Chickens can be hardy creatures, but complex environmental factors can easily affect their overall well-being. As their caretaker, you are also responsible for their health. If you are considering additions to your flock, especially chickens from other people’s flocks, then you might consider these integration techniques that personal experience has proven successful in order to decrease the risk of disease or illnesses to your existing flock.Keeping new birds separated and quarantined from your flock is one of the most important aspects of good flock management. While you may be excited to have all of your chickens, new and old, together, it is vital that you practice bio-security measures. Even if you purchased birds from your neighbor, from a hatchery, or shipped from across the country, you must keep them physically separated from your current flock. In Tim Daniels’ article “Introducing New Chickens,” he suggests putting up a barrier made out of chicken wire to separate your two flocks. Even though you will have to build a separate coop and run for the new birds, your hard work will pay off in the long run. The new coop and run could also serve as your permanent quarantine facilities. If you purchase chicks up to four weeks old, you can keep them in a brooder and then slowly introduce them to the outdoors. You can begin this process early on in the chicks’ lives so that their immune systems become gradually accustomed to their new environment. For instance, when you bring them small bits of grass or bugs, those things will give your chicks small amounts of dirt from your backyard. Bio-security is important, but so is managing your flock’s social structure. Your current chickens might not take too kindly to your new birds, especially chicks who are small and vulnerable. According to Jesse L. Lyons of the University of Missouri’s Department of Animal Sciences, certain problems within the chickens’ social structure can be avoided if the owner prevents the factors that can cause those problems. In my flock, I separate chickens of different ages. So, try to keep your baby chicks in their brooder until they are a few weeks old. Then, put them in a pen separated from the rest of your mature birds but open enough for the chickens to see each other. Being able to see but not touch will let your current chickens slowly become used to the new ones. Doing this also allows for your new chickens to grow bigger. In general, it takes four to eight weeks to quarantine the new birds. Once they are almost the same size as the chickens in your current flock, they will have a better chance of integrating successfully. However, quarantine does not guarantee that your original chickens won’t get sick. Before you let your new chickens mix in with your old ones, make sure that you check for any bugs such as mites or lice. You can easily do this by holding each chicken on your lap, then gently separating the feathers around the neck. You should also check the legs for mites. Watch your flock everyday for a few days up to two weeks after the first day of integration. The chickens from your original flock will be the most susceptible to illness at this time, especially to illnesses that your new chickens may have harbored. At this time, it’s best for you to monitor your flock’s overall health diligently. Also, if you see some pecking here and there, let the chickens reconfigure their social structure, or what is known as the pecking order. This transition period is mostly for you to make sure that no chicken is getting sick or picked on badly. Personally, I have avoided disease and most social problems in my own flock because I used all of these preventative measures and I monitored my chickens’ behaviors and health conditions everyday.
Adding new chickens to your flock can be exciting, but remember to follow the basic rules of good flock management to ensure your flock’s safety and health.
Daniels, Tim. Introducing New Chickens. poultrykeeper.com
Lyons, Jesse L. Small Flock Series: Managing a Family Chicken Flock. University of Missouri Extension.