Questions about combining flock

[Jackschicks]

I have 2 separate coops and runs. 1 run has my adult birds in it - I'm down to 3 laying hens & 1 big, mean old rooster. That coop is 6' x 6' plus 5 attached nest boxes. The covered run is 10' x 15'. I generally let the adults out for a several hours every day to free range.

The second coop is 4 1/2' x 6' feet and has an attached covered run of 15' x 20' with a mixed flock of 45 (16 week old) juveniles in it. The juveniles are a mixed bunch of Jersey Giants, Welsummers, Silver Grey Dorkings, Langshans, Dominiques & Buff Orpingtons. They are getting really crowded but are not quite big enough for freezer camp yet. (They are not really that crowded in the run but it takes them 20 to 30 minutes to pack themselves into the coop at night.) Looks like I have 18 roosters and 27 hens. 10 to 12 of the hens will be permanent residents and will become my new laying flock.

At 16 weeks old, are the juvenile hens old enough I can combine them with the adult hens? I know that they probably won't start to lay for another month or so but they are about the same size wise. I am not feeding laying mix but flock raiser with oyster shell available at all times so the extra calcium should not be an issue?

If they are old enough to combine the hens, when is the best time to do it? In the morning so they have all day to adjust to each other? Or just before bedtime? Will the new hens go into a different coop on their own or will I have to place them in the coop?


By the way - the big, mean old rooster will also be replaced by one of the juvenile roosters. He is a great rooster with the hens but not people friendly. I have been watching all the juvenile roosters closely to pick his replacement but decided to let him hang out for a while longer to teach the new hens their free ranging boundaries.

Thanks in advance for answering all my questions.

 

[Judy]

If they were mine, I would pick out my laying flock now. or in the next week or two, and add them to the older birds. The lack of calcium supplement should not be a problem for a while. Actually, since you keep a rooster, the best feed for the mature flock is an all purpose or flock raiser feed, or grower feed, so as to avoid feeding the rooster too much calcium.

It sounds like your setup lets them choose which coop to go into, after you choose to mix the two flocks. No. they won't necessarily use the coop you want them to. I'm not clear why you don't just mix them now and take them out as needed for processing.

I would definitely do the mixing by letting them out together early in the day when they can free range the rest of the day. I would also be sure I had at least two feed and water stations available.

And, I would probably keep the "mean old" rooster you have. It's hard to judge because you didn't talk about what you have or haven't tried, and I realize you weren't asking about keeping him. It's just that a rooster like that, who does his job when free ranging, will almost undoubtedly save some hens, sooner or later. You might try some of the rooster taming methods, or just keep a ong stick handy to push him away, unless he is a real threat to cause you physical harm. So far I've been able to manage them simply by walking firmly toward them, looking them in the eye, til they backed off.

Good luck!