Integrating New Flock Members
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Integrating new flock members into an existing flock can be stressful! If you fell in love with your sweet chickens and decided to add more, be prepared to see them in a different light! Chickens can be brutal. Their instincts tell them that they need to assert pecking order right away. They want to establish their place at the top and let the littles know where they stand. Don’t worry, there are ways to make it easier on them and you.
Before we chat about different methods, here are a few basic tips for any integrations.
Put out extra feeders and waterers so the original flock is less territorial and the new ones don’t have to fight for food.
Make sure you have adequate space for the whole flock. 10-15 sqft per chicken in the run is ideal. More is always better.
Add extra roosting bars in the run! The newbies will appreciate places to get out of the way.
Create hiding places. Pallets leaned against the walls of the run work well!
It is nearly impossible to feed two different age groups two kinds of food. I feed the whole flock the food that is appropriate for the youngest members. So if they are still under 18 weeks and you are giving them chick feed, the bigs ones are now eating that as well. Provide a feeder with crushed oyster shells and the hens who require extra calcium will take it as needed. Don’t panic. Your hens will not stop laying eggs if they aren’t eating layer feed. They might pause egg laying from the stress of adding new chickens in though!
Keep everyone busy! Whether you give them extra free range time or freeze some treats for them to peck at, give them something to do! Bored hens are naughty hens!
Before bringing any new bird into the flock, it is best practice to keep them quarantined away from the coop for a few weeks. Many chicken diseases take weeks to show up and you may think you have a healthy bird only to find out later that it was sick and has infected your whole flock. I suggest at least two weeks but four is better.
Jail Method
I have used this method with new chicks, pullets & adult hens. It can also be used when adding in roosters. The basic idea is allowing the flock to see the new members without being able to hurt them. You can use a dog crate type set up, a small coop, or even just put up a divider made of chicken wire. Set up a space for them with their own food and water right in the middle of the run or wherever the flock hangs out the most. I like to set up a sleeping crate in the coop and put them in that crate at night. If you don’t have a coop big enough for that, you can bring them back into their brooder or somewhere safe at night like the garage. It does take more effort on your part because you have to move them every morning and night, and fill the extra feeder & waterer but, this method helps create a well established flock for the long term. After about a week (or two if your flock seems a little more feisty), you can allow the newbies out of their jail to start learning the ropes. I suggest allowing everyone to free range during this time so they are distracted and have more places to get away from each other. If you are introducing babies, you can open the crate enough for them to get in and out but not big enough for the older chickens to get in their space. That way they can come out on their own terms and if they need safety they have somewhere to go. If the chickens are older and you can’t do that, put them on the roosts after dark!
To the left you can see I have a cage set up under my sh*t shelf. It is used as storage unless I have chicks I am integrating. It also works as a maternity ward (see the momma method).
Here are a few videos I have showing the process…
Sneaky Method
This method has worked for me once but other times it has failed. The idea is to bring in the newbies after dark and sneak them onto the roosting bars. Ideally, the flock wakes up and just thinks they have always been there. If you have a docile flock with no real bossy hens, this might go smoothly and be that simple. If you try this method, I suggest planning to be there in the morning to supervise. A bloody peck to the head can quickly turn into cannibalism. Chickens are savage.
If this method fails, I suggest going back to the jail method and try that. Your flock dynamic is really going to be the determining factor.
Free Range Method
Chickens love to free range. If you have a flock who is stuck in the run and you add newbies in, they will be bored and attack just to have something to do or because they don’t have enough space to get away from each other. If they are free ranging, they are more distracted and tend to leave the new ones alone. If they do go after them, it isn’t as brutal because they can’t corner them in the run. Give them “play time” in the yard and then put them back away. Slow and steady is the key here.
This method works best if your flock spends their days free ranging. Chickens who are usually locked in a run will have a hard time with this unless you can let them free until integration is complete.
This is the least successful method in my experience. If this fails, try the jail method!
Momma Method
When I first started chicken keeping, I wanted the chickens to love me. Raising them in a brooder and spending time with them helps with this but, chickens aren’t usually affectionate like your golden retriever might be. They get used to you, might even enjoy hanging out around you (as long as you have treats) but they don’t want to hang out and cuddle….most of the time that is. When a mother hen raises the chicks, they will likely view you as the enemy for a long time. My most skittish hens are ones who were raised by mother hens. I am okay with that now so this is by far my favorite way to add chicks into a flock. It is almost no work on my part and the flock dynamic is almost always peaceful at the end. Plus, it is so adorable watching a hen raise chicks.
To use this method you need a broody hen. A broody hen is one who is feeling maternal. You’ll know you have a broody hen when she stays put on the nest day and night, only gets up once a day to eat and drink, screeches at you when you go near her, and walks around all fluffy with her tail spread. Usually I break them of their broodiness (a story for another post) but, if I have a broody hen line up with a time I am getting new chicks delivered, I celebrate! You can also give your hen fertilized eggs and let her hatch them. To do that, just stick them under her and wait 21 days for her to hatch them out. There will likely be chicks who do not hatch and some that don’t make it as the hens move around and bump the eggs so be prepared for that.
Here is how I get my broody hen to adopt chicks. I wait for her to be broody for at least a week or two. Buy day old chicks and bring them to her at night. Sneak them under her one by one while taking away the eggs. Peek on her every now and then but try not to move her around or disturb her too much. You want her to have time to get to know them as her own. This process can go one of two ways. Best case scenario she takes to them and raises them. Worst case, she attacks them. I suggest doing this when you are available to keep an eye on things. The day old chicks can go about 48 hours without food and water. They absorb the yolk before hatching and it holds them over while they wait for their siblings to hatch. After she has had them for at least a day and hasn’t hurt them, move her to a location with food (chick food) and water. I call this the maternity ward. Here, she can be with the babies where the flock can see her but not hurt them. She will hopefully teach them to eat and drink. After two-five days of her learning to be a mom, I will let her and the babies out with the flock. She will likely squabble a bit with the other flock members. This is a good thing! The flock will learn to leave them alone and it is smooth sailing after that!
Check out some of my favorite mother hens below!
