How to add chickens into your existing flock – Our baby chicks turned 8 weeks old recently and since the weather is starting to get a little cooler and the daylight hours shorter, we decided it was time to introduce the new chickens into our existing flock.
I’ve had people tell me introducing new chickens into your existing flock can be a difficult task. But in the four years that we’ve been raising chickens I’ve never really had any problems beyond the occasional chicken getting a little roughed up to establish the pecking order.
And by roughed up I mean getting chased around the chicken yard. Or getting pecked a few times by an older bird.
In years past we have placed the younger chickens {anywhere from 8-12 weeks} in a fenced off area alongside the chicken run. We do this for a few days so the birds could get acquainted. But this time around, keeping the 8 week old chicks separated only last about an hour.
We had decided to set the chicks outside in the late afternoon once the older birds had been fed. They were pretty much worn out from walking around the chicken run all day.
Well, before we knew it, Black Fatty had flown into the baby chicks fenced area and made herself at home.
You can tell by Mario’s expression he was thrilled. 😉
Once Black Fatty was in there for awhile, the chicks starting flying out of the fenced area one by one to explore their surroundings.
And before we knew it, they were all walking around pretty peacefully together.
Yes, there was the occasional older bird chasing the younger bird. But that’s normal. I think as long as there isn’t any serious damage going on, the pecking order usually works itself out pretty quick.
When dusk came and all the older chickens were settled in the coop for the night, we picked up the baby chicks in groups of two and placed them in the warm nesting boxes inside the coop.
Once they were all in, Black Fatty nestled in right next to them. And when we opened the doors the next morning, she was still there with them.
Now that’s what I call an easy transition.
Do you have chickens?
What has your experience with introducing new chickens into your existing flock been?
~Mavis
For more tips on raising chickens, check out my chicken section.
And if you are looking for a great chicken book, check out Homemade Living: Keeping Chickens with Ashley English. I think it’s pretty awesome.
erica says
I read u are supposed to sneak them in the coop in the dead of night. And the next morning it is like nothing happened. Lol. Your way sounds easier.
Kendra says
Sounds like Black Fatty has adopted the new checks as her babies.
Marci says
Great!!!! How many chickens do you have sleeping in the Eglu? We got one in the spring, this will be our first winter with one. We have 4 girls, and hope to expand our flock every year. Thx!
Cecily says
You have the most beautiful chickens Mavis! I love the variety. Those Austrolorps sure are a motherly breed aren’t they. I have one that “claims” all the new pullets as her own too!
Mavis Butterfield says
I think the Australorps are the sweetest birds on the planet!! 🙂
Wende says
We introduced three new babies to our three older girls in August. The older girls quit laying and then started their first molt. No eggs for about a month and then we got one or two a day for about a week and now it’s been back to no eggs again for about two or three weeks now. I can’t figure out what’s going on with our three older girls. They started laying in May and have done three eggs a day every day until we got the babies (they were 12 wks when we introduced them) and then it’s like they have gone on strike! The little girls should start laying around thanksgiving I think. Hopefully the bigger girls will get back to business too then! Anyone had their older girls go on strike when you get new babies? And for this long???
Delia says
Our did too, but it had also gotten really hot. So we went the hens feet to cool them down. Bc they can’t lay eggs if they are to hot. And we also bought them food that helps them lay eggs. It’s help our older chicken to start laying eggs again.
Christy says
Check the food. There has been a lot of info out there about food from Tractor Supply and Purina. Mine stopped laying in October completely and didn’t start again until January. 12 hens.
Anthony Zupancich says
Hello I tried to enter a new chicken that was 2 months younger than the rest. Keep it in a wire cage for two months in the chicken coop. Everytime I let the chicken out the other chickens chased it all over the yard and coop. If I opened the house door the new chicken was inside hiding between my feet. It never ended the way I wanted it to.
Chicken momma says
I have heard you dont want to introduce a lone chicken to the flock…they will all focus on the newbee!
Kelly Condoleon says
I have two older girls and three 13 weeks but it has been a month and the big girls still chase and peck at the babies which then come running to me for help and hide behind my feet.
Stephanie D. says
I am having the same problem! One of my older ladies willl hardly let them roost in the coop with everyone else!
Brian Sader says
We have a flock of 8 Welsummers, 4 Buff Orpingtons, 4 Lavender Orpingtons, and 2 Golden Comets. We have a “nursery” set up for introducing new chicks to the flock. We always seem to have at least one broody hen. We place the broody hen in the nursery with a couple of “dummy eggs”. A small raised and covered rabbit hutch built specifically for this purpose is placed in the run but separate from the main coop. Momma has her own feed and water. Once we get the new chicks, we substitute the eggs for the new chicks. We keep Momma and the babies in the nursery for about 1 to 2 months depending on the weather and growth of the chicks. When it is time to move to the “Big House”. We wait till everyone has roosted for the night and move Momma and the babies to the coop. By the next morning everyone gets along well, and Momma takes care of any “aggressive” hens. This “nursery” system has worked well for about 5 years now.
