Proper methods for adding to your flock

[aart]

The run is 10×13, the coop is 3×6. But they all huddle together and when they roost they use about a 2 foot section

That's fine for birds that have grown up together.
It's a whole other ball game when adding new birds.

I'm in the north

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[galaga6846]

When the original flock members were about 16 weeks old, we introduced a new member by putting her in the coop one night at bedtime. We didn't really know any better. They accepted her pretty much from the start without any problems. In fact, the head hen was very protective of her, and roosted along side of her the first night. She would guard her from the cockerel, because he was the only one who was the least bit aggressive (the only thing he did was block her from food.) The other girls started to do the same. So, I had no idea this process was usually this difficult, or involved so many steps.

Always learning.

 

[NatJ]

When the original flock members were about 16 weeks old, we introduced a new member by putting her in the coop one night at bedtime. We didn't really know any better. They accepted her pretty much from the start without any problems. In fact, the head hen was very protective of her, and roosted along side of her the first night. She would guard her from the cockerel, because he was the only one who was the least bit aggressive (the only thing he did was block her from food.) The other girls started to do the same. So, I had no idea this process was usually this difficult, or involved so many steps.

Sometimes that works just fine.

It seems to depend on the individual chickens. The advice to let them live side-by-side for weeks is meant to work even in difficult cases. It's also helpful when a person cannot be there to see how the chickens are doing (like if the person has an awkward work schedule.)

 

[galaga6846]

Sometimes that works just fine.

It seems to depend on the individual chickens. The advice to let them live side-by-side for weeks is meant to work even in difficult cases. It's also helpful when a person cannot be there to see how the chickens are doing (like if the person has an awkward work schedule.)

I am a stay at home mom, and I homeschool.

If I place a perch roost bar across the cage and cover it at night, would that suffice in place of a coop? With a small food container and water container contained within a crate cage I think they'd be fine. And after they're ready to be mixed, could I leave food and water in the cage for a while with the door propped open for access to give the newbies some shelter if things get chaotic?

 

[3KillerBs]

I am a stay at home mom, and I homeschool.

If I place a perch roost bar across the cage and cover it at night, would that suffice in place of a coop? With a small food container and water container contained within a crate cage I think they'd be fine. And after they're ready to be mixed, could I leave food and water in the cage for a while with the door propped open for access to give the newbies some shelter if things get chaotic?

This is what it looked like when I integrated the 25 from Welp with the others inside my 16x16, open-air coop:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/setting-up-an-integration-facility.1496470/

You can see in the thread that I gave the chicks lots of hiding places in the coop and ways that they could get out of site even in the wide-open areas outside their adult-proof pen.

 

[NatJ]

I am a stay at home mom, and I homeschool.

If I place a perch roost bar across the cage and cover it at night, would that suffice in place of a coop? With a small food container and water container contained within a crate cage I think they'd be fine. And after they're ready to be mixed, could I leave food and water in the cage for a while with the door propped open for access to give the newbies some shelter if things get chaotic?

Yes, that might work, especially since you would be available to check on them frequently.

 

[galaga6846]

What age should I look for? I want to avoid bringing in any roos, but don't want to necessarily do a quarantine so I suppose babies would be best. Now I have to research babies! I have a friend who usually has some older chicks in his garage that havent been put outside in his run. I wonder if this would be a good option.

 

[rosemarythyme]

A lot of people online are saying newbies need to be the same size as existing flock members

Just to pipe in with my own experience, I think it's easier to begin integration early than later. My last group of chicks (raised out in the run) had their first face-to-face introduction to the adults at 10 days, and by 15 days had full access to the coop and run with the adults. These are not hard and fast numbers of course, I watched how the birds interacted and progressed things based on their reactions to one another - i.e. the hen here is not their mama but was completely fine with these 15 day olds "in her territory." Note the bricks holding up the chicken wire on the right so the chicks could dart under it for protection if she did become aggressive.

What is key to this approach is having space, a lot of clutter, multiple food sources (to lessen guarding/food aggression) and areas that are only chick accessible.

My set up and article on early integration: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/

 

[chickensssssss]

I would like to add a couple more chickens to our tiny flock of four. The poultry veterinarian advised us not to add any more chickens to an established flock. She says that this can cause some problems that we may not feel like dealing with. But I don't think four is enough to keep us from buying eggs from other sources. We are a family of four.

I've heard of the 30 day quarantine, but I just don't like the idea of keeping chickens in a cage for 30 days. How does one safely quarantine new chickens before entering them into the flock? I'm thinking about putting a rabbit cage in the Run, and letting the new chickens Hangout in the cage. Is this how it's done? Thank you.

 

[silentnanny]

Please please PLEASE do the quarantine!!!! I almost didn’t, and the new chicken was terribly ill and likely would have wiped out my whole flock. I thought the quarantine sounded ridiculous but it’s not! Please do it and monitor the new chickens closely. When I have introduced new chickens (after quarantine and sure they aren’t sick) I kept the new ones in a separate crate but looking at each other, so they could get to know each other without attacking.
Introducing new chickens to an established flock was a lot more time intensive process than I thought. Seriously, be careful about the quarantine and disease