I have got a couple of Lohman Browns just to start of with, they are 21/22 weeks old and i was wondering if it is too late to add new chicks. They are not broody and they are very well behaved. Would it be sensible to buy a separate coop or not. I haven't decided on the breed yet. Thanks!
If you can build a second coop and run, that would be ideal......and well worth it down the road for segregation for many reasons. I built a partition into my coop, and needed it a couple months in for a rambunctious Jr cockerel, and now wish I had 1 or 2 more separate areas. A Few Notes on Integration of new chickens to flock. Consider medical quarantine. 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. 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 to hide out of line of sight and/or up and away from bully birds. Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
No chickens are nice to other chickens. Size is a huge factor. If you add chicks to your flock before the chick are 3-4 months old, the older chickens will attack them and could very probably kill them. Mrs K
