Time to Merge The New Birds-Now What?

[sbhkma]

My 4 new Welsummers (now 4 1/2 months old) spent a month in quarantine. Then I moved the coops/runs next to each while letting my 2 older Wellies (10 months old) out one day, then the littles the next day. After a week of that I turned them all out together to forage for a few hours each afternoon. It was crazy at first watching the older birds chasing the littles, but with 4 of them the 2 older Wellies gave up quickly. The last couple of days they've been pretty much hanging around together, then going in their own separate coops to sleep.

What is the best way to get the littles into the big coop? I was thinking of just putting the QT coop away so they'd go into the other one, but not sure they'll go to roost in there. They hang out in the run on the roost poles during the day and eat/drink in there, but when it comes time for bed I'm not sure they'll go up the ramp into the coop proper. My other thought was to wait til dark and then put the littles in the coop with the bigs. It's one of those coops where the coop/roost/nest boxes are above (5' X 5') and the bottom is a run, which is attached to another larger run for a total of 100 Sq ft. with 2 5-foot roost poles above in the coop and 2 6-foot roost poles in the run, plus a small "wall" to run behind if needed. Looking for suggestions on the best way to do this. First time I've merged flocks.

 

[Welshies]

I just put them together once they've been in the run area together.

 

[sbhkma]

They haven't been in the run together. There are two coops each with a run attached, right next to each other. I open both runs and they free range together all afternoon from about 11 am to dark. The littles will go hang in the big birds' run-they love the roost poles in there. But they've not actually been in the same run together with it closed up. Usually when the bigs head into that run, the littles either jump on the roost poles or dash out of the run. Today was the first day I saw them all foraging as a flock.

 

[Welshies]

If they forage as a flock.
That's what I meant.

 

[aart]

6 birds(2 older - 4 younger) in a 5x5 coop with two 5' roosts?
Big step...are the olders laying?

You might try confining them all to the run, with lots of 'hiding' places and multiple feed/water stations to 'force' them to share the space.
and/or...
Confine the youngers in the big coop while the olders are out ranging,
just to give them some time to learn the ropes in there without the olders picking on them.
and/or...
Put the youngers on the other roost at night after dark,
might be good to be down there at first light to let them all out.
Might have to do all that a few times.
and/or...
Swap coops, put the olders in the one the youngers have been living in so the youngers can have the larger coop. Keep them confined there off and on for a few days. This will shake up the territoriality aspect.

Just some chicken juggling thoughts.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I assume your pullets are not laying yet. Their maturity is tied to when they actually start laying and that will affect when they will fully become one flock. Until then the pullets will probably be afraid of the older ones. You are describing that behavior when they are all in the coop/run and the pullets avoid the hens. That’s normal behavior.

It’s convenient for them to all be in one coop, but is it a hardship to you for them to sleep in separate coops? If it’s not that much of a problem for you I’d let them keep doing that for a while. Let them get more used to being around each other. Patience is usually your friend in these situations. Give them some time to work their issues out.

Your ages and set-up are different from mine but I normally let them range together for a full month or more before I force them to sleep in the same coop when they are raised in my grow-out coop. A week may be enough but it’s not a hardship on me so I let them take a lot of time. My brooder raised chicks are normally ranging with the adults by 8 weeks and I never move them into the main coop before 12 weeks.

Are you leaving the pop door to the main coop open at night or are locking them in the coop by itself until you let them out in the morning? I lock mine in my 8’ x 12’ coop so when I do put them together I’m down there first thing in the morning to open the pop door until I’m comfortable they’ll be OK together, then I relax about getting down there so early. When I move them to the main coop I wait until after dark and just toss them in on the coop floor. I lock the grow-out coop so they can’t go back to that. Sometimes they start going into the main coop the next night, sometimes they try to sleep near the grow-out coop so I have to move them into the main coop after dark until they get that message. Each group is different.

Don’t expect the pullets to sleep on the roosts with the older hens immediately. Yours might, especially with the small number of birds and the size and layout of the roosts. But mine do not move to the main roosts until the pullets start laying and are mature enough to force their way into the pecking order. Until them mine sleep somewhere else, sometimes on the floor and sometimes on my juvenile roost. I put a separate roost for juveniles higher my nests, lower than the main roosts, and horizontally separated by a few feet to give them a safe place to go that is not my nests. Your set-up may be OK as is but this is when a lot of people start seeing chickens sleeping in nests.

You can try putting them together now if you wish, a lot of times these things work out really well. You usually don’t read about those times, it’s the horror stories you read about. But it’s no handicap for me to be patient so I am. I practically never have problems.

Good luck!

 

[sbhkma]

The older birds have not laid yet, but one is starting to squat. The coop itself is 2 levels of 5 X 5 feet that are always open on both levels. In the morning I open up both coops to their run expansions. I like the idea of putting the littles in the coop so they can "learn the ropes".I could do that in the mornings for a few hours for a couple of days and then put them in the top roosting area at night. Thanks, @aart

 

[sbhkma]

It’s convenient for them to all be in one coop, but is it a hardship to you for them to sleep in separate coops? If it’s not that much of a problem for you I’d let them keep doing that for a while. Let them get more used to being around each other. Patience is usually your friend in these situations. Give them some time to work their issues out.

Thanks. It's more work, but not really a hardship. I'll give it another week or so and see how it's going, then follow aarts suggestion of putting the littles in the coop during the day for a few hours.