putting new chickens in with the old???

[chick_newbie]

Well, tonight we get brave and put the 3 EE that are 10 weeks old in with the 6 chickens that are 18 weeks old. They didn't seem to be mixing very well but it is night time now and the 6 are in thei usual places and the 3 are together in another area. Do you think that they will be getting along soon ore not?

 

[Ladysonja]

Not to worry, they will be fine... Just keep an eye on them for the next couple of days to a week.

As long as everyone has plenty of space to keep out of each others way for the first couple of days, everyone will find their spot in the pecking order.

I put two week olds with 14 week olds and they acted the same way... real stand-offish from one another for the first couple of days, but eventually they all get a long.

The older ones will put the little ones in their place if they need it, but they will bond and get along perfectly.

With mine, I found that a little white one (named Love Muffin) puts the bigger (older) girls in their place when they try to bully her around.

Love Muffin fights for her spot on the top roost amoungst the big girls and wins 6 out of 7 nights.

It's amazing how the pecking order works in my flock.

Good Luck.

 

[chick_newbie]

Well, they made it throught the night together but this morning they still don't want anything o do with the each other. In fact, the SLW and BR are VERY vocal about the new little room mates. Any other suggestions out there? I will have to do this again when the 5 week old ones get big enough to go in there too.

 

[chick_newbie]

Wow just how vocal can a chicken be??? The SLW laid her egg and then got extremely vocal about it. Could it be that she was trying to tell the new ones to stay out of the nest?? The poor littler ones just sit on the top roost and don't know what to do.