Your new chicks must be introduced properly to avoid being bullied—or worse. Give your new chicks the best chance of successfully integrating into the flock with these useful tips.
Chickens are flock animals, and tend to do better in groups with other birds of a similar age. Chickens are social creatures, and baby chicks do better in a flock when they help each other and grow up together. Choosing a mix of breeds is more successful when you already have an assortment of breeds.
You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. The age difference just too much. Instead, put the day old chicks in a smaller space for a month or two to grow a little bit. The actual age that you decide to put the young chicks in with the grownup hens depends on a few variables. If your hens have a lot of space to roam around, you can put the chicks out a little younger.
When you first combine the two age groups, do it about an hour before sunset. The most important thing: The key is to distract the grownup hens from the younger ones. Put out lots of scratch, vegetable scraps from the garden, leftover kitchen scraps, whatever you have. Remember, there is such a thing as too much scratch. There will be the occasional scuffle. An adult bird may peck a younger chick, and if it draws blood it can turn very dangerous for the younger bird. It will probably take a couple days for them to be completely comfortable together.
This is the time to give them a fresh bale of straw to play with, some heads of lettuce to tear apart. When we first let out the little chicks, this one immediately flew onto j's head and then pooped on him. Charming, right? Share this: Twitter Facebook. Additional hens mean more chicks and more chances for aggressive and defensive behaviors to emerge. It is inevitable in large-scale situations like this. Technically, baby chicks can be separated from the brooding hen right after they are hatched.
If they are separated immediately from the hen, they should be moved straight to a heat-regulated brooder box. This will help them maintain their body temperature and stay safe from the elements, like the hen would have been doing for all of them.
Chicks that are left with the hen should be separated from the hen sometime between 6 and 8 weeks old. If the hen is ignoring them or trying to get them away from her, that is a good indication that they are ready to be on their own.
If the hens starts to get broody again and wants to set more eggs, that is another indicator that is time for the chicks to move to another area.
While brooder boxes will keep chicks safe and warm, there are some issues that can arise. If the heating goes out or if there are too many chicks in the mix, there can be deadly consequences. Keeping a clutch of chicks with the mother hen is a great way to keep them safe until they are old enough to fend for themselves. Hens not only teach their young how to eat chicken food, drink, and find natural food on the ground, they also keep them warm and dry.
A hen will also protect its chicks from predators and other aggressive chickens, even to the death if needed. In the right situation, two hens with chicks can be put together in the same enclosure, but it is not always possible.
Some hens just do not play well with others, while some will get along just fine with another hen and her chicks. I was getting on an average of eggs per day and I just rescued 13 from a friend of mine.
I have 2 horse stalls with dowels for roosts but mainly one coop with the water and food. They get cracked corn in the morning and have available Premium layer pellets Is there anything I can do to get them to lay? I have 1 week old Bresse chicken and would like to add, ideally 2 more chickens to keep her company!
Any particular breeds you think would work best? And do you think it best to get 2 of the same breed to add, or 3 different ones- so that none are the same?? Hi I have just introduced 1 chicken to our small flock of 3. They are highlanders. The new chicken has been hiding behind a bush all day and night and the other 3 are making a hell of a noise. She is eating today I have put out a separate food bowl for her. She is a bit smaller and younger I think.
What can I do to help them please? And the pecking continues even on the roosts. Any suggestions. Hi, Claire! We just have a two-chicken city permit. One of our dears died. Helena needs a new partner. Thanks for your advice, Rachel. Hi, We have a flock of five three-month-old birds, but it will be four, as our roo needs to be rehomed. We have one Wyandotte and three Silkies. We will be adding two eight-month-old Cochin sisters in a few days. Is there anything I need to do differently, as the established flock is younger and smaller?
Hi, I have one 2 year old light Sussex and recently got another 5 month old light Sussex. I have been keeping them apart but they can see each other and I give them short amount of time together and then let them sleep together at night separating them again during the day. There is a little bit of pecking but not too much. I would like to add another girl, would I then put the 2 newbies in together and continue on as I have been or will they then try to establish a pecking order.
Not quite sure what to do or should I just wait till these 2 are sorted then get 2 new girls?? Each introduction will most likely cause pecking order to begin, if they were mine I would put them all together and let the pecking order take place once. Hi Claire, I have 7 Leghorns that are 2 years old. The chicks all get along very well and have been together from the start. When could I introduce the leghorns to the chick and are there any concerns I should be aware of?
