Question on integration

[MeatyCluckers]

We have an original flock of 6 hens, all a little over a year old. This year, we added three new chicks to our family - all were said to have been sexed female, two of whom clearly identify male. We aren't permitted roosters in my city, and we fortunately found an incredible sanctuary to welcome the two boys; however, they need us to bring earlier than we expected, which means we will only have one lone pullet to integrate with the big girls, as the boys will be gone. We had gotten 3 so that we wouldn't need to make a singleton intro, but clearly the cards didn't play out that way.

The young ones are 12 week old Easter Eggers. The pullet is super human-oriented and very sweet and friendly, and has been treated well by her rooster brethren, but isn't overly attached to them - she takes the first opportunity she gets every time she's let out to jump on my shoulder or another perch and away from the boys. They have been in an extension of the run with their own coop for 3 weeks now. They share a hardware cloth "wall" with the big ones. They've also all supervised free ranged, but the young ones pretty much stay away from the big ones and vice versa (although the roosters would try to fight the big hens if they tried to enter their run space).

She is clearly smaller than the adults, not only because she's 12 weeks, but also because they're mostly made up of robust breeds (Delaware, Wyandotte, Black Sex Link, etc.).

My question is - is it better to:
1. Wait another month until she's closer to point of lay to make introductions, and keep her alone for that time.
2. Wait another month until she's closer to point of lay to make introductions, but find a similar-aged pullet to introduce her to in the meantime one on one so there is a duo when it comes time for intros?
3. Try to integrate her now so that she isn't alone for very long, and hope for the best?

I love this little chicken so much - she is a total cuddler, and I feel so sad for her that her brothers are going away, if they were clearly obnoxious to her. I want to do what's right by her for this part of the process, even knowing it's usually a pretty challenging one!

Here's a photo of Trashley that my husband took yesterday (it was right after a long dirt bath so she poofed out sooo much dust):

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Is that seriously a real photo of her? She's beautiful! It looks like a digital rendering.

If they've been sharing a wire wall and free-ranging together already, then introductions have already been done. All that remains is contact to establish the pecking order. She'll get a few pecks, typically, she'll squawk and run away for a moment, but all will be well. (Excepting if you have a bully among the hens, but if you monitor the meet-and-greet, you can intervene.)

 

[MeatyCluckers]

Is that seriously a real photo of her? She's beautiful! It looks like a digital rendering.

If they've been sharing a wire wall and free-ranging together already, then introductions have already been done. All that remains is contact to establish the pecking order. She'll get a few pecks, typically, she'll squawk and run away for a moment, but all will be well. (Excepting if you have a bully among the hens, but if you monitor the meet-and-greet, you can intervene.)

Thank you! I was more concerned because she doesn't seem to care about the other hens through the wire wall or while free ranging, she prefers to stay with the people so she hasn't really actually mingled with them directly. The boys are the ones who were more curious/confrontational with the others - would you recommend we wait until she's a little bigger and can fend off bullies on her own a little more, or try it and see how it goes sooner? And yes, that's a real photo - Mr. MeatyCluckers is a professional photographer, and has a little studio set up in the garage. Here are the boys who are going to live their best rooster lives at the sanctuary this week!

 

[jpalmatier83]

Thank you! I was more concerned because she doesn't seem to care about the other hens through the wire wall or while free ranging, she prefers to stay with the people so she hasn't really actually mingled with them directly. The boys are the ones who were more curious/confrontational with the others - would you recommend we wait until she's a little bigger and can fend off bullies on her own a little more, or try it and see how it goes sooner? And yes, that's a real photo - Mr. MeatyCluckers is a professional photographer, and has a little studio set up in the garage. Here are the boys who are going to live their best rooster lives at the sanctuary this week! View attachment 3567008View attachment 3567009

Great pictures.

It’s usually the sooner the better to introduce new chicks. If it’s before breeding age the existing hens are less interested. It may not seem like they’re fully integrating, but if they’re moving around each other without fussing you’re headed in the right direction.

I would say make a small opening in the shared run wall so the little can get in and out but the bigs are excluded. She can socialize as she likes, retreat when needed, then after a couple days put her in the coop with the bigs.

I do something similar with mine, but the “wall” is inside the coop so they can start roosting together on their own.

 

[MeatyCluckers]

Great pictures.

It’s usually the sooner the better to introduce new chicks. If it’s before breeding age the existing hens are less interested. It may not seem like they’re fully integrating, but if they’re moving around each other without fussing you’re headed in the right direction.

I would say make a small opening in the shared run wall so the little can get in and out but the bigs are excluded. She can socialize as she likes, retreat when needed, then after a couple days put her in the coop with the bigs.

