subject: Raising Chickens 101: Introducing The New Birds On The Block [print this page] To raise chickens, you will find procedures and adaptations to attend to. One extremely good instance is introducing a group of "new" birds to a flock of old birds. It is like managing to combine 2 restaurants when one is Italian and the other is Chinese. Stress will come with this. And that is not a belief but a fact.
Several poultry owners who think that they are ready to extend their chicken farm make particular measures of importing birds that came or was purchased from the outside, whilst others take their time and wait for hens to hatch their eggs. Putting new breeds into your peaceful and comfortable neighborhood of chickens can place quite a rumble between the old and the new.
Admit it, nobody likes newcomers. And putting these newcomers into a flock of hens or roosters that currently have particular territories inside their coop can be big mess. The newcomers will attempt to take their place too, and the oldies will try their best to protect their place.
Worry not, for this type of attitude and feud endures for just a couple of days. Adaptation can right now come about. You simply cannot avoid this kind of predicament from soaring but you can do certain adjustments that can make all of you happy and stress-free.
You will find numerous peace-making methods to assist both parties adjust with each other. Isn't it nice to see your new and old birds in one space without having to stop them from pecking one another?
One very great technique is to let them see one another not having any physical contact. How? If you have a run (which is basically connected to the coop), you could put your old chickens there and then put a border (chicken wire) between the run and the coop. Place your new chickens inside the coop. By doing this, they are able to see one another minus the harm. Be sure that both parties have access to sufficient food and water. You can do this for around a week.
As transition day comes, that will be a week following the slight introduction, you can now "join" them in one area. You can transfer the newcomers to the resident flock's territory throughout the night when all the birds are sleeping. Upon waking up, the old chickens will see the new ones and they'll, at any point, attempt to start a fight but will not because they are far too groggy to initiate it. Not a strategy that has been confirmed effective but it's really worth the trying.
Distraction techniques are always effective in some way. This can relieve tactics of war coming from the resident chickens. Should you do not do this, the old hens will run after the newcomers until all their feathers come off. That would be disastrous.
Some of the distracting methods are:
a. Cabbage heads can do the trick. By hanging a piece of whole cabbage just above their head, chickens will reach it until everything is finished.
b. Make the pursuit an obstacle for the pursuing party. Add large branches inside the run and coop.
c. Allow them to run around at a larger and freer range. The oldies will be so thrilled to dig for grubs and insects they wouldn't even detect that there are newcomers exploring.
