Want to add to a brand new flock of pullets

[chickinlickin]

Hi everybody.

I just got my coop finished and got 8-3 mo old pullets from my brother....he hatched them and there looks to be 7 barred rock and one rhode island red, all hens...brought them home on Sunday.

I want to get about 6 more and I've got a chance to get a few pullets (about 3 mo old) around the end of July and am wondering if I should wait til then or try to find something (about the same age) to add right now....as far as having problems introducing the new ones. Will it be easier to do right now? Any thoughts?? I've heard some bad stories about introducing newbies to an established flock and am a little nervous about it...

Thanks so much. This is a great place to learn from a bunch of good people.

Dean

 

[mamaKate]

You might as well wait. Anything you bring home will have to be quarantined well away from your flock for at least 30 days anyway. Lots of people successfully add chickens. Just keep reading here while you wait and I'm sure it'll be ok.

 

[mtnhomechick]

Please be sure to quarentine them. This is very important. You could lose your whole flock.

 

[chickinlickin]

I've also thought about brooding some chicks to add.....If I do that, how old should they be when I introduce them to the rest...when they get about the same size as the others?....


Thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sounds like this article will be good for you to read. It is a very good discussion on how to add chickens to your flock.

Buff Hooligan’s Adding to your flock
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock

People successfully add chickens to their flocks all the time. You probably get an unbalanced view because people on here tend to report the problems more than the good news. It's human nature. However, sometimes things do go very wrong. I think Buff's article helps improve your odds of being one of the lucky ones.

I'd wait on the chicks since they will be a good age to add if you get them and then quarantine them.

 

[ace6175]

Wow, according to that last link, I did everything wrong! I bought a 6 week old (?)chicken from a woman nearby, and only quarantined her for a week. Couldn't stand her flying around the garage, pooping on my car, so I put her in with my 12 existing nearly 8 week olds, who had just been moved to the coop the week before. There were some moments when I was very nervous, the older ones wouldn't let her eat, there was a little pecking going on. I set up a few different feeders. But after a few days, I started letting them out in a very large fenced area. The new chick is able to avoid the older ones easily outside. It's been about 3 weeks, and things are better, although the young chick is still afraid of the older ones...but last night I saw her eating from the main feeder, no one was bothering her. A sigh of relief!
Maybe it worked out because the main flock was young, hadn't been in the coop for very long, and all started going outdoors at once. I wouldn't do it this way again, if I could help it!

 

[newchicksnducks]

Thanks Buff Hooligan for compiling examples of integrating flocks(and Ridgerunner for posting it). I guess I'm not too far off on how I'm doing it.I have 3 9 week old EE in the hen house for the past 2 weeks. I just added 7 four week olds (w/heat lamp) in a sectioned off area of the hen house where they can see but not touch each other. They've been together 2 days now. I've noticed the older girls getting 2 inches from the dividing chicken wire, and the young ones 2 inches away on their sides, just checking each other out. Hopefully by the time my 1 week olds (5 of them) are ready to go outside, the oldest and middle group will find each other as normal coop mates!