I do something similar with mine, but the “wall” is inside the coop so they can start roosting together on their own.

Thank you! Great advice.

 

[Yardmom]

She probably won't interact a whole lot with the others until she is older, but the older hens most likely will be more accepting of her in there space if you allow her to go in now.
I allow my broodies to hatch small batches. Ending up with only one pullet is common. Sometimes those pullets are not very bonded to the rest of the flock even when they are grown.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Thank you! I was more concerned because she doesn't seem to care about the other hens through the wire wall or while free ranging, she prefers to stay with the people so she hasn't really actually mingled with them directly.

She probably won't hang out with them closely, until she's near or at laying age. But as long as she can co-exist with them, it's all good. She'll learn to hang near them, if not making friends of her own.

would you recommend we wait until she's a little bigger and can fend off bullies on her own a little more, or try it and see how it goes sooner?

I'd do it sooner and see how it goes.

I recently integrated a lone cockerel (Sam, 16 weeks) into a flock of more than 50 birds, including two roosters. Aaaiiieeeee...... Maybe describing my process will give you some ideas for your setup.

First understand my coop: It's a converted camper, with a wire door dividing the front half (integration area and storage) from the back half (roosting and nesting boxes). There is a pop-door with ramp in the back half, and a main entry door with steps in the front half. The camper coop is placed in the center of a single huge run, raised on blocks.

My steps, roughly, over a period of about two weeks, below. Each step was a few days:

* Sam, not caged, alone in the integration area. Access to that wire door and lots of windows to observe and listen to the flock outside. Placed a feeder and waterer in the back half of the coop to entice the layers and a bunch of pullets to stop by for a snack and drink, inside, near that dividing door.
* Sam in a dog kennel cage, inside the integration area. Five of my eldest hens placed in the integration area with him. At night, his cage strategically placed so the hens HAD to roost next to him. During the day, his cage placed right in front of that dividing door, so the hens HAD to be right next to his cage if they wanted to talk to their friends on the other side. And the rest of the flock to see and talk to him also as they got their snack.
* Sam let out of the cage to mingle with the 5 hens inside that integration area (and get pecked by them, teaching him who's boss), with supervision at first, and frequent welfare checks throughout the first day.
* Remove the cage. Observed until Sam was seen roosting with the hens, and the hens paying him no mind. When he was seen to be comfortable around them, then...
* Opened the door to the back half of the coop, and the main entry coop door to the shared run (along with the pop-door in the back half), so that he had two entries/escape ports from the coop in case of trouble. 5 Hens ran to rejoin their friends. Sam allowed to explore as he wished.
* Bunches of obstructions scattered all over the run. Several feeders and waterers placed near or under several obstructions, so no matter where Sam ran to hide, he'd be close to food and water.
* Observe, monitor, adjust obstructions, feeders, and waterers as necessary.
* Done! He now mingles with the flock and eats and drinks next to the hens and pullets (but not the roosters, I don't expect that to ever happen, but that's normal).

 

[MeatyCluckers]

Well, update: we added Trashley to the big girl coop on the roost last night. They all slept peacefully together and when the door opened this morning everyone came out without any issue or conflict. I checked on the security camera and Trashley was keeping to herself. Unfortunately, around 6 AM, one of the hens starting chasing her and she made a bad choice for an escape route and got pinned down and all of the hens joined in and essentially scalped her. It took all of ten minutes. She is inside now recouperating, I'm devastated that this could happen to her. She is the gentlest, sweetest chicken, and I feel like I totally failed.

I cleaned her wound and applied neosporin and vetericyn spray, she has eaten and snuggled me and is now perched on a roost in the dog crate in my office. I'm so upset, the wound is really gruesome.

If she pulls through, I'm not sure I can bear the thought of putting her in harms way again once she's healed. I may consider keeping her separate long term and maybe introducing a smaller, similarly dispositioned chicken as a companion for her instead. This is my first chicken injury and I'm really just beside myself.

 

[Kiki]

Thank you! I was more concerned because she doesn't seem to care about the other hens through the wire wall or while free ranging, she prefers to stay with the people so she hasn't really actually mingled with them directly. The boys are the ones who were more curious/confrontational with the others - would you recommend we wait until she's a little bigger and can fend off bullies on her own a little more, or try it and see how it goes sooner? And yes, that's a real photo - Mr. MeatyCluckers is a professional photographer, and has a little studio set up in the garage. Here are the boys who are going to live their best rooster lives at the sanctuary this week! View attachment 3567008View attachment 3567009

Nice piece of fish is a really cute picture.

 

[Bananabread]

those pictures are stunning.