New hens and my chicks.

[NamasteJu]

Ok, so I have 2 female chickens that I have raised from 2 weeks old. They are now 10 weeks old and are ready to go outside. I am in the UK and have been waiting for the weather to warm up and for them to get more feathers before putting them out full time. They love going out in the run for an hour or so every day.

We are adopting 2 hens this weekend that a farmer was sending to slaughter. They are ex caged hen layers. I am going to be putting them straight into the coop so that they settle. The girls are 18 months old. Can anyone give me some advice on how I will mix the new girls with our females. I have 1 lavendar bantham and 1 silkie. I have 2 boys (that we didn't know were boys) and they are going to live with my dads friend out in the countryside this week, we are so sad about it.

I am considering leaving the 2 girls indoors for a week maybe whilst the new hens settle in the coop? as my current girls are still indoors.

 

[nchls school]

Ok, so I have 2 female chickens that I have raised from 2 weeks old. They are now 10 weeks old and are ready to go outside. I am in the UK and have been waiting for the weather to warm up and for them to get more feathers before putting them out full time. They love going out in the run for an hour or so every day.

We are adopting 2 hens this weekend that a farmer was sending to slaughter. They are ex caged hen layers. I am going to be putting them straight into the coop so that they settle. The girls are 18 months old. Can anyone give me some advice on how I will mix the new girls with our females. I have 1 lavendar bantham and 1 silkie. I have 2 boys (that we didn't know were boys) and they are going to live with my dads friend out in the countryside this week, we are so sad about it.

I am considering leaving the 2 girls indoors for a week maybe whilst the new hens settle in the coop? as my current girls are still indoors.

I would put all the chickens in their new home (coop) at the same time. All the birds will be on an equal footing in this way. If some are put in the coop before others, the first residents are more likely to bully the new chickens.

 

[NamasteJu]

Oh I might try that then. Thank you

 

[Elbs]

Agreed. If it's new to all of them I think they'll sort it out faster.odds are the hens will be dominant over the pullets.

 

[NamasteJu]

Thank you Elbs.

My chicks are 10 weeks so fairly small. I see there is alot of different advice as to when they should go outside but I think they are ready, they have outgrown the brooder now and we had to extend it. They love the outdoors too. I hope they will be ok outside, it's fairly warm here now, average temp 18-20c, but cooler at night. I do worry they will get too cold ;-)

 

[dekel18042]

I would put all the chickens in their new home (coop) at the same time. All the birds will be on an equal footing in this way. If some are put in the coop before others, the first residents are more likely to bully the new chickens.

While this would work, I would use this method only if I were combining some of my own different aged chickens.
It appears while she has had some from two weeks, the others are new and coming from somewhere else.
With that in mind, I would quarantine them for at least three weeks and only when you are sure the newbies are healthy would I put them together.
If you quarantine for three weeks then put them where the two groups can see each other for a week or two the introduction should go easier, especially if the older ones are going into the younger ones' coop.

 

[nchls school]

   While this would work, I would use this method only if I were combining some of my own different aged chickens.
It appears while she has had some from two weeks, the others are new and coming from somewhere else.
    With that in mind, I would quarantine them for at least three weeks and only when you are sure the newbies are healthy would I put them together.
      If you quarantine for three weeks then put them where the two groups can see each other for a week or two the introduction should go easier, especially if the older ones are going into the younger ones' coop.

You are most assuredly correct. Any new birds should be quarantined.

 

[NamasteJu]

I did think this would be the case. Thank you.

 

[Elbs]

If you're going to bother quarantine, I'd say 6 weeks minimum. It's a lot of work though and they need the space to keep both pairs separated.

 

[Mrs. K]

adult chickens and strange chicks are not going to get along without a lot of pecking, the older birds could kill the younger birds if you do not have considerable space and hideouts in your set up.

I think you would have better results if you waited until your chicks were close to full size, about 4 months of age before adding adult chickens to them.

I really would not recommend getting chickens that an experienced person with chickens was going to cull at 18 months of age. Look them over VERY carefully for parasites or illness. If you are not experience (and sometiems if you are) it is easy to be duped into bringing home a great deal of trouble.

Even though it sounds noble to rescue those chickens, very likely it is not.

I do think your chicks are old enough to be outside, as long as they have protection from the wind, and can get dry, they will be warm enough. I would put them out there asap and I would not get the other hens.

Mrs K