Operation Integration - Stage 2

[MIChickandGuinea]

I posted a few days ago about integrating two groups of younger chickens - one 17-week group of 7 pullets, and one 10-week-old group of two pullets and one rooster (who was meant to be a pullet, but he apparently confounded the person at the hatchery)... SO what I did in Stage 1 was move one of the older pullets into the smaller pen with the younger birds. Once they were all getting along well (which took about a week!) I moved on to Stage 2.

In Stage 2, I have swapped coops - the group of younger birds + one older that had been in the baby pen are now in the main coop, and the ladies from the main coop are now in the baby pen. At the same time, I added one bird to the baby flock - the one hen we have who is laying already, and I thought that she might be best off staying in the main coop where her favorite nesting boxes are. So what I have are 3 babies and 2 olders in the main coop, 5 olders in the baby coop (and yeah, that's a little crowded, but it's temporary, and I added several extra perches inside the coop and out in the pen to help them have "personal space"). My plan from here is to watch and make sure things are going OK in the main coop, that the 5 in there are getting along OK and eating/drinking/roosting together nicely. Then I'll add one big bird at a time, every few days to a week ... just watching to make sure that things stay safe for everyone.

Anyone with experience see any holes in my plan? Anything to add?

 

[Alaskan]

Sounds like that should work.

However, you have scrambled everything enough, (as in confused them all, and disrupted the pecking order with all of the moving about), that there is a good chance that all of them could be tossed together into the main coop right now.

I like putting in 2 feeders and 2 waterers for at least the first week or so...make sure no one is being bullied off of the feed. Also, check for any spots where a pullet could get cornered.

If you chunk them all together, pick a day where you can keep a close eye on them.

Good luck.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Sounds like that should work.

However, you have scrambled everything enough, (as in confused them all, and disrupted the pecking order with all of the moving about), that there is a good chance that all of them could be tossed together into the main coop right now.

I like putting in 2 feeders and 2 waterers for at least the first week or so...make sure no one is being bullied off of the feed. Also, check for any spots where a pullet could get cornered.

If you chunk them all together, pick a day where you can keep a close eye on them.

Good luck.

Thanks for the idea of an all-at-once integration. I would love to do it that way, since I don't like seeing the older girls so crowded in the baby coop and pen. But you said to keep a close eye on them when I put them together - I guess I don't quite know where the boundary is between normal behaviors required to establish the pecking order, vs. aggressive behavior that indicates I need to separate them. I have heard lots of anecdotes about flock integration that make me think that in the NORMAL course of flock integration, I should expect to see some pretty mean behavior, but I don't know when it's too much?

 

[aart]

However, you have scrambled everything enough, (as in confused them all, and disrupted the pecking order with all of the moving about), that there is a good chance that all of them could be tossed together into the main coop right now.

Agrees, this sounds better than waiting and adding one a time....single integrations not usually a good idea.

Tho even your larger coop/run is not big enough for 10(?) birds,
unless you've changed things since this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-integration-plan-what-am-i-missing.1187208/

I guess I don't quite know where the boundary is between normal behaviors required to establish the pecking order, vs. aggressive behavior that indicates I need to separate them. I have heard lots of anecdotes about flock integration that make me think that in the NORMAL course of flock integration, I should expect to see some pretty mean behavior, but I don't know when it's too much?

It takes some practice/experience to know when to step in and when to leave things alone, it can be hard to watch but.....
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 copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, 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.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Agrees, this sounds better than waiting and adding one a time....single integrations not usually a good idea.

Tho even your larger coop/run is not big enough for 10(?) birds,
unless you've changed things since this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-integration-plan-what-am-i-missing.1187208/


It takes some practice/experience to know when to step in and when to leave things alone, it can be hard to watch but.....
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 copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, 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.

Our birds spend a LOT of time free-ranging (though not THIS week as I have a couple learning where to lay their eggs, but in general and long-term), and their coop is enough for now. They spend practically none of their time up in the coop, and when they are in there, they snuggle themselves up into a bird pile, leaving most of the space empty anyway. They have a lot of sheltered outdoor space so that they are still outside playing when it's raining. I have built most of what they have for living space, and I will add on for them as needed - I like building, and I am intensely aware of my responsibility as an animal keeper to make sure that my little creatures are healthy, happy, and living a life of comfort and privilege. So don't fret about my space allowances - it will all be good. My building method is to watch and wait until I can see what's actually NEEDED in a place, because if I jump the gun and just build something, then time and experience frustrate me by showing me what I SHOULD HAVE built. So worry not - my pretty little chicken friends are happy and safe and content here in the gentle summer months, and they will also be well-cared-for when winter comes.

And I will try to stand back and let the girls sort themselves out as the two groups integrate. It will be hard not to step in. They have already found a way of co-existing just fine when they're free-ranging, but I know it'll be different in the pen. Anything particular to watch for since one of the younger ones is a rooster? He doesn't seem to act any different at this age than the other two young ones ... he's just as shy of the big girls as the two little girls are ...

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with Alaskan, I too think you have scrambled things enough. Put them all together and interfere only if there is blood. If they are doing fine while free ranging I am assuming they have most of this worked out. Adding a bird at a time, will just prolong the upsetting part of the integration, and is never a good solution.

The younger birds might form a sub group for a while, but once they start laying, they will be completely accepted.