mixing new chickens in the flock

I have put my new chicks in the coop area. They have been there about a week. They are separated by some chicken wire. How long until you can mix them in? (I am trying to mix in two new hens and a rooster, that are about 10 weeks old, and almost as big as then others.)

If they are at all close in size, I say go ahead and put them together. They will still mix it up a little because every time you add newbies the pecking order has to be reestablished, especially with the new birds. I have found that as long as they have room to get away from each other, the greater the disparity can be. Most often there is more problem with the owner understanding how chickens work things out than there is with the chickens themselves...LOL. Hay

I usually figure add them when they are over the stress of the move...

I have a similar (well, kind of) situation: I've been keeping my cresteds in with my banties since they've been on the smaller side. They may be banties as well, I'm not sure. But they are pretty darn close to flying. And the banties aren't really there yet. So they're bigger than the banties, but not as big as my layers in the other brooder. Problem is, the banty brooder is pretty low, and I'm worried the cresteds will fly out of it. When I tried to put the cresteds in the bigger brooder, they sounded like they were lamenting their lost friends, calling loudly, etc. So, I dunno. I'm interested in all of this though, because I"m sure at some point I'll want to add or replace parts of my flock.

How early does pecking order start (i.e. in a batch of hens all bought at the same time)?

at birth or before...any time there's a change it seems to take a day or so to reestablish.

Grownut is so right, at birth or before...LOL. It is true tho, the pecking order really kicks in big time at about six weeks old. And you can really see the roos starting to challenge each other...Hay

Thanks, I am going to take the separator out today. So, I shouldn't panic, just wait and let them reestablish the flock?

I'd say so...for the most part mine decide right away who's where...every once in a while they'll contend, or you'll have two dominant types. But other than watching for that, it should be quick and painless.

I should add...my hatchlings start as soon as a dominant chick is in the 'bator/ brooder and walking...

I moved Miss's C and Z and another hen in with Hay and his harem and actually C and Z went off on Hay... They did not go after the girls, only him... LOL They had been seperated by chicken wire for about 3 months, but C and Z were the oldest chickens I had... That lasted for a few minutes, now Hay and all of his girls are great friends... In the other coop I have moved in a rescue Roo and really need to put a girl in with him, but have not decieded to buy one or take an existing one out of Hay coop... HUMMMM thinking I need to buy one since they are all bonded and dont want to break up the bond... I cant wait a few more months till the chicks get older (They are all hens) I dont want the Rescue getting lonely...

Take the separator out at night, after they have started to settle in for the evening.

I removed the partition. There was some unrest in the chicken coop, but it seemed to get better. My dominate Hen, and my new and only Roo, had a little shake down.

Now the three new ones, (Two hens and the roo) are staying on their side of the enclosure and the others are at their end. I left the "Cat" carrier that they used to sleep in while they were separated, in the coop. Last night when I checked on them, they were in the carrier and the others were in the coop. Is this OK? I intend to remove the cat carrier, but should I wait a day or two?

Ok, now they seem to stay apart. I am worried that the older ones are not letting the young ones get to the water. I don't know that for sure, (and I have two waterers) but when I poured them some water they drank like they hadn't had any water all day.

What do you think?

It is quite possible. The older ones will do that sometimes. Can you create a way for the younger ones to get to a separate waterer...like a low entry to a special section?

OK, new question.

My flock does not seem to mix. The two Maran hens and the roo, stick together, and the other four stay together. I even made a large chicken run and they all had a great time getting out of the coop area, but they stayed with their own "flock" Is this normal? Will they eventually mix in together? I can't free range, due to my large predator poodles........

Also, my dominate hen and the roo seem to fight. Will she get along with him when he gets older? I was hoping to mate them to get an olive egger. (Copper black marans roo and an Americauna.) But maybe they will never like each other.

Is there any value to putting some combinations in the run, and leaving others in the coop area for a day? So they learn to mix and socialize?

Trust me, they will sort it out and also as for water, I have seen this before and they will sort that out also. They can be very clanish but if you just leave them be they will mix and sort it all out, nothing happens overnight. Human intervention most often just delays the proccess. Let them sort it out as is natural. We tend to want everything to go according to our understanding. They are not human. They will mix in their own time and way. Haystack.

They don't have to like each other to mate!

What has surprised me the most with chickens is how clannish they are. It seems that they (particularly the pullets) bond tightly with the chicks they hatch with and never seem to form as tight a bond to another chicken. It makes me hate to sell a single pullet. The ones that I have kept have always seemed to be the "odd chicken out" in a flock.

When I moved my girls Miss C and Z into the pen with Haystack the Roo, C and Z went straight for him. They had been separated by chicken wire for months, