Please help! Merging / Integration of chickens question!

[JBrook1941]

Hello – I have an integration question. This is our first time doing this, so suggestions or ideas are welcome.

Please read and understand before commenting something that makes no sense. TYIA.

We have 4 chickens that are 13 weeks old – 1 Roo and 3 hens. We also have 3 hens that are 8 weeks old. We have 3 more weeks before we leave for vacation for 8 days, which is when everyone needs to be happily merged into one flock in the coop/run. Not sure if breeds matter, but Roo and Hen are RIR and 2 hens are SLW. The younger ones we have 1 Black Sex Link and 2 Buff Orpingtons. The roo is coming into his own and trying to mount all the girls – including the littles. He is friendly, just a young rooster being a young rooster.

For the last 4 weeks we have done the following:

• Let them around our yard together free ranging. The littles avoid the bigs – but they do go close to them (within a few feet) and they will try and eat snacks with them before the bigs chase them off. The bigs sometimes chase the littles around the yard for 10-20 seconds at most, rarely catch them, and sometimes they nip at their feathers. No one is harmed, no blood, no yanked feathers – the littles are just scared and make a lot of noise and panic, so it sounds worse than it is.
• At first, we kept the cage outside the run so they saw each other from afar or next to each other without contact for a few weeks.
• The last 3 weeks we have been putting the littles in a smaller cage inside the larger run of the coop and leaving there all day for 5-7 hours. Littles are protected, but the bigs can poke a head through and peck if they wanted. All seem fine.
• At night, when the bigs go into the coop for bed, I have it divided off with chicken wire so they can all see each other and the littles sleep one side, the bigs on the other.

We are at the point we feel we need to push this further to get everyone integrated - we need all happy and safe and eating, drinking and sleeping by Aug 11th.

What is our next move? Do we just toss the littles in the run and let the panic and chaos happen and come back in a few hours and hope all is well? Is there a step we are missing? I feel if we keep doing the above we will never progress to them all being in the same space…. They have reached the end of the limited exposure of around the yard, in a cage, etc. and we now just need to put them all together??!?! Help. Help. Help.

We want them all happy and safe – please help.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

In my opinion, the best thing to do in this situation is to begin letting the younger birds with the older birds for a more lengthly time period than you are currently doing. One of the most important things is to make sure they learn to roost with the older birds－yes, they will get pecked and knocked off the roost, but that is all part of the learning curve. I would suggest to let everyone together at a more lengthy period of time in a separate pen, so the older birds do not get angry at the younger ones for being in their territory and begin to severely injure them. Your current procedure of free-ranging seems to be working well with the territory issue, since they can explore each other's pens (from what I hear of it). Be sure to not suddenly force the younger birds into the older bird's pen, because that will cause panic and territorial issues. The pecking order needs to be solved in a slower way.

 

[JBrook1941]

In my opinion, the best thing to do in this situation is to begin letting the younger birds with the older birds for a more lengthly time period than you are currently doing. One of the most important things is to make sure they learn to roost with the older birds－yes, they will get pecked and knocked off the roost, but that is all part of the learning curve. I would suggest to let everyone together at a more lengthy period of time in a separate pen, so the older birds do not get angry at the younger ones for being in their territory and begin to severely injure them. Your current procedure of free-ranging seems to be working well with the territory issue, since they can explore each other's pens (from what I hear of it). Be sure to not suddenly force the younger birds into the older bird's pen, because that will cause panic and territorial issues. The pecking order needs to be solved in a slower way.

so it sounds like moving them to a more neutral location, like the pen i have for the yard and let them all in there might be better? this will allow them to be just chickens and not force them into the current run and coop where the bigs clearly run the show. - should i also make time for the littles to be in the coop/run a lone so they learn the ins and outs of the space freely? while still integrating the flock in a neutral area?

 

[Mrs. K]

What I would suggest is to lock your bigs outside the run/coop for a day, letting the littles explore the coop/run without being chased.

What does your run/coop look like in terms of space and how that space is set up. Many runs are just a rectangular area that is wide open. Where every bird can see every bird 100% of the time. What is needed is a lot of clutter. Boxes, pallets, mini walls, roosts, chairs, ladders, saw horses. This will make more use of your vertical space in the run, and give places where birds can get out of sight. Do set up multiple feed stations so that birds eating at one cannot see birds eating at another,

But your big issue is the cockerel. You are thinking that

He is friendly, just a young rooster being a young rooster.

But that is very probably going to get much worse. He is at the beginning of his sexual maturity, he is rapidly going to be MUCH bigger than his flock mates and really A LOT bigger than the littles. I know it is hard to believe now, when he is at the darling stage how much of a jerk that he can be. But you add size to the bird, no older, bigger birds to thump some manners into him, and he will become a bully to the pullets. Some cockerels have literally worn out pullets to death. You really cannot expect a caretaker to do something about this.

The pullets will not be anywhere close to sexually mature until they lay eggs, much closer to the 5 month mark. In three weeks, the cockerel is going to be 16 weeks and is very apt to be a terror. You need to be able to separate him from the girls. Or you could come back to a real wreck.

Mrs K

 

[JBrook1941]

What I would suggest is to lock your bigs outside the run/coop for a day, letting the littles explore the coop/run without being chased.

