Joining of Two Flocks
We kept six chickens from last year and ordered twenty-five chicks this spring. We moved the older chickens into a smaller coop, which is located in a larger pen area that surrounds the old coop's pen. That way the new and old chickens will have some contact before we mix them together. I have pictures of this at the Chicken Coop page.
We ended up with twelve pullets and thirteen young roosters. We butchered the erels when they were fourteen weeks old. Except for one, a Salmon Faverolle named Lil' Boy. So now we are left with thirteen young chickens to introduce to the six older chickens.
Before we let the chickens together, we removed our rooster's spurs. For directions go to Chicken Q's and A's
The young chickens were about sixteen weeks old, plenty large enough to defend themselves against the older chickens.
It took about a week for them to get used to each other. A couple of the older hens peck a little more than the others, but it slowed down after a while. Our rooster was pretty excited to meet the new pullets, but he soon learned that taking it slow and easy was the best way to a pullets heart. The young rooster, Lil' Boy, stays around the coop with his other Salmon Faverolle pullets. It takes this breed awhile to get used to change. So far the two male chickens stay out of each other's way.
I closed up the small coop after a week. That night the younger and older chickens all went into the old coop and roosted for the night. I put a couple of eggs into the nesting boxes and the next day the hens were already laying in the large coop.
The egg production did slow for a couple of days.
Here they are after 12 days
Update: We had to separate the two roosters.
The older rooster was starting fights with the younger rooster.
He got picked on pretty bad.
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