Coop Renovation or One Big Happy Flock

Our other big news--the entire coop is finally integrated. We cut a hole in the wall separating both coops, and turned the back half into the nesting box/egg laying station, with a separate access for gathering eggs. Initially the roosts were all 2 X 4's but the hens hated this. Every morning we found most of them crammed on one roost that was a tree branch, so we took the 2 X 4's out, and put back in tree branch roosts. The back section has one remaining 2 X 4.

The Integration Process--An Update

Some folks have inquired recently--how is the integration of the flock going? At this point the little girls are about 16 weeks old, and not quite 3/4 the size of the big girls, so we are still being cautious. Michael tends to be more full steam ahead than I am about these things, so sometimes we find a balance!

What's at risk, they're all just a bunch of small-brained chickens, right? Perhaps brain size is part of the issue, who knows--but the whole pecking order thing is very, very real. One piece of reality is that dominate hens in a flock will keep lower ranking hens from food, and sometimes water. I observed that with our first group of hens, and am seeing it now with this group as well.

So, some days we open up the portion of the young pullets' (that's technically what I should be calling the non-laying juvenile hens, pullets) run so they have access to the mature hens' run. Mostly the mature hens invade and eat all their food, while the pullets run to the back 40, and have to be coaxed back to their coop before sundown. I prefer that we only open that fence on the weekends at this stage, since if the hens are in a "mood" on a very hot day and keep the pullets from water, the pullets could quickly overheat and die. But Michael being more daring likes to mix it up a little!

We are still waiting to see if there are any roosters in the younger group--initially we thought one of our barred rocks, Rocky was a rooster, but now I have my doubts as s/he is pretty darn mellow. However, the New Hampshire (red in color) has become a rather pushy creature, and spends a lot of time running around making odd screeching and squealing tire type noises--which could be the beginnings of learning how to crow!

There are still a few more weeks for any roosters to mature enough to be the strutting, regal and noisy creatures we expect them to be...stay tuned for the next episode!

GREAT MOMENTS IN FLOCK HISTORY

It's a great moment--the first time that both flocks are out in the yard together! It was nearly impossible to get a shot of the hens all together, as the little girls ran away every time I tried to take a picture!

On the whole this was a successful integration experiment--"pecking order" is a very real phenomenon! The older hens ran the little ones away whenever there was a tasty morsel of food to be had, which is part of why we are rearing the flocks separately for the time being. Several weeks back, Michael extended the outdoor run for the little girl so that they have a 10' X 20' swath that just into the big girls run. The 2 flocks are separated by wire, but get to see and hear each other now.

Our experience the last time showed us that it was important to wait until size differences had decreased. We didn't wait as long last time and there were some definite bumps. With the last group (the auracanas and buffs being the youngers, with the black australorps, sex link, and Rhode Island Red being the olders) we noted early on that the younger hens seemed to be chased away from the food bowl--and if our neighbor Mike hadn't found her in time, the lovely Seiji Brown might have died from the rigors of pecking order. That's another story for another blog post, but for today we feel we are on track with a slow integration of the flock.

This time around, with a suspected rooster in the flock, once he is "of age" he will command the obedience of the whole flock, which we hope will make blending the different age groups much easier--he will become the main event instead of the new hens...then when everything is settled, Rocky the Rooster will be going to live in the country with some friends of ours who need a rooster (and can legally own one).