# Chicken integration



## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

8 chickens, laying for over a year, faithfully, laying 8 eggs almost every day.

I talked the wife into trading out four of the older ones for four new ones that a friend had raised, not quite laying yet. She struggled to figure out which four to get rid of for well over a week. A friend of hers wanted to get started so she sold 4 to him.

Get the new ones, and our smallest of the remaining chickens wouldn't allow the new ones in the garden, literally only allowed them one corner of the yard, and then started attacking the prettiest of the new ones. Pecked so deep into the neck, you could see the artery surging. Nobody is laying at this point, none of the four remaining, none of the new ones... everybody is stressed including my wife. She figured the little one is going to the soup pot, but that hen and our dog were literally best friends, they laid together, followed each other around the yard, etc.

At this point, two for sure are going, maybe three, but the 4th one was the hard decision. That one was a sweetheart and my wife's chicken. No matter what she did in the yard, that one had to be there with her. She finally decided all four were going to the new home... Frigidare. The processor we took them too even made a comment she hated killing that one, because she was such a sweetheart.

It looks like we should be getting eggs pretty soon from the newest four. The flock is peacefully getting along with each other. Everybody has calmed down.

I wouldn't be surprised to see her get 6-8 pullets again next spring and starting over, with these 4 going to the pot once the babies get close to laying.

I feel bad, because it was my plan to trade 4 out each year and always have 8 on hand. This didn't go so well


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

I was going to ask this a while ago. I have 11 laying hens and 1 rooster. We bought them at 3 days old, and they just started laying in August. I was wondering how old they normally are when they stop laying and if I can get a few new chicks every year and just put them in with the hens.

Would the hens and rooster accept them or pick on them?


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## bbrider (Sep 27, 2013)

What you were planning is exactly what we do. Our hens all go in the freezer at 2 1/2 years old. Our babies start in a brood box that is 3x3. Our coop is divided into 2 sections with a door/gate between them. The babies will go into half of the coop for about 3-4 weeks after they are feathered out. After this, they go into general population. There is still a certain amount of harassing from the older birds, but it it at a minimum because they meet in a safe way and then are turned out in the yard (5 acres) with room to escape. A week or so later, they seem to get along.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

They were separated and slowly integrated into the population. It appeared things were going well, until it didn't. One of my wife's sources suggested because they were so close to laying anyway, the older bird was taking out the one that was ready to lay.

We got our first egg this weekend, they were that close.

I still feel bad about her culling her favorite bird


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## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

we've raised chickens for many years now and have a couple of ways of introducing new ones. The best way is to add them to the older chickens at night while everyone is roosting. They tend to do best when they all wake up together. 

Another way, if one or more older ones are bothering the new is to remove the older ones and pen them separatly for a few days. then at night when roosting reintroduce them to the flock. 

another way is to pen them right beside one another for a time. I do this by running a pice of fence down the middle of the pen. the new on one side and the older on the other. I usually give about 4 days to a week and don't let them out to free range for that time. then take up the fence and they don't seem to care.

I hope it works out for you and your wife!


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

I let one or two hens a year set and raise the little ones. They do great this way and keeps new ones coming every year. Roosters go to freezer camp every fall. All except the herd rooster.


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## gilacr (Dec 30, 2013)

Most of the time I allow my hens to hatch their own. This is never a problem unless there is an issue with the chick, such as a severe deformity. I do occasionally update my flock with birds from friends. Up until about 3 years ago I had mixed results. One of the older farmers wives that live near by corrected the problem for me and I have had no further issues. Now inside my chicken coop I have a secondary coop for chicks. I keep them in this coop for two weeks. After two weeks I open a small door on the secondary coop that allows only the chicks to come and go from there. It takes about another week but they intergrate very well. I've used this method twice and it has worked both times. 

I have had chickens on and off most of my life but primarily as pets. Many years ago I had the chance to go into an egg production facility, ie horror show, and after that I will not eat either store bought eggs or chicken. That being so I expanded my chicken population to cover the dietary needs for a family of four. If you have access to any old time farmers pick their brains they are a wealth of knowledge and I have found eager to teach younger people, when I say younger I mean anyone under 80


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## woodsman23 (Aug 6, 2009)

i placed 6 chicks in with the older ones at 8 weeks and they duked it out for a couple days then got along, they have been doing it there way for hundreds of years.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Sorry to hear you had such trouble, I wonder what breed you were dealing with?

One method that can be a bit time consuming and probably wouldn't work for a lot of people is to introduce the birds in reverse. New young birds, even immature ones can be kept together and the old hens introduced one or two at a time, works especially well if the old birds haven't been using the pen or coop where the new ones are kept (it is less their territory). This method works with many different animals as well.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I know this is one of the few threads on actual homesteading and the information is helpful and good, but every time I see the title I read 
Chicken _interrogation_ and that just brings up weird images


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## gilacr (Dec 30, 2013)

Tirediron said:


> I know this is one of the few threads on actual homesteading and the information is helpful and good, but every time I see the title I read
> Chicken _interrogation_ and that just brings up weird images


That's funny :laugh:


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