Old hens and new chicks

[dskowron]

We have two older (3 yrs) hens left over from our last flock - they haven't laid eggs in well over three months - probably more like 4 or 5. We are brooding 6 new hens now and they will be ready for the great outdoors in about two weeks. My dilemma is that I think the older hens will terrorize and bully the new chicks and I don't want that for obvious reasons. So is there a way to integrate the two old ones with the 6 new ones? I have read about integrating younger chicks into an older flock but never the opposite. I don't want to cull the older ones but if I have to I will.

 

[dskowron]

That article is great and I wish I had planned for a coop brooder when I built my coop. It is not large enough at all - only 4x8 feet of floor space.

Our new hens are about 5 weeks now and almost ready to go out into the world. They'll have a huge run - about 4000 square feet or so and it includes a stand of junipers and a nice blue spruce for them to sit under. It will be chicken heaven!

 

[aart]

Nevermind! I found other threads like this. I can't delete this post so . . .

You can click 'report' on your first post and ask to have the thread deleted.

 

[NatJ]

So is there a way to integrate the two old ones with the 6 new ones? I have read about integrating younger chicks into an older flock but never the opposite. I don't want to cull the older ones but if I have to I will.

Yes, they can be integrated.

Having few old hens, and more young chicks, will probably make it easier.

I've seen some threads where people are integrating a big batch of new chicks with a single old hen. Depending on the temperament of the individual hen, sometimes a situation like that goes really smoothly, and sometimes not so much.

Nevermind! I found other threads like this. I can't delete this post so . . .

It's OK to have a new thread too.

But if you do want it deleted, you can follow the suggestion @aart gave, and "report" the post. You'll get a popup box where you can type an explanation.

 

[NatJ]

These two old hens have both been at the top of the pecking order of their old flock at one time or another. I've seen both be fairly brutal to lower hens so I don't want that to happen here. I'm more leaning toward culling at this point.

Thank you for the advice.

Had you found this article yet?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
You could try something like that.

I do agree that culling the old hens is an effective way to avoid integration problems.

 

[dskowron]

I hate to do it but it needs to be done. It's the one thing about being a pet/animal owner that is a huge downer. Putting them down is the hardest thing to do.

 

[dskowron]

You are absolutely correct in that I would prefer not to cull them. It's a real dilemma. The two that I have left over from the last flock have been, at various times, brutal to other chickens. One of them teamed up with her sister (now gone) and almost killed a smaller molting hen. If I hadn't seen it happen she would have been dead.

 

[dskowron]

I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with something that will work for my particular situation. I have about two weeks to figure something out.
Funny story: About a year ago or so when our flock was 6 hens strong, a male pheasant showed up in our yard. We have 1.5 acres and the hens have full access to all of it (which is going to change with the new flock). We named him Phil. Phil the Pheasant. He hung around for about two weeks or so. The hens basically ignored him and eventually he was right next to them scratching around for bugs and such. Soon, he left in search of love. Then, a female showed up. While the hens didn't exactly love her, they tolerated her but when she got too close they sort of shooed her away. No attacks or anything, but they let her know she was too close to them. Eventually she also left - hopefully Phil found her. We named her "Freida". Haven't seen either of them since. Anyway . . . we thought that was pretty cool.

 

[dskowron]

We've decided to give it a try. Nothing to lose and if it doesn't go well we can always cull later. I came up with what I think might be a good way to separate them in the coop. Hopefully it works out.

 

[dskowron]

One cool thing I realized over the past few days as we have been putting the new ones out in this makeshift cage is that the older two hens have been hanging around it doing all their scratching and pecking near them. They are becoming a flock all on their own! Right now the two older ones (and the rest of their flock which is gone now) were totally free ranging on our 1.5 acre parcel. That's going to end with the new flock. We fenced off about 3200 square feet or so for them to have to themselves. It has junipers and a blue spruce for them to hang out in and we're going to put in a large patch of sod for them also. Should be chicken heaven! There's also a water spigot in there for them. I'll put in an automatic waterer so they always have fresh cool water in this desert heat.