| Author |
Barnyard Buddies:  Introducing New Chickens?  |
|
|
sjs
True Blue Farmgirl
247 Posts
Stephanie
Oakland
CA
USA
247 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 23 2009 : 10:01:01 PM
|
I've had a flock of chickens that we've raised together, and I've had hens hatch their chicks and add them to the family.... but I've never introduced outside chicks to an established brood. What's the best way to bring new babies into a coop that's already got four older ladies in it? No rooster, just the girls.
--------------------
Learning to live is learning to let go.
Visit my food blog! http://www.wasabimon.com - natural cooking to live for.
|
|
|
windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4178 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4178 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2009 : 04:56:51 AM
|
Don't add young chicks in with the old girls. They will usually not survive. Wait till they are a good half to 3/4's grown. There still will be alot of picking on, but they will be okay. The young ones learn their place.
That is my expierence anyways.
Michele |
 |
|
|
twzlrwho
True Blue Farmgirl
199 Posts
christina
dewitt
va
USA
199 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2009 : 05:30:24 AM
|
yea i would wait until they are 20 weeks old
 Christina
Work like you don't have to, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like nobody is watching :) |
|
|
|
kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2009 : 06:42:28 AM
|
Hey Stephanie, when you do get ready to put them all together you need to put the new ones in a cage in the hen house for several days so they can all see each other and get to know each other. Then let the new ones out at night. The next day there will be some scuffles but they should be alright after a few days.
Good luck. Kris
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. Maori proverb |
|
|
|
StasiaSpins
True Blue Farmgirl
78 Posts
Stasia
Augusta (Eau Claire)
WI
USA
78 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2009 : 10:56:25 AM
|
We have not had the greatest set-up for adding purchased chicks to our established coop - we don't have two areas. So we have always cleaned out the coop thoroughly, and then had a 4 x8 "cage" made of 2x2 wood and chicken wire (and a cardboard windscreen inside at first) in the center of the building, under a low-hanging heat lamp, away from the other chickens' roosts which are around the perimeter. By the time the chicks are feathered out, there are no squabbles. This is not the best setup for preventing disease transmission, as the older hens like to stand on top of the cage sometimes (a pointed top would help...) but then again, it can "innoculate" or harden the chicks off to the coop "biology" by exposing and strengthening them to what's present, if you have a generally healthy flock. If we had the option I probably wouldn't do it this way, but so far, after several additions of new chicks, we haven't lost anyone this way... And we have several roosters who grow tolerant of chicks that aren't their own this way, too!
If you want to introduce older pullets to your hens - this is going to sound nuts but I read about it and it works! - introduce each pullet to each hen separately, perhaps in a barn stall, or in the entryway to your coop if you have one, or even outdoors. Let them share a dish of food (distract them). They actually learn to recognize one another, and if introduced one at a time like this, when you put the "newbie" into the coop after having met ALL of the other resident hens individually, they will be in the middle of the pecking order rather than on the bottom as a scapegoat. It takes time but prevents plucked feathers. It really works.
Good luck!
ETA: there is a chicken wire "ceiling" on this cage to prevent the chickens jumping in on the chicks! You don't want to let little chicks actually loose with the hens until they have feathered out and can move quickly - the hens will likely try to kill little moving foreign fuzzballs. And introducing new chicks to guinea fowl is a whole 'nother thing, and much harder...
http://YarnAndABarn.blogspot.com
http://www.TuppinzFarm.com
Heritage Sheep ~ Goats ~ Donkeys ~ Poultry
Spinning ~ Knitting ~ Weaving ~ Quilting ~ Crocheting |
Edited by - StasiaSpins on Mar 24 2009 10:59:21 AM |
|
|
|
GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2009 : 11:03:26 AM
|
we wait until the chicks are around 4 months old, then they get over nighted into the coop. Our birds are free range, but I am not sure if this matters or not. There generally isn't too much of a scuffle. Before the chicks are introduced they are "Mothered" by a couple of our old biddies who are quite nurturing hens. They have taken on so many chicks and they do a great job of protecting the chicks after the over nighting. :)
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
Farmgirl Sister #88
Blogs:
http://gaiarose.wordpress.com
Etsy:
http://ForestFaeries.etsy.com
"Joyful chaos, working in tune with the seasons, telling itme by the sun, variety, change and self-direction; all this wwas replaced with a brutal, standardized work culture, the effects of which we are still suffering from today." - Tom Hodgkinson in 'How To Be Idle' |
|
|
|
sjs
True Blue Farmgirl
247 Posts
Stephanie
Oakland
CA
USA
247 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2009 : 11:35:53 AM
|
Oy, this is going to be rough. Hrmm. We don't have room to put two cages overnight, so I'm going to have to think about this.
Is there a point where young chickens are too old to be introduced to an established brood?
--------------------
Learning to live is learning to let go.
Visit my food blog! http://www.wasabimon.com - natural cooking to live for.
|
|
|
| |
Barnyard Buddies: Introducing New Chickens? |
|
Introducing New Chickens?
