How to Introduce New Chickens into an Existing Flock

If you own chickens, sooner or later, you will catch it..........no, I'm not talking about bird flu, but, the desire to get new chickens to add to your existing flock.
Maybe you've been researching a new breed you'd like to raise, or maybe you let your broody hen set on a clutch of eggs.
There is a hierarchy within the chicken world. And the new chick on the block normally gets bullied. There really is a pecking order within the world or chickens.
You can't stop it completely, BUT! you can minimize some of the drama within your hen house.

Things You'll Need

  • Chickens
  • A desire to add new chickens
  • Patience and tolerance
  • Snow fencing
  • Staple gun and staples
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Instructions

    • 1

      First and foremost........Size does matter! DO NOT introduce baby chicks into an existing flock of chickens. They will be pecked to death and become lunch. Baby chicks are not large enough to defend themselves. Make sure that your new chickens are grown enough to be compatable in size with your old chickens. It gives them a fighting chance. Because they will get picked/pecked on.

    • 2

      Advice for older chickens. (3 months and up)

      Plan ahead and have a separate living quarters for your new birds. A healthy chicken you receive from across town might have an unseen disease or bug that could totally decimate your existing flock. Take the time, about 2 weeks, to quarantine any new birds.
      Also, make sure to get a least 2-3 new birds at the same time from the same flock. This way, the new birds have a friend that they know, and there's not just one new guy to beat up on!

    • 3

      Pick a long weekend to do introductions. A good time to introduce your new chickens is at night. Chickens are very hard sleepers! Wait until you know that everyone has retired for the night. I usually wait until about 10pm. Then, just grab your new girls and put them into the coop. It's easier for the old chickens to "wake up" to a new addition, than for you to just introduce them in broad daylight.
      Another idea, if you have the room and access, is to house new and old together for a few weeks. I have two entrances to my coop, with seperate runs. I stapled snow fencing down the center of the coop to create two seperate spaces. This is what I did, when I decided to hatch out some baby chicks. They were growing out of their broody coop fast. So mama hen and babies went on one side of the coop, and the old flock on the other.
      The baby chicks were large enough to be introduced when they were fully feathered and about the same size as the other hens.