Pullets in coop with hens?

[Miaksbeaks]

I have 2 pullets and 3 hens. I have slowly been introducing the pullets with the hens. Today they free ranged all together, and besides a few pecking order squabbles, all went pretty well. Tonight I went to shut the coop door and checked to see if all chickens were there, but only the 3 hens were roosting. In the past, the pullets had been roosting in an enclosed part of the run. I’ve had to move them in there each night. I figured since I left it open to all, the younger chickens would take the lead of the older ones. Instead, the pullets were roosting on a bar attached to a planting table outside of the run. I moved them back into their enclosed space in the run for the night. Any suggestions of how/ when to get them into the coop together as one big happy family? Preferably on their own? I have seen suggestions of having the pullets enclosed in the coop for a few days. Unfortunately, this is not an option for me, as my older hens need the space throughout the day to lay eggs and to eat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[rosemarythyme]

A couple options:
1) Manually move the chicks onto a roost each night (works best if you have at least 2 roost bars or 1 very long one so chicks aren't forced to sit right next to hens) and do it nightly until they get the hint.
2) Manually put the chicks inside the coop at night, in a safe enclosure such as this cage on the floor. Do it nightly until the chicks voluntarily follow the adults onto the roost. Both times I've done this, the chicks roosted within a week of starting the process.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You don't say how old the pullets are and I don't know what your facilities look like. With only 5 total chickens that kind of implies the coop may be relatively small. That information might be helpful.

Today they free ranged all together, and besides a few pecking order squabbles, all went

So is today the first day they all free ranged together?

In the past, the pullets had been roosting in an enclosed part of the run. I’ve had to move them in there each night.

Knowing what it looked like could help but that sounds a little strange. If they are used to sleeping in that area they should want to go in there to sleep on their own. You should not have to move them in there. I'm not sure what is going on with that.

I figured since I left it open to all, the younger chickens would take the lead of the older ones.

Mine go where they are used to sleeping instead of following the adults. Nothing unusual here to me.

Any suggestions of how/ when to get them into the coop together as one big happy family? Preferably on their own?

What I do is let them free range together for a while so they really get used to each other. I don't try to move them into the same coop at night until they have proven they can get along during the day without any squabbles. They do not have to intermingle during the day, but no attacks or squabbles. I let them sleep in their normal place at night, not forcing the to try sleeping in an enclosed coop together for a while. With mine that's usually a few weeks but the way I'm set up that's not a problem. If you have to move them every night or the extra space to clean is a chore I can understand you wanting to get it over with.

My goal for integration is that no one gets hurt. That's it. No one gets hurt. That big happy family can and will come later. Until my pullets mature enough to join the pecking order they typically avoid the older hens day and night. If they don't they are likely to get pecked. That's why how much room you have in the coop is important and why things aren't usually to bad if they are free ranging. Lots of room when they free range.

my older hens need the space throughout the day to lay eggs and to eat

I understand that, I don't want to train my older hens to lay somewhere other than the nests. When I'm ready to move the chicks into the main coop I wait until dark and toss the chicks in. It's too dark for the older ones to attack them and I'm out there the next morning when they wake up to see how it is going. I don't bother trying to set them on the roosts or anything like that, if that is close to the adults they aren't going to try to sleep there anyway. I personally don't care where they sleep as long as it is not in my nests and is somewhere predator safe. They will figure out a place.

Sometimes I only have to do that once for them to put themselves to bed in the main coop, sometimes it takes a few consecutive nights to get the message. If that coop is so small thy can't find a safe place to sleep away from the adult hens this can get challenging.

Good luck!

 

[Miaksbeaks]

You don't say how old the pullets are and I don't know what your facilities look like. With only 5 total chickens that kind of implies the coop may be relatively small. That information might be helpful.


So is today the first day they all free ranged together?


Knowing what it looked like could help but that sounds a little strange. If they are used to sleeping in that area they should want to go in there to sleep on their own. You should not have to move them in there. I'm not sure what is going on with that.


Mine go where they are used to sleeping instead of following the adults. Nothing unusual here to me.


What I do is let them free range together for a while so they really get used to each other. I don't try to move them into the same coop at night until they have proven they can get along during the day without any squabbles. They do not have to intermingle during the day, but no attacks or squabbles. I let them sleep in their normal place at night, not forcing the to try sleeping in an enclosed coop together for a while. With mine that's usually a few weeks but the way I'm set up that's not a problem. If you have to move them every night or the extra space to clean is a chore I can understand you wanting to get it over with.

My goal for integration is that no one gets hurt. That's it. No one gets hurt. That big happy family can and will come later. Until my pullets mature enough to join the pecking order they typically avoid the older hens day and night. If they don't they are likely to get pecked. That's why how much room you have in the coop is important and why things aren't usually to bad if they are free ranging. Lots of room when they free range.


I understand that, I don't want to train my older hens to lay somewhere other than the nests. When I'm ready to move the chicks into the main coop I wait until dark and toss the chicks in. It's too dark for the older ones to attack them and I'm out there the next morning when they wake up to see how it is going. I don't bother trying to set them on the roosts or anything like that, if that is close to the adults they aren't going to try to sleep there anyway. I personally don't care where they sleep as long as it is not in my nests and is somewhere predator safe. They will figure out a place.

