Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I need some advice about smoothly integrating two new adults (year old Wyandottes from a PTO angel who pitied me losing all three of my beloved red chickens) with my new babies, five six-week-old Polish chicks and three eight-week-old ducklings. I think Wyandottes are not known for viciousness, and the chicks are too little to pick on anyone, but the ducklings can be mean and are quite big already.

Here is my setup. I have a 4ft by 8 ft coop where all the chickens will live, and I plan to build something separate for the ducks unless they spontaneously follow the chickens up the long steep ramp into the chicken coop which I suspect they won't. It is in a fenced yard that is something like 40 by 25 ft where they can all forage and mingle. I could temporarily fence off part of the yard if you recommend it.

I also have a tiny coop with attached run, supposedly for 2-4 chickens. Right now the ducklings and chicks are sharing it. After they all go to bed, I fish out the chicks and take them inside, since right now (5 weeks ish) they don't have quite all their feathers. I will start leaving the chicks out overnight this weekend. It will be cozy but soon overcrowded.

By coop I mean bedroom. They hang out in the yard and their food and water is in the covered part of the run, so the coops are just for sleeping and nest boxes

I guess the easy way to bring in the new girls is to give them the little coop until they've all made friends. That would mean putting the chicks in the big coop and fast-tracking a coop for ducks. Maybe fencing a temporary area for the new girls for a while? Or for the ducklings? Or let the ducklings keep the little coop and hope the chicks and the new girls get along from the get go? How long do you predict they need before they all get along?

When do roosters get, um, ornery? Not sure how many I will have. I think two.

What would you do?

Are the Wyandottes in the big coop right now?

They are in a 6 x 4 ( you know the ones) at night on their own but free ranging during the day with the others.

windwalkingwolf wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 1:31 am

Are the Wyandottes in the big coop right now?

I won't get them until June 3. I am trying to plan ahead.

I would add them in with the chicks at night, into whatever coop they will be in permanently, and see how it goes the next morning. I suspect it will be fine. Putting adult chickens into a new coop usually throws them off enough that they take a couple days to start thinking about pecking order politics. Have more than one feed/water station just in case the big ladies try to keep the younger set from the food, which is pretty common. Usually the younger set learns pretty quick when it's ok to dash in and eat , but if there's an issue it can cause problems for slower chicks.

Ok, thank you. That means I need to transition the chicks to the big coop sooner rather than later. I will leave the ducks in the mini coop until I figure out what kind of home to make them. The chicks will probably prefer to go eat chick starter and duck grower with their duckling pals, so they will leave the layer mash until they are big enough to reach the adult-height hanging feeder. I should try to get the same brand of food for the new girls as they are used to. Thanks for mentioning the food issue. You made me feel confident about this!