Thank you for your advice. I have had success as early as 4 to 5 weeks but at that age I use the cage method. Leave then in a cage in the run area for several days until your older hens are used to their presence. Hi there!
I have 2 Wyandotte girls that are a year old. I got 5 more pullets Brahmas that are now months old and almost as big as the older girls. I want them to all get along and go into the coop at night but the oldies just want to beat up the younger girls. We just went through this and go through this every season. What has proven to work best for us, for this specific situation, is make sure the coop has a little bit more room.
Is this possible in your circumstance? At around months we would sometimes cage the young ones and put them inside the coop, the older ones could not peck and start getting used to the idea.
This has always worked as well. I have six buff orpington hens that are just a year old. The first three days were kind of rough but I was there supervising. Brought the young ones out early in the morning and then let the hens out and the first thing my one buff orpington Queenie goes and chases one of the chicks and grabs a feather and eats it.
So, I would take the parrot and put him in his cage and cover the cage up. And it worked. This seems to have improved the situation. I plan to introduce them into the coop permanently as the Final Phase shortly. Wish me luck! I wish I had found this earlier, but here we are.
They were in the same group in the store and got along well, but the orp was clearly a little older and the boss. We are allowed up to 4 birds and had the change to get a much larger coop, so we decided to add two more girls.
At this time, they were about weeks old, and we found 2 10 week old girls, another wyandotte and and easter egg. We were told to move all 4 to the new coop at the same time, so when we got home with the new ones, we let them all out in the run together. At first it was all actually really calm, but then the new wyandotte started picking on the 9 week original wyandotte, and when our 11 week orpington saw that, she ran over and protected her friend.
Other than that, they all were OK. They went up into the coop together and slept, the easter egg and the smaller wyandotte actually nestled in the same nesting box. This morning, the two original birds, the 9 week and the 11 week were out in the run and the two 10 week birds were in the coop. The food and water is in the run, so whenever the 10 weekers tried to go get food or water in the run, our 11 weeker chases them up to the coop again.
This is just the first day after introducing them. Should we just wait it out at this point and let them figure things out.. Any advice would be greatly received. This is a natural process, no matter what the pecking order will happen. Here is some more info on the pecking order.
Our neighbors dog killed one of our 13 hens, and they are planning an replacing her with one adult layer. The article details how to properly introduce them, try out one of these options and let us know how it goes. How should I make them roost with the current flock, they push them away as they try to go up the ramp to the house at duck. You will need to introduce them by hand in the evening after the adult chickens are roosted introduce the young ones into the coop.
They will eventually settle and be accepted. I have done this many times. I have a slightly unusual situation. I made the terrible mistake of forgetting to shut the coop one night and a fox got 3 of my 4 easter egg hens.
I would now like to add two or 3 hens similar age but different breed to my one remaining hen. How do I introduce multiple birds to a flock of one. I have a wire crate that I can sit by my coop, but it is to small to house three birds for an extended time. Given the fox trouble, I have greatly reduced my free range time.
Start with first acclimating one to the remaining hen. Then introduce the next. Or if the two already do well together, you could ease in the one hen to the flock of the new two.
It really is just trial and error. If one gets fiesty you separate them for a few days and this could shake up the pecking order and you would be able to try again. Keep in mind the pecking order is a normal and natural process. It is apart of the pecking order. It is normal but commonly bothers many people, if you have tried all your options, separating them for good is the only full proof plan. Here are some articles that may help. Wait until they are of similar size and follow the same process as the article details above.
Raccoons got all but one of my chickens about 6 months ago. At first the lone chicken was miserable stayed in a laying box even when her coup door was open. In the last four months she has begun to lay again and spends her days free-ranging and following me around. I Got 16 Baby chicks They are in a separate pen that has a door to the main coup and pen.
They are 8 weeks old and I plan to introduce them at 18 weeks when they are old enough for lay pellets. There is one rooster in my flock and I am worried about introducing my single chicken to the new flock. Do you have any tips? Recent predation problems took his last hen. After being alone, he needs some new ladies. Can I introduce them without separating them, since its 3 nice hens that grew up together, coming in to be with 1 rooster?
I have 2 4 month old pulleyts and 1 4 month old cockere 2 silkies and 1 sultan l. I also have 5 1 year old chickens 3 silkies, one is a rooster, 1 silkie Cochin cross, and one Wyandotte , I tried to introduce them but the sultan is getting so beat up.
