smartrus Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Hopefully that day will come! I will keep you posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Welll, Im not sure if I made a mistake today or not! I decided to open up the run this morning and let all eat together, I put up an extra feeder so there was plenty to go around. This worked for about 5 minutes! Then the older hens just pecked and chased constantly until all hens had swapped places! The older hens went and stamped their mark in the newbies house, food, etc whilst the newbies hid in the older hens part of the run, getting food when they felt brave enough! I am going to let them out to FR later but I haven't seen much improvement since my last post. Did I rush things? Its been about 4 weeks now and we have been going as slowly as possible, but at some time they have to get on! What should I do next!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucker1 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Hmmm, well I am not experienced having done only 2 lots of intros, but I think sometimes you just have to go for it. As long as there is no blood shed, I would keep going at it. When I did intros in the run, I had let the old girls out first for free ranging so they had let off any steam they may have had??? and a chilled and a bit worn out if pos. Then let the girls all in together. Then I watched them armed with my squirter water pistol (an old kitchen spray bottle filled with water.) Initially I did this for 20 mins a day and then built it up over the course of a week. I hope this helps and hopefully someone more expert than I will be along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Thanks, It was about 20mins this morning till all had had enough. They have been out FR all afternoon together but I can still see chasing going on from my window. No blood shed though but the poor newbies must be exhausted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auntielizzie Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Sounds like a good sign that no blood is being shed Have you tried feeding them a few mealworms by hand all together - I think this helps with the idea of sharing and that good things can happen even with the new girls being around Other than that, just keep letting them out together under supervision every day. When I did my intros, I did 3 to 2 - I can't remember how many you are introducing to how many. Definitely my original girls would chase the new girls out of their run and house, while the new girls went into the original girls run I think this is all good too, as the new girls will get used to the new surrounding ready for when they all have to go in together. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before you can try shutting them all in the one run together just for about 10-15 minutes at first to see what happens, and then separate them again. After a few days of this, it's time to take the plunge and leave them all together for an afternoon and then soon letting them go to bed together. On the first night, the new girls needed to be encouraged in with the use of a torch. This is only going on my own experience however; other people may have had different experiences, but it took about 5 weeks in total to get to goal and the girls even huddle up together in the house at night now rather than being at opposite ends Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Thanks for that. I will continue to let them in the run together for about 15 minutes each morning, then separate, let them get on with laying (very important!) then let them FR together in the afternoon. Sounds like a plan! Hope it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 Well, its been about 6 weeks now and I've bitten the bullet and done it! I had let them FR together each day for about 5 weeks and then they started coming back in the gate together when I threw corn down. They had the odd scuffle but nothing major. I then left the dividing gate open one morning as I was cleaning out. It didn't go so well as I out in my last post. However, the other day I thought I would try again and although not too happy, they tolerated it. I Popped back into the kitchen and then forgot I had left them together! When I went back later they seemed fine, just avoiding each other. So I decided to leave the gate open and have done for the last 3 days.There is a little pecking going on by one in particular but no blood and its not constant. Tomorrows plan is to put up a second roost in the big shed and sleep them all together. Hope it carries on this well, I didn't think I would ever get to this point. I cant say that they are buddies by any means but hopefully they will be one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 6 weeks Oh my, does it really take that long ? I'm only on day 2 I hope they carry on getting on well together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 Im afraid so! It depends on your approach. I couldn't face the' chuck them in and let them fight it out' method! And they still don't really like each other. What kind of chooks have you got and how many? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 That's sounding pretty positive . Luvachicken, I've had integrations before which took that long but my recent one was over and done with in a couple of weeks. You just never know, it depends on the chickens, I suppose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Im afraid so! It depends on your approach. I couldn't face the' chuck them in and let them fight it out' method! And they still don't really like each other. What kind of chooks have you got and how many? I've got 6 altogether, they are all bantams. Myrtle and Melody are Wyandotte bantams, almost 2yrs old, Queenie is a pekin about 26 weeks old, Lucie is a buff plymouth rock - 26 weeks old, and then there is Suzie and Gemma who are also pekins but I am unsure precisely of their age, but they are the youngest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 They sound lovely. Hope they settle well. x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
