When to Integrate Pullets

[baymule]

When you create a new flock by making the younger birds the "established" flock and you introduce one older bird at a time, you won't have any dead birds and they will accept each other and re work a new pecking order. This only works with birds and not with horses, btw. =b

Not with horses..... LOL My lead mare is a 27 year old Tennessee Walker. Horses have come and gone over the years, but she remains the BOSS. I brought in a new mare once and just sat on a stump to watch Sparkles put her in her place. Over and over again the new mare, Rocki tried to join the herd and every time Sparkles laid her ears flat and tore into Rocki, biting and kicking. Sparkles did this for two days before she "let" Rocki join the herd.

If you don't know, a horse alone is vulnerable to predators and wants nothing more than the safety of the herd. Rocki had to submit to Sparkles in order to gain the safety of the herd. Even the bottom horse that gets picked on by all the rest wants desperately to belong to the herd and will not leave.

 

[ninnymary]

Very interesting bay. Learning a lot here.

Mary

 

[canesisters]

Bay, itsn't it amazing to watch horses interact? Back when I worked at a riding stable we had 50+ together in a small paddock. I could sit on that fence all night and watch them moving from hay pile to hay pile, who could walk into a group without batting an eye, who had to manuver through the crowd being careful who they aproached and who they avoided. Which ones were friends and would groom each other and which ones would only tolerate the company of a select few.
That became vital info when we had to line them up for a 2hr trail ride. Funny, after almost 30 years I can still (almost) recite the line up for a full trail - LOL!!

ok - back to chickens...

 

[Just-Moxie]

I know absolutely nothing about farm animals, nor flock/herd behavior. It is just plain interesting the things we learn in forums like this!

 

[Just-Moxie]

2nd morning here. So far so good. They were a little lost yesterday evening, at bedtime. All 7 of them wandering around the run...peeping. But I could do nothing for them. They had to decide to go into that dark doorway by themselves, and figure out where to sleep. I couldn't even toss scratch for them ...the big ones would have mobbed them. And they were not sleeping outside.
So, I sat in the people side of the coop. We put up a wire wall, for ventilation etc......and I could see everything they did. They took about 20 minutes to put themselves to bed, so I could shut the pop-door.
Let them back out at 0730 again. They were fine and healthy. Nobody got pecked.
It seems to be the best way to integrate....at night...in the dark. They then all wake up together. Just a matter of time before these newbies become integrated fully, and their novelty wears off.

 

[ducks4you]

Something else about chickens. TOO MANY PEOPLE that own chickens search the internet for ideas. I dismissed two of those ideas right off the bat: Feed your chickens scrambled eggs, and feed your chickens meat, including feeding them chicken.
Somebody we know, new to chickens, and "knows it all"--attorneys are like that--decided to feed chicken meat to her chickens. One hen got a small injury and the other hens attacked her, killed her, ate her.
Now, if you don't know, you can feed meat to chickens. I have given my birds hamburger and pork steak bones to clean up, fish, and I have moved treat bowls and watched them scramble to grab the mice. I even grab the occasional grasshopper and throw it to them to see who will grab it, run and eat it. NONE of "other than chicken" meat will create the reaction I described.
But, nobody can tell some people what to do.

 

[canesisters]

... might have had more to do with things like crowding than them getting 'a taste for chicken meat'. I've fed my chooks whatever is getting cleaned out of the fridge. I figure that as long as it's not covered in feathers and running, they're not going to recognize the wingdings.

Moxie - that night-time integrating has always worked for me. There is a little bit of a scuffle in the morning, and a little more through out the day but it has (so far) never gotten to be a big deal.
Good job!

 

[Just-Moxie]

Chickens are attracted to red...blood etc. If they see blood on a flock mate, they will usually peck it. Or red toenails on a human. Or red anything. They are not usually discriminating . I see the hens pecking the blood spots off of the roosters combs, after a fight.
I have to agree with canesisters on that one. Especially since mine try to trip me when they see I have food. They would take me down and eat me in a heartbeat ...if I let them.

Canesisters- yes, we learned the hard way not to do daytime integration. The first time we did, in 2012, the rooster killed one of the new pullets. The other one he left alone. But as they were only in chicken tractors, we hadn't figured out how to do a night time integration at that point. We live and learn.

 

[ducks4you]

I am sure that her birds were crowded. DH and another attorney both have kept chickens for more than 5 years, but what do WE know!
I still don't know that much and I am always learning things over on BYC.

 

[bobm]

The easiest and foolproof method is to first invite all of the old hens to a hot tub party then let the pullets have the penthouse and lounge.