- Aug 7, 2014
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We are new this year to chickens and are learning very quickly to heed advice from other members here on BYC. We started with 8 chickens(3 roos 2 hens and 3 pullets, one was supposed to be a brooder, but turned out to be a chick of one of the older hens) thanks to our neighbors dogs and an owl we are down to 1 rooster and 2 hens that started laying a week ago. the other 2 roos went to another farm that could accommodate them. We have made several changes to secure our chickens and are now looking to restore our flock. Our chickens are Americaunas (sp) and are looking to incorporate Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orphingtons into the mix. Our Rooster is 2 yrs old, His hens were born January and late February this year and the new pullets are 13-14 weeks old. Question is what precautions and preparations should we take to ensure a safe introduction other than quarantining the new birds. Thanks in advance Jay and Kim.
and Welcome To BYC! X2 what Mountain Peeps said, It is best to have a long period of the two flocks being able to see each other but no touching, through wire seem to work best, ie dividing the coop into two sections or keeping the new/younger ones in a cage inside the coup for a couple of weeks to a month at least. The chickens will get to know each other and sort of work out a pecking order before actually coming in contact with each other. After a week or two, letting them free range together is a good idea and should help... It will take a couple of weeks to get the pecking order sorted out. There is a nice article in the Learning Center on integrating flocks you might like to check out, the part about actually combining them is after the quarantine section 
