When do their voices change?

[PatinOxford]

I have four pullets I've raised from a few days old, four different breeds. They are all doing very well, exploring their new secure pen from their nice separate coop, learning to eat different things, practicing flying, and so on. I got them the first week of March and they were all probably 4 to 6 days old at that time. Fully fledged, healthy and so on.

So when do they stop peeping and start clucking? My other two hens I sort of inherited with the farm, already full grown, in the prime of their laying life. Both are very talkative with a large vocabulary. I don't have a frame of reference for a time line here.

The two laying hens are free range on our two acre yard during the day and coop themselves at night. This is where I'd like the little girls to arrive as they start to lay. We have ample coop space but I want to merge the two older hens and the four younger ones this summer, in large part because the two older ones are very savvy and can teach the little girls important survival skills, like how to chase the barn cats <G>.

I'm also really keen on having the new ones lay their eggs in the coop rather than randomly around the property. I can set up temporary fencing, but where and when and when do I merge the groups? All my chicken keeping neighbors are Amish ... their skills are great but they don't keep hens long, so their info is only marginally relevant in this situation.

 

[SnowPeeOstrichU]

Hey there!

-Their voices should change fairly soon, I think

-I recommend introducing at night. Take the new ones and put them in the coop with the old ones at night so it's dark and they all wake up together. This helps reduce the issues as everyone figures out the new pecking order..

-If you have a nesting box that is nice and the old ones use it, the new ones will probably learn to use it too..

Hope this helps, best of luck