Adding new chickens

[Perolim74]

Ok I’m new here so any advice would be welcome. Unfortunately we just lost 3 of our flock to a stray dog that broke down our door and killed them. Only one of our chickens survived, our question is, we had someone in our friends group offer us some new hens. They are two months old, we are concerned because they have lived together for there entire lives, we are concerned about introducing new hens to our only remaining chicken, if the new ones aren’t laying yet will there be any sort of pecking order? Is there a way to safely introduce them and make sure they don’t gang up on the original chicken?

 

[sourland]

There will very likely be some squabbling, but your hen has the age and home field advantage. I would be more concerned about the welfare of the new birds.

 

[Perolim74]

There will very likely be some squabbling, but your hen has the age and home field advantage. I would be more concerned about the welfare of the new birds.

Would the breeds make a difference? The person offering us new ones are silkies and the one we currently have left is partial silkie

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

You said they were two months old but your write-up made me wonder if you meant two years or something else. That would make a tremendous difference. So could you please confirm their age, the new ones and the old one.

How many would you add? Could you please describe your facilities? How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? Your run? Photos showing general layout would be great. Do you free range or are they confined to the coop and run? Where are you located? I'm interested because of your weather.

Some people on this forum get really hung up on breed. I find that breed isn't very important when it comes to behaviors. Even if they are all the same breed you can have such differences in individual personalities that you can have issues. Even if they are all different breeds they may get along great.

People do what you are considering all of the time. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes not. There are tricks we've learned that can often help. The more we know what you are dealing with the more likely we can help.

Good luck and once again,

 

[Daisy June]

I imagine that once your lone surviving chicken would be happy for the company. However, a planned getting-to-know each other is a must. Even that which is not rushed and well done does not eliminate the fact that the group will establish a pecking order. I used a homemade run (8ft x 4ft x 2ft) and set it along the side of the coop run to let the girls get familiar with each other. It worked great. Still, though, any change in flock size, plus or minus a chicken or two, will result in a new pecking order.

 

[Perolim74]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

You said they were two months old but your write-up made me wonder if you meant two years or something else. That would make a tremendous difference. So could you please confirm their age, the new ones and the old one.

How many would you add? Could you please describe your facilities? How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? Your run? Photos showing general layout would be great. Do you free range or are they confined to the coop and run? Where are you located? I'm interested because of your weather.

Some people on this forum get really hung up on breed. I find that breed isn't very important when it comes to behaviors. Even if they are all the same breed you can have such differences in individual personalities that you can have issues. Even if they are all different breeds they may get along great.

People do what you are considering all of the time. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes not. There are tricks we've learned that can often help. The more we know what you are dealing with the more likely we can help.

Good luck and once again,

Ok you asked a lot of questions I will try to answer so the new chickens that will be added are apparently 2 months old, and completely off heat. They have not started laying yet is what they were described as, where as our survivor is almost 3 years old. We live in middle Georgia, and in a residential neighborhood so they are confined to a run/coop, the space is 50x50x10, then a small “tunnel” was added to connect an additional run of 20x6x5. The coop has a total of 4 nesting boxes. We want to add at least 3-4 for a total of 5. We don’t want to over crowd them considering the limited space we have. Ferom what we’ve gathered it’s better to peace together a flock rather than getting them all from one place. The newbies would be all from the same flock and have been together since birth. Our fear is they will gang up on our survivor. She’s been through enough and don’t want to stress her more as she just lost all her friends.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Ok you asked a lot of questions I will try to answer so the new chickens that will be added are apparently 2 months old, and completely off heat. They have not started laying yet is what they were described as, where as our survivor is almost 3 years old.

At two months old they are still chicks. They will not be laying eggs for at least another 3 to 5 months. By their current age they should be totally off of heat. That makes it easier to integrate.

Until my pullets start laying they generally avoid the older hens. If they invade the older hens personal space they are likely to get pecked so they quickly learn to avoid them. I essentially have two separate flocks until they new ones start to lay. During the day they keep their distance. At night the young ones do not sleep on the main roosts with the adults. It's not an issue as long as they have room to avoid the older ones.

We live in middle Georgia, and in a residential neighborhood so they are confined to a run/coop, the space is 50x50x10, then a small “tunnel” was added to connect an additional run of 20x6x5. The coop has a total of 4 nesting boxes.

I don't know what your coop looks like but for five chickens that is a lot of room. For 5 hens you only will need two nests. It will not hurt to have more, you just don't need them. All in all that sounds great.

From what we’ve gathered it’s better to peace together a flock rather than getting them all from one place.

I don't know where you heard that. Did they give a reason? It's hard for me to discuss something if I don't know why they said that. There might be a reason why it would not be best for them but I can't think of any that would apply to you.

The newbies would be all from the same flock and have been together since birth. Our fear is they will gang up on our survivor. She’s been through enough and don’t want to stress her more as she just lost all her friends.

Two month old chicks are not going to gang up on her. I don't know what will happen since you only have one adult hen. It is possible she will peck them if they invade her personal space. It is also possible she will accept them as flockmates and be great with them. They are living animals, you just don't know. Until the pullets start laying I expect her to be the dominant chicken. Once they start laying they will sort out the pecking order but that is a few months away.

My suggestion is to house those chicks across wire from her for a week so they can get used to each other, then let them mingle. If that could be in your coop, that would be great. Have separate feed and water stations in case she bullies them.

Good luck. With that much room you should do great.

 

[Mrs. K]

50 ft x 50 ft is very large??? As in a large barn? With that kind of space why would you need an annex run? Are we talking inches? But then it would be taller than 10 inches. I am confused - pictures would really help.

The reason, is that space is the biggest part of adding chickens. More space, the better. But also how the space is set up. Adding hideouts, mini walls, platforms in the run can make the best use of the space.

I agree that it will be the littles that take the pecking. Chickens do not like change. Putting the new birds in a strange coop and run will be very scary for them. Removing the original bird for a day or two, letting the new birds explore and find the food, the water, the hideouts without be chased for their lives will help.

Then add the old girl back, and observe. I would expect a lot of bluster - some chasing, some pecking, some feather pulling... and then it should settle. Add them together when you can keep an eye on it. No blood, leave them together to work it out.

Mrs K

 

[NatJ]

Putting the new birds in a strange coop and run will be very scary for them. Removing the original bird for a day or two, letting the new birds explore and find the food, the water, the hideouts without be chased for their lives will help.

The original hen could go in a wire dog crate inside the run. That would let the new ones explore in peace, while also starting the look-no-touch integration.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When you say 50x50x10, are you saying your run is 50 feet long by 50 feet wide by 10 feet high? That is HUUUGE! Gives the littles plenty of room to run away if needed. It is also recommended to have plenty of "clutter" in a run for new birds to hide under, behind and on top of. It often isn't pretty, but old lawn chairs or tables, half-sheets of plywood leaned up against a fence to create a tunnel situation, etc., are all good examples.