Jace says
Hello, my sisters and I have chickens and whenever we got new chickens all of the older girls pick on the new ones really badly… they pin them down and then all of the chickens in the coop attack them. I don’t think that that should be happening… and it lasts a few days… I have a few more chickens now and one of them has a teen with it… I’m trying to find a way to make it a peaceful one… do you have and tips?
Chicken Momma says
My method is to have them in a run next to the bigger chickens or a fenced off portion of the run you will be integrating them into. Let them have at least a week in this ‘see-but-don’t-touch’ setup before slowly and for only a few hours at a time, allowing them to mingle with the older chickens. This allows them to get used to each other without any strife. Some pecking is to be expected, but it should not be excessive…if it is, you may need to intervene. Return to the fenced portion and try again the next day. Then eventually, when there is no more fussing between the older girls and the newbees, let them spend the night in the coop. I like to physically set them up there myself, the others don’t seem to bother them so much.
Be sure your babies are of similar size, so they can stand up for themselves and I wait until they start laying (approx. 20 weeks) because they need grower feed up until they do. My older girls are piggies and would eat the chicks feed.
I hope this helps!
Catherine says
We have our new chickens in a cat cage in side the coop and after it gets dark we open the cage and in the morning they are all getting along and no knows the difference it works every time.
Kassandra says
Hi! We have 3 hens that are probably 2 years old at this point, one became broody so we decided to put fertile eggs under her. We successfully hatched 3 chicks in May. Momma was wonderful at teaching them the ins and outs- the other two hens didn’t mind them at all. Now however the chicks are about 12 weeks old and the momma and 2 others have been attempting to peck at the younger girls. They have always slept in the same coop / run, what can we do to help integrate them without having the older girls attack them?
Sue Ising says
i have a section of my coop that i can keep closed off from the big girls…. the magic number for us is 20 weeks they are next to each other for about 5 weeks on….. then there is little picking at each other…
Elena Frederick says
Hi, my concern is introducing my young chicks while still feeding starter feed. they are at 9 weeks old now and I thought I should not give them layer feed until 118 weeks. My older hens eat layer feed and veggie and fruit scrapes. How do I separate the feeding?
Jill Talbot says
Hi Elena,
This is what I am struggling to figure out too! I have just two old girls left from my original flock and have 4 new ones just 12 weeks old on starter feed. I have them separated in the bottom of the coop and keep them in all day. I let the older 2 hop up and down from the nesting boxes where there are also perches. I guess I will just keep them in there until 20 weeks? I have mom guilt keeping them locked up for 8 weeks!!! Help!!
Jill
Sheila Gettel says
I read through a lot of the comments above and noticed pretty much everyone who said there were issues, it would be the existing flock picking on the newbies. I have a completely different situation. My original flock was 10 birds. I have a barred rock, 4 sapphire gems, and then 5 americanas. I raised these girls from 1 week old and they are gentle and love my attention/affection. By the time they were 10 wks. old, my sister brought my seven pullets that were 8 weeks old at the time. I put them in an enclosure that was “connected” to my original flocks coop. This way they were separated, but could safely interact. I then moved them inside my girls’ enclosure but in a small coop, so again, they were separated, but now inside the main coop. I did that for three days and then one evening when everyone was settling down I thought I would try letting the seven gray girls out with my original flock. I think I should state that the gray girls were two wks younger, but they are much beefier than my original girls. When I opened the door for them, they came running out and INSTANTLY attacked my original girls. I was mortified. It was like watching a pod of dolphins attacking a bait ball. They were actually jumping on my original girl’s heads and backs pecking them. I managed to round the gray girls up and separate them again. They are once again in an enclosure that is attached to my larger coop, but I cannot bring myself to try merging them again. I don’t like having two separate flocks, but am not sure what the best course of action would be now. The younger gray birds are not nice at all. My original girls love to be held and petted, which gives me the opportunity to keep an eye on body composition and if anything would be wrong with my girls. These gray ones though….not nice AT ALL! They came from a livestock auction, and I have no idea what they are. Pretty birds, but vicious. Any suggestions??
Karen says
I have a White rooster w/3 white hens and 2 brown hens. Then I have 2 black chickens, 1 a hen and one Rooster. I tried to put the black ones in with the white ones and he pecked the back of the Black rooster head to bloody mess. I was able to get the black birds out of his cage and bring them back into their old surroundings. will I ever be able to put them together?