Sometimes I only have to do that once for them to put themselves to bed in the main coop, sometimes it takes a few consecutive nights to get the message. If that coop is so small thy can't find a safe place to sleep away from the adult hens this can get challenging.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your response! I agree with you, my goal is to also have no one get hurt. My coop is not small, but it’s also not huge. There wouldn’t really be a place for the littles to hide if the older ones were pecking them. Yesterday was the first time I let them ALL free range together (today was day 2). We had one hen that was getting very aggressive previous to that so I had to keep her in the run at times and let all the others free range together. It’s been a process for sure (as you know)!

My pullets have started laying eggs (even before I put them on the layer feed, which I have now transitioned them over) so I also worry that they do not have a safe spot to lay throughout the day without the older hens bothering them. Any advice on this??

 

[Miaksbeaks]

Thank you so much for your response! I agree with you, my goal is to also have no one get hurt. My coop is not small, but it’s also not huge. There wouldn’t really be a place for the littles to hide if the older ones were pecking them. Yesterday was the first time I let them ALL free range together (today was day 2). We had one hen that was getting very aggressive previous to that so I had to keep her in the run at times and let all the others free range together. It’s been a process for sure (as you know)!

My pullets have started laying eggs (even before I put them on the layer feed, which I have now transitioned them over) so I also worry that they do not have a safe spot to lay throughout the day without the older hens bothering them. Any advice on this??

The pullets are about 18 weeks old btw!

 

[Miaksbeaks]

A couple options:
1) Manually move the chicks onto a roost each night (works best if you have at least 2 roost bars or 1 very long one so chicks aren't forced to sit right next to hens) and do it nightly until they get the hint.
2) Manually put the chicks inside the coop at night, in a safe enclosure such as this cage on the floor. Do it nightly until the chicks voluntarily follow the adults onto the roost. Both times I've done this, the chicks roosted within a week of starting the process.

View attachment 2791098

Thank you so much for the advice! My coop isn’t huge so I’m not sure if the smaller enclosure within the coop will work (although I love this idea). I think I’ll continue to encourage them to go to the separate enclosure within the run until I know that they can definitely get along!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My pullets have started laying eggs (even before I put them on the layer feed, which I have now transitioned them over) so I also worry that they do not have a safe spot to lay throughout the day without the older hens bothering them. Any advice on this??

My chicks are raised with the flock. By the time they are 5 weeks old they are ranging with the adults in my 3,000 square feet area in electric netting. Some are sleeping in the main coop at 5 weeks, just not on the main roosts where the hens are. The others are sleeping in the main coop by the time they are 12 weeks old. They still avoid the older hens when they are in the coop but they can find places to do that in my 8' x 12' coop. The pullets seem to learn where to lay by watching the older hens.

That yours are laying and 18 weeks old is interesting information. I expected yours to be much younger. My pullets tend to mature enough to join the pecking order about the time they start to lay. The older hens don't bother them but they have been integrated for months. I don't think you are integrating chicks, I think yo are integrating more mature chickens. Where are your pullets laying now?

My experience is integrating chicks, not more mature chickens. I think most of what I said will still apply. I think if I were in your situation I'd wait a few more days of them free ranging together and then try moving them into the main coop. See what happens. They may switch nests.

 

[Swbertrand1]

They've got to get MUCH more used to each other than just a single afternoon of free-ranging together. We put our chicks outside (in an enclosed small pen) with the adults as early as we can, sometimes at 3 weeks if the temperature cooperates.

From an early age, they see the adults, and the adults see them. By the time we're ready to move them to the coop (about 10-12 weeks of age), they have been around the adults for a couple of months. However, we still keep them separate in the coop (they have a separate run too) until they're old enough and large enough to fend for themselves.

Integration can take time and can take some instruction. If you think your birds are ready to roost with the adults, show them the way into the coop. They'll figure it out in a couple of days with some instruction and watching the hens.

A word of caution though: monitor what goes on in the coop once they're inside. Once the space tightens up, things can move from casual to quite tense VERY quickly...

 

[rosemarythyme]

The pullets are about 18 weeks old btw!

Sorry for some reason I assumed they were babies, so yes the cage in the coop wouldn't work unless you had a bigger coop (you'd need a bigger cage than shown for teen/adult birds).

Manually putting the pullets on an unoccupied roost/furthest end of roost away from the hens will still work.

 

[Miaksbeaks]

They've got to get MUCH more used to each other than just a single afternoon of free-ranging together. We put our chicks outside (in an enclosed small pen) with the adults as early as we can, sometimes at 3 weeks if the temperature cooperates.

From an early age, they see the adults, and the adults see them. By the time we're ready to move them to the coop (about 10-12 weeks of age), they have been around the adults for a couple of months. However, we still keep them separate in the coop (they have a separate run too) until they're old enough and large enough to fend for themselves.

Integration can take time and can take some instruction. If you think your birds are ready to roost with the adults, show them the way into the coop. They'll figure it out in a couple of days with some instruction and watching the hens.

A word of caution though: monitor what goes on in the coop once they're inside. Once the space tightens up, things can move from casual to quite tense VERY quickly...

The younger chickens have been in an enclosed part of the run for about a month now. They are separated by wire so they have been able to see each other. They just recently started free renting together and every day gets a little better. I think, like you said, they just need more time. Thank you for your suggestions!