Adding new gals

[rosiethechick]

So I had 10 chickens, a hawk dropped me to down to 3, they are 4 (ish) months old. Question is if I get the same age hens can I add some back in without issue?

 

[SueT]

To integrate newcomers, improvise a see-no-touch set up and monitor reactions for at least a few days, then proceed from there.....good luck!

 

[Mrs. K]

Kind of, it depends on space and the number of birds you have, and the number that you add. If you added about the same number you have, or maybe one or two more, I would not expect too much problems.

Take a good look at your run, does it have hideouts, roosts, mini walls, multiple feed stations? Those are things that help with adding birds. If you have them, rearrange them, if you don't, add them before adding birds.

If the birds are about equal size, number and age, this tends to go better. Let the old ones outside of the run and coop, maybe around noon. Lock them out. If hot, make sure they have a water source. Put the new ones into the coop/run, and lock them in the set up. This allows them to explore without being chased for their lives.

Close to dark, the closer the better, go down and let your original girls back in the coop. They will want to fight, but they will want to roost too. Stay around until everyone gets in the coop. If you are the close the pop up door gal, get down there early the next morning. If not, you should still get down there pretty early and check on them through out the day.

This will not work with adding much smaller birds or only one or two birds as well. Although I did this and got a single bird added this summer.

If you get one or two very violent aggressive birds, pull them out, and put them in a crate for a few days. Or pin-less peepers.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

Question is if I get the same age hens can I add some back in without issue?

Ehhh...if you're (really)lucky there won't be any issues.

Here's some tips and links about the basics.....
Consider biological/medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article

Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.

This used to be a better search, new format has reduced it's efficacy, but still:
Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading, BUT some info is outdated IMO:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[Ridgerunner]

At 4 (ish) months old are they laying yet? Behaviors change when they start to lay. If one group is laying and the other is not it can add a layer of complexity to integration.

Have you considered quarantine? Some people don't bother, others consider it very important. To me it depends a lot on where they come from. If they come from a closed flock where other new chickens have not been added for a month or more it is less important than if they come from an auction or swap where they have recently been exposed to strange chickens. Any time you add chickens you take a chance of bringing a disease or parasite no matter the source but I consider some sources safer than others.

You are dealing with living animals, no one can tell you if you will have integration issues or not. Aart gave a generic list of things you can do to improve your odds of not having major issues but those are not guarantees. Some people do all those and still have issues, some don't do a lot of those and do not have serious issues.

To me the biggest factor is how much room they have, inside the coop and outside, plus when that room is available. The run doesn't help if they are locked in the coop. The more room they have the better. Some of Aart's comments help improve the quality of the room available. You have some control over that.

What you do not have control over is the personality of the individual chickens. They are going to sort out the pecking order, sometimes that gets bloody and sometimes you don't even notice it. Usually it's not that rough, especially if you follow Aart's suggestions or just have a lot of room. But occasionally you get a chicken (usually a female) that is a brute and bully. She goes out of her way to attack and try to hurt weaker chickens. Sometimes this is the dominant chicken but often it is one pretty low in the established pecking order that seems jealous of her low rank and wants to not get pushed further down. There is luck involved here.

 

[Mrs. K]

@ OP - space is really important, and the ability to move away and out of sight of each other when introducing new birds. Take a good look at your set up, or this can be a wreck.