REUNION AFTER 10 WEEKS APART..How will it go????

[chickie<3]

I ordered 5 chicks back in june...had them in brooder for 5 weeks..then kept 2 and moved them into my hen house...gave 3 to my dad...Now we ordered 5 more ( i get chicken math now)..so i will raise them again until they r ready to go into hen house..i will keep 3 and give 2 to my dad so we have 5 each...we were thinking it would b easier if i take back the original 3 I gave to my dad so they r all the same age and give my dad the 5 new chicks..so they will b in brooder together and move to hen house together. WHat will happen when I put the 3 15 week old pullets with the other 2 15 week pullets...will they just remember being together in the brooder and live happily together..or will there b issues...any suggestions...and what about my dad's 3 moving from his hen house to mine?

 

[acid_chipmunk]

There will be some picking on the two by the other three until the pecking order is figured out. Just keep an eye on them and make sure that no one gets too mean. All should be good after a couple days. Good luck!

 

[chickie<3]

even if the 3 will be moving into an unfamiliar hen house and the 2 will b in their own hen house..im hoping for an easy transition

 

[joletabey]

They will have to establish their pecking order- there may be a lot of squawking and flapping for a few days- Just watch to see if there is any serious damage. If someone gets pecked in the head too hard, or gets a torn comb, use BluKot or something similar to disinfect and cover the red.

 

[Mrs. K]

Put them in at night. Also, make sure that there are some obstacles in the run, where a hen can get away from the rest. It helps mine to have a place to roost off the ground in the run too. They can get away from each other.

I do think that the best luck will be with putting the same age chickens together, they should be close to the same size. Course the person that gets the babies is that much farther from getting eggs, but perhaps you could share the eggs for a bit?
Mrs. k

 

[sourland]

There will be issues whichever way you go, but they are limited if you take the 3 chicks back. Your father will have no problem with the 5 raised together, and the reintroduced chicks at your house will be the same size anyway. They will squabble, but the pecking order will be reestablished. It's just chicken nature.

 

[chickie<3]

Thanks..Im hoping for the best..my husband thinks they are gonna remember each other and be so happy to see each other again and have a chicken party..we shall see.

 

[pkw]

Like it has been said there may be a little pecking as they reestablish the pecking order but shouldn't be anything major I wouldn't imagine. I just successfully introduced my 11 week old pullets to my 7 & 8 week old chickens that they never have seen but only heard. There was a little bit of pecking but it was only minimal. It wouldn't have been good though if our roosters were still alive and met up with the 7 &8 week olds. My roos tried attacking my eyes and they did attack my daughter so they are now in my freezer.

I think you should take your chickens back and give your dad the new ones so they stand a better chance