omg I added more chickens! what was I thinking?!?!

[aart]

yes, the coop is closed at night and initially they were separated by a kennel (for 3 nights) until last night they all went in there like they were best buddies and i heard and saw no squabbles. They seem to be more settled today with still the on and off vocal squawking and chasing around. keep a close eye on them. the coop has many roosting bars and 2 nest boxes they can access. none of them are laying currently (all of them still too young). this morning they all came out, the new group first and the older ones second.

Sounds like a successful integration, congrats!

 

[Kjukkjuk]

well, it does seem to be settling down more and more each day. I did have to cull (?) one from the flock as she turned out to have some sort of enteritis (I wrote about this in another post, not sure how to link that)... the vet looked at a fecal sample from her and said enteritis that had been with her for weeks (so before I picked her up) and severe anemia, and if I'm saying or heard him right he said trichomonas and also mentioned coccidiosis as the culprits. He recommended euthanizing her and I agreed. It's been a nerve wracking few days for sure and I can't help but feel at fault somehow or just like my inexperience is to blame for not knowing. So now, I'm watching the flock really closely and wondering if I should be treating them all with some sort of medication or vitamin/mineral supplement? I spent a looooong time making sure the coop, run, and my house was disinfected and clean. But I do already keep all of it obsessively immaculate... thanks for all of your replies

 

[aart]

Bringing in birds always carries the risk of bringing in pests and disease.

Most birds(including existing birds) can carry disease(s) without showing symptoms until stressed.
Cleanliness helps but will not always prevent outbreaks.
Reasonable cleanliness-keeping things dry and well ventilated...
....you can't really 'disinfect' a chicken coop, unless there is specific organism that has been positively ID'd in quantities known to cause problems.
Unneeded medications, or medicating for something not positively ID'd can cause stress and resistant organisms.

IMO it's a balance, many things can't be eradicated, so you 'manage' them.

 

[The Chicken-Boy]

yes, the coop is closed at night and initially they were separated by a kennel (for 3 nights) until last night they all went in there like they were best buddies and i heard and saw no squabbles. They seem to be more settled today with still the on and off vocal squawking and chasing around. keep a close eye on them. the coop has many roosting bars and 2 nest boxes they can access. none of them are laying currently (all of them still too young). this morning they all came out, the new group first and the older ones second.

My new girls took a long time to get beater than that!

 

[Kjukkjuk]

the integration went well overall, it was just my first so i was a little OCD perhaps i did end up having to crawl into the coop with them just as they were roosting because they began to squabble like crazy and wouldn't let the newbies on the roost, not even the lower one. but wow they behaved while i sat in there with them and gently moved one aside and placed a newbie on the roost and clucked at them whenever they thought to peck at them or knock them off... i did that for maybe 3 or 4 nights just until it was dark enough so they probably couldn't see enough to be jerks and then the squabbling stopped on it's own... now of course they have their little argument each night over who gets what spot on the roosts but there's no more pecking or knocking each other off the roost.

will be getting another 3 in the spring/summer and will be setting up a grow-out coop completely separate but visible to them so the transition goes even smoother.

 

[Mrs. K]

Really the more you add at one time, the better it goes. It spreads the fighting around, not just a few birds taking it all. Leaning up a pallet, so birds can get out of sight also helps. I have had good luck with a pallet up on a single layer of cement blocks. High enough chicks could lounge under it, but a bit small for a bigger bird.

Mrs K

 

[BriCunningham]

I'm so glad I found this post. I have almost 3 week babies ( I started with 6 but now have 5). My mother in law thought she would take it upon herself to buy 3 more from our local farm store and said they were to coming to my house. I'm nurse when this will be happening but I'm kinda freaking out about integrating them together

 

[aatx]

When I fully integrate, I always do it at night. With new chick, they are always put in an adjoining run for a while first, and then when I move them to the main coop, I do it in the evening when it gets dark. Bring the new ones in and put them up on roost poles. Seems to work out better if they all wake up together. I do this same thing (reintroduce them at night) if I have had to have any of them inside for observation or when I used to have to take them elsewhere to break them from their broodiness. (Broody breaker is now in the run so no longer have to do that though.)

 

[Kjukkjuk]

i've got 3 new pullets scheduled for june and am thinking of getting another 3 pullets at the same time for a total of 6 to add to the existing flock of 6. my new plan which i'm working on building now is to have a "grow-out" coop for the new ones inside of a separate but adjacent run area where they will all be able to see each other but no touching... i'm just going to let them grow larger in that set up until eventually opening up the areas and joining them all into the main coop one evening. but i think i'm going to take it really slow and just be patient with it this time now that i'll have two separate coops and runs.

 

[aldarita]

Bringing in birds always carries the risk of bringing in pests and disease.

Most birds(including existing birds) can carry disease(s) without showing symptoms until stressed.
Cleanliness helps but will not always prevent outbreaks.
Reasonable cleanliness-keeping things dry and well ventilated...
....you can't really 'disinfect' a chicken coop, unless there is specific organism that has been positively ID'd in quantities known to cause problems.
Unneeded medications, or medicating for something not positively ID'd can cause stress and resistant organisms.

IMO it's a balance, many things can't be eradicated, so you 'manage' them.

These are all very good and important observations to always keep in mind