I've got 3 hybrid girls, one of whom went broody so I placed some hatching eggs under her and one hatched. That chick (pullet, thankfully) is now 7 weeks old and getting quite big for the broody coop which I've placed in the main hen run. My question is, when can i introduce them fully back to the flock. The broody is already spending most of her time in with the other girls as there's not much space in the broody coop. Her chick (wheaten marin) is quite feisty and clearly would like to be out with the others too. I'd love to hear what you all think.
Donna
Welcome to BYC!!
Has the chick been separated from mama for 7 weeks?
Best to let mama integrate chick into flock from a few days after hatching,while she's still in broody mode she will protect chick(s).
But let chick out and see what happens, be ready to intervene if chick is attacked.
Here's some notes I've taken on integration that I found to be very helpful.......
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take what applies or might help and ignore the rest.
See if any of them, or the links provided at the bottom, might offer some tips that will assist you in your situation:
Integration of new chickens into flock.
Consider medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article
Poultry Biosecurity
BYC 'medical quarantine' search
Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.
Integrating new birds of equal size works best.
For smaller chicks I used a large wire dog crate right in the coop for the smallers. I removed the crate door and put up a piece of wire fencing over the opening and bent up one corner just enough for the smallers to fit thru but the biggers could not. Feed and water inside the crate for the smallers. Make sure the smallers know how to get in and out of the crate opening before exposing them to the olders. this worked out great for me, by the time the crate was too small for the them to roost in there(about 3 weeks), they had pretty much integrated themselves to the olders.
If you have too many smallers to fit in a crate you can partition off part of the coop with a wire wall and make the same openings for smallers escape.
The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.
Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.
Places for the new birds to hide out of line of sight and/or up and away from any bully birds.
In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best of mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.
Another option, if possible, is to put
all birds in a new coop and run, this takes the territoriality issues away.
Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>
integration
This is good place to start reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
