn't want them and was going to cull them. They are brilliant girls and still laying well. I love them to bits! They were never vaccinated as chicks. Due to their age I worried that if 1 was to get sick it could leave 1 on its own, so we're very very keen to get 2 more girls. Do you think our existing girls are at risk of disease from new vaccinated chickens?

 

[Mrs. K]

anytime you introduce new birds, there is a chance that either the older birds or the younger birds could be carrying a disease and pass that on to the other group.

Personally, at 6.5 years, your older birds are close to the end of their life which could come at any time. I like having eggs so, I would be adding birds to the flock.

If you get new day old chicks, they are generally considered to be pretty safe disease wise, but you will need to keep them separate from your older birds until they grow up. Even if your older birds are nice, they won't like the new birds and can be quite aggressive.

Mrs K

 

[Imelda P]

Thanks Mrs K! Im hoping Lucy & Imelda will be about for another couple of years but think I'll get another couple of girls just in case.