Trying to Integrate Young & Old...Not Having Fun!

[chickenfeathers]

Anyone else going through this trying procedure?

It's day 2. My 2 one-year-old GLW are *not* "happy campers"!

They growl & chase the 6 little ones, even though they've been separated by a fence for almost a week.

Today, I tried to integrate them. There I sat telling the older girls to "play nice"...not.

I decided to use the old water bottle trick, when it looked as though they were going to attack. It worked beautifully.

The babies will be 6 weeks old this week (I bring them in the house at night).

How long does this woderful process take? Any helpful hints? :|

 

[Critter Crazy]

sorry, not realy sure what to tell you. I guess just keep what you are doing, and hope for the best. I have never had any probs integrating, I guess my older birds are just sweeties!

 

[Heidi]

I have 10 week chickens who are loving their new coop and huge yard. I just brought home 8 banties and now I'm wondering how in the world am I going to introduce them to my heavy breed chickens when the time comes. Hopefully you get a few more ideas so I can learn in the process. Good luck!!

 

[CarriBrown]

This is what has worked for me (granted, there are still pecking order fights, but nothing serious):
I have the little ones in the house until I can't take it anymore or they grow out of the brooder. They are moved to the chicken tractor which is inside the run. They stay there for weeks, until they are big enough to at least be able to somewhat fend for themselves.
I start with letting everyone free ranging together. The big girls usually leave the little ones alone but if there is a squabble, the little ones are able to run away. Once the big ones start going inside to roost, I put the little ones back in the tractor. I will do this for several weeks or however long it takes for everyone to start mingling nicely.
Eventually, everyone gets along and a pecking order is established.
It does take a lot of time and a lot of supervision, but it's worth it to me.

 

[babychickfarmer]

When I added the three older girls to my 8 week old pullets I realy just put them al together and watched 'em. There were a few pecks here and there and the older ones get pissy when I hold the little ones. They still peck at eachother today but not nearly enough to damage. Good Luck with ur girls and I hope everything works out for ya.

 

[chickenfeathers]

Quote:
You are *really* fortunate!

I'll keep trying...feeling like a "mother hen".

 

[chickenfeathers]

Quote:
Thank you for your kind wishes.

I think that, someday, the little ones will get even...(payback).

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

Well our new chicks have their own hen house next door to the older hens. During the day they go into their tractor we will wait until they have grown larger since they are only one month now to let them free-range with the adults. Once they are released they will usually stay in two groups there will be some chasing around and the pecking order being established everything should settle down once the new arrivals are comparable in size to the others.

 

[Hotwings]

Quote:
Mixing 2 flocks can always be tricky. Chickens live their lives through a pecking order and it seems to be working for them. The older birds see the new ones as intruders. It is always a good idea to separate the two and let them get used to each other in a safe enclose area ie a cage inside the coop or etc. There will be fighting for sure. I would watch for awhile and make sure no one is really getting severly hurt. You can introduce bantams to standards and Freebie birds are the proof. She introduced hers to the big birds when they were young pullets but fully grown or nearly grown in a cage inside their coop. At the time she had 2 full size barred rocks and a full size barred rock rooster. The standards were under a year close to the bantams in age. There was alittle inhouse fighting but not much. The rooster was top dog of course and his alpha hen was no 2. She later introduced 2 standard pullets the same way(Buff Orpington and Australorp), believe it or not all 5 bantam hens are ahead of these full size birds in the pecking order. It has been a year now and everyone is getting along fine.