Today (I think) is merge day...

[tiny529]

I've got 4 one year old laying hens and I plan on introducing 6 nine week old chicks. 2 of the chicks have been in a dog cage in the run for about 3 weeks and the rest are in the chicken tractor with the others that are destined for the freezer camp. A Faverolle was getting pestered so much that I needed to separate her and I brought a Langshans in to be her buddy. Now that it's time to move everyone in together, I am so stressed!!!! An experienced friend said to move them all in together about an hour before bedtime and stay with them with a stick. Then stay with them until bedtime and they should be fine in the morning. I hope she's right! My 4 layers are more used to the 2 that are in the cage with them (my Dominique already hangs out freely with them with no issue) than the ones in the tractor, though they all see and interact with through the chicken wire daily. I guess we'll see what happens in a couple of hours.

 

[HEChicken]

I'm a bit worried about the stick - what is the purpose of it? It sounds like a way to injure a chicken pretty easily.

Nine weeks is pretty young to be integrated with adult hens. Is there a way you can divide the coop and let the littles have one half while the bigs have the other, until they are closer to the same size?

 

[tiny529]

I don't see how to do that without actually constructing something else in the run. I'm tempted to introduce just the 2 tonight since they've been in there for a while and then putting 2 others in the dog cage for a while. Not sure what to do. I didn't like the idea of a stick either, though I assume it is to get between and push away offenders. My husband recommended a broom since the end is softer. The tractor is just getting a bit crowded as these guys grow so I figured I would lessen the load. It's an 8' by 8' tractor with 16 chicks in it. Do you have any other suggestions?

 

[tiny529]

Well, I'm a softie. I opted just to introduce the 2 that have been in there for a while. First I brought one of the more aggressive hens in with one of my less aggressive ones and watched. As expected, my less aggressive one did nothing and my more aggressive one pecked and chased both of the littles here and there. Mostly they were too interested in eating, since they had been free-ranging all day. After about half an hour, I brought in the other 2 hens, one being the most aggressive and the other the least. Neither paid either chick any attention and just filled theirs crops. The big girls finally started to go to bed and, amazingly enough, the littles took their cues and started up the ramp too. The big girls weren't too happy about them coming up the ramp and everyone came to a clucky halt. I finally took the littles around the outside and put them on the high roosts, which the big girls never use. Last time I looked, the littles were still on the roosts and the big girls were still settling themselves where they always sleep.

I also brought 2 others in and put them in the dog cage. I'll give them a couple of weeks and then we'll do this again and bring the last 2. My husband says I'm delaying the inevitable and that it's going to be harder on each new couple as there will be more chickens to gang up on them. To me, this was surprisingly painless. Sure, there was a peck here and there and a feather or two lost, but they seemed pretty much okay. I DO plan on being up with them at the crack of dawn, just to keep an eye on things.

 

[TarynLee]

My feed store guy said two weeks is long enough. As long as the big hens can see the baby for that whole two weeks, they should be fine. I ended up killing my baby doing this because she was in the smaller cage with not enough shade. Heartbreaking. I do think you should put them in at the same time, seems like a bandaid is better pulled off all at once.

 

[TK421]

I tried to "pull the bandaid" off all at once last night by putting my 2 hens in with my 10 week-olds after dark. This morning, the older birds have the chicks completely cornered so they're too scared to venture out to eat/drink. I'm really worried, and I don't know if I should intervene or be patient to let them figure it out.

I've read that 10 weeks is too young to integrate, while others have said it's ok. I don't have room in my grow-out pen anymore.

 

[tiny529]

So far, so good with my littles. The 2 that were already in the cage seemed to integrate fairly well. There have been some pecks, but that's to be expected. The 2 that I brought in from the tractor to the dog cage last night are currently in the run alone with the 2 that were integrated last night. That wasn't the plan at first but again, so far, so good. I've been out with them for the past 2 hours and nothing extraordinary has happened yet. Some pecks, but not much, all from the Faverolle to everyone else (the 2 newbies are a Cochin and a Welsummer and the other that had been with her already is a Langshan). I kind of have to chuckle that my runty Faverolle (who got was put in the dog cage to begin with for getting pecked up so bad) is now the aggressor. The 4 original adults are out free-ranging, though I did let one of my less aggressive hens meet the 2 new ones for a little while. She didn't do much. One peck to the Langshan. I use the term "new" loosely since all of them have been within view of each other for about 5 weeks now.

Anyway, I think that I will leave things be for now. Maybe give the 2 new ones a little time in the dog cage when the big girls are around to get them used to each other, but otherwise leave them in the run with the other 2 little ones. I've blocked the run entrance to the coop for today and am giving the big girls access through the outside so they can still lay their eggs but they can't get in with the littles. There's food and water both in the run and out so everyone is set.

I still want to bring in 2 more, but I'm not sure how that will work out. The decision to not put everyone in together came because I tried introducing just one other Faverolle, a male, to the existing Faverolle. They attacked each other ferociously, rolling around on the ground and pulling each other's feathers out. This seems like a gentler way of going about it, even if it's more hassle for me. So we'll see. I'm going to leave these 2 girls in for a couple of weeks and then I will bring the male Fav into the dog cage along with a Brahma (hopefully I will be able to sex them by then!) If that doesn't work out, then I guess we'll get 14 freezer camp members instead of 12. =\

 

[vclark321]

Yesterday was our day to integrate. I have 3 (mafia wives) year olds and 3 (desparate housewives) 20 week olds. I had the younger ones in their own pen and I put them in the big pen by themselves to explore. Then I put the least aggressive of the big girls in until I had the most aggressive girl in the cage. There were a few incidents, but noting major. They went into the coop atnbedtime and all slept peacefully. This morning my aggressive one started in on the young ones (who are bigger than them) and I ended up isolating her from the rest. The other are sorting out their pecking order and no blood so far. I just wonder if I did right by removing the trouble maker. I am outside working in the yard so I check on them frequently. Time will tell. Good luck!

 

[tiny529]

How aggressive was that one? My most aggressive ones chased a little and pecked a little but didn't go crazy on the little ones, like I expected. The one time was kind of amusing (though I still felt sorry for her!) as my little Cochin ran by my Sussex, who took out after her. She did a 180 and ran towards my Orpington, who took out after her too. The Sussex and the Orpington ended up crashing into each other and got one peck into the Cochin, who took off in another direction.

I did put all 8 in together for a little while today during a big thunderstorm. The 4 big girls were drenched so they were too busy preening to notice the littles. I'm noticing that the 2 who lived in the dog cage really hang together and the 2 new ones hang together. I'm getting mini cliques!