What does your run/coop look like in terms of space and how that space is set up. Many runs are just a rectangular area that is wide open. Where every bird can see every bird 100% of the time. What is needed is a lot of clutter. Boxes, pallets, mini walls, roosts, chairs, ladders, saw horses. This will make more use of your vertical space in the run, and give places where birds can get out of sight. Do set up multiple feed stations so that birds eating at one cannot see birds eating at another,

But your big issue is the cockerel. You are thinking that

But that is very probably going to get much worse. He is at the beginning of his sexual maturity, he is rapidly going to be MUCH bigger than his flock mates and really A LOT bigger than the littles. I know it is hard to believe now, when he is at the darling stage how much of a jerk that he can be. But you add size to the bird, no older, bigger birds to thump some manners into him, and he will become a bully to the pullets. Some cockerels have literally worn out pullets to death. You really cannot expect a caretaker to do something about this.

The pullets will not be anywhere close to sexually mature until they lay eggs, much closer to the 5 month mark. In three weeks, the cockerel is going to be 16 weeks and is very apt to be a terror. You need to be able to separate him from the girls. Or you could come back to a real wreck.

Mrs K

Understood and appreciate your perspective. We are looking into rehoming home and we werent sure if we wanted to keep him long term for this very reason. but you think removing the rooster will help the little ones become more blended with less chaos?

 

[Mrs. K]

Yes I do. I think that if you cull the rooster from your flock, add clutter to the run, add multiple feed stations, you should be fine. But I really would not keep the rooster, and they can be hard to give away.

I would let the old ones out, lock them out. Let the littles be in the coop/run. This lets them explore the clutter, figure out escape routes and feel at home. Even if they are kept in a cage in the run, that is their territory, where as they can see the space in the run, that is NOT their territory.

Feed along the fence line inside and outside the run. I swear, that the old birds see the young birds in the run, and the sky does not fall, they seem to get used to it. I do the inside-outside deal for two - three days. I keep my chicks in a dog crate inside my coop, at night, locked in at first.

I let the old birds in as close to dark as I dare, and they tend to go to roost. Then I pop the chicks in the coop in the dog crate. By day three, everyone is pretty comfortable - I let the old ones out to the yard, but leave the gate open. I open the dog crate in the coop. Letting the littles come out when they want.

I keep an eye on them. Usually, all is fine. At night the older ones will roost, and most of the time the littles will just go find their crate.

I do have a LOT of space, and A LOT of clutter.

Mrs K

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

so it sounds like moving them to a more neutral location, like the pen i have for the yard and let them all in there might be better? this will allow them to be just chickens and not force them into the current run and coop where the bigs clearly run the show. - should i also make time for the littles to be in the coop/run a lone so they learn the ins and outs of the space freely? while still integrating the flock in a neutral area?

Yes, you should move them to a neutral location for a longer period of time so they get used to staying with each other and being one flock. And also yes to the fact that you should let the younger birds explore the coop and run first so they don't get picked on. I suggest you to also put out multiple feeding and watering stations so one does not get fought over as much.

Once you have the pecking order issue out of the way (keep in mind the pecking order is never settled forever), your bigger problem would be your cockerel, as @Mrs. K is saying. Keep a close eye on him, because if he tries to breed the younger birds, he could easily kill them or severely injured them.

How do you suppose that you are going to feed and water your chickens while you are gone?

 

[JBrook1941]

Yes, you should move them to a neutral location for a longer period of time so they get used to staying with each other and being one flock. And also yes to the fact that you should let the younger birds explore the coop and run first so they don't get picked on. I suggest you to also put out multiple feeding and watering stations so one does not get fought over as much.

Once you have the pecking order issue out of the way (keep in mind the pecking order is never settled forever), your bigger problem would be your cockerel, as @Mrs. K is saying. Keep a close eye on him, because if he tries to breed the younger birds, he could easily kill them or severely injured them.

How do you suppose that you are going to feed and water your chickens while you are gone?

Plan is to have them integrated by that time and the rooster removed and brought to the farm i am already in contact with to take them. they gave me the green light to drop him off, and i waited because he was only 7 weeks old. Now that he is 13-14 weeks old I think it is time. this way no rooster while we are away and no rooster while we try and get them merged these last few weeks. When I go away, the run has enough food for over a week and same with water. we have a neighbor coming to fill up the water once while we are gone. otherwise, their coop door stays open and they sleep where they want - inside coop or in run (mostly always in coop unless too hot) and it is super secure and safe from predators, so they can sleep wherever inside. I JUST HAVE TO GET TO A POINT I CAN PUT THE 6 HENS IN THERE TOGETHER WITHOUT DEATH!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Plan is to have them integrated by that time and the rooster removed and brought to the farm i am already in contact with to take them. they gave me the green light to drop him off, and i waited because he was only 7 weeks old. Now that he is 13-14 weeks old I think it is time. this way no rooster while we are away and no rooster while we try and get them merged these last few weeks. When I go away, the run has enough food for over a week and same with water. we have a neighbor coming to fill up the water once while we are gone. otherwise, their coop door stays open and they sleep where they want - inside coop or in run (mostly always in coop unless too hot) and it is super secure and safe from predators, so they can sleep wherever inside. I JUST HAVE TO GET TO A POINT I CAN PUT THE 6 HENS IN THERE TOGETHER WITHOUT DEATH!

I hope that your integration plan goes well. It sounds like you have everything covered!