What should I do. Hello, I have 3 buffs that are about 16 weeks old the oldest just stared laying that all came together as pullets. They seem to have no pecking order at all. The buffs were scared of the barred rock and would run from her so when I was dusk I put the barred rock in the coop where the buffs already were in there and stood to watch for a couple minutes and they were quiet right away. I just checked on them and they are all sleeping Did I get lucky or are they gonna bully the barred rock tomorrow?
Hello, I currently have 3 laying hen. I just bought 4 new baby chicks. Chicks are of course in a brooder now. I have a large coop already, do I need another or will simply waiting until chicks are grown and introducing slow work? Is that good enough? I have 6 pullets, about weeks old, that I just introduced to their outdoor chicken coop. Is there an issue with doing this or will the hen assume top spot without hurting the pullets?
I have a simlar question to Eric…. I have 2 hens and 1 rooster, all 10 months old. I let my old 3 out to free range the other day for the first time no chicks present and once he was out the rooster came after me and chased me. He clapped his wings any time I was too close. I was so surprised! He usually avoids me. Is this springtime hormones or will this be an issue? Any suggestions how to introduce them?
I have 2 white crested black polish bantam chickens who are about 4 years old. We used to have 4 but the other 2 passed away. We are starting our flock shortly but 3 of the 6 birds will not be ready for weeks after the initial birds. They will be 9 weeks old for the first 3 and the 2nd batch will be around 7 weeks old. Do you think the introduction process will still be necessary? I have a flock of seven hens. Four are light brahmas and probably around a year old and I got them last summer and three are an orpington and two saphire gems maybe three or four years old.
They all free range, but we also have a fenced in area outside of their coop that has a gate leading to our yard. I want to get four pullets this week and was wondering how I should let the older chickens out and allow for the new chickens to get exercise? We have 4 new hens that are 3 months old, they are still half the size of our adult hens. I am worried about the rooster mating with such young birds. But all the established hens are large breeds.
Do you have advice for mixing young hens with established roosters? I have a new flock of 8 pullets at 15 weeks old. We have them outside in a 2 stage enclosure separated from our year old flock. They have been out there for 2 weeks. Wish me luck. My question is about the food? The pullets have been on the grower crumbles.
My layers eat the pellets. Can they all eat the same food now? If not how would I accomplish separate feeding in an open enclosure? About a week later I got 3 laying hens from a Hutterite colony. The rooster did not accept them so I separated them by a wire fence in the same coop, hoping to integrate them later. I have 4 RIR that are currently about 8 weeks old and are already happily living in the coop and run. However, we decided we wanted more hens, so now have 10 Leghorns that are currently 2 weeks old.
Is introducing 10 hens to the original 4 going to be too overwhelming when the time comes? Or can we introduce that many at once?? I feel bad for my RIR? They are going to get seriously outnumbered soon, and they are just so sweet. I have 4 X 16 week birds added to my flock. My other girls are 5x 1.
They were starting to sleep in coop after a bit too with them on the hens side Coop divided. Some fighting but not terrible. The hens still chase the new ones off outside if they cross paths free ranging.
Do I just throw them in and hope for the best? I have 3 chickens about 4 months old 1 hen, 2 roos? I also got 2 adult bantams and we are getting eggs from them but the original 3 peck them when they got out because we had to lift the pen to get 1 bantam from behind the wall. Also got 2 5 mon hens and these are all separated but i am thinking this will be nits to introduce them all soon! I was just trying to get hens for the dang roo! The 2 full size hens are bigger than the original 3 so should I introduce them first then let the batmans in and the chicks later when they are bigger?
Hello there! They were very neglected before I stepped in filthy coop, maggots in nest boxes etc. Now the school wants to get a single chicken to introduce to the existing flock of three. What should I do to convince them not to do it? We have a small flock of chickens who roam in our large garden and a piece of small woodland. They go into a house at night.
One has recently died of old age so we now have only 2. Unfortunately just as we were about to get 2 more, one of the remaining flock turned broody and is now a fierce quivering feathery ball of rage whenever she bursts out of the hen house momentarily.
Our other poor chicken is just roaming around on her own and she is a friendly girl. Do you think it is advisable to wait to get 2 new ones until the broody one is recovered? It would be nice to have company for the non broody one.
I have two groups of chickens I hope to integrate at some point. The older chickens are free to forage our large farm property and the younger group has been kept in a fenced extension of the barn stall. I have 2 11 week old golden sexlinks that I have interested into my flock of 5 19 week old Amberlinks.
We did a slow, three week integration with a pen within the pen before letting them in full time. Pecking order has been established and seem to be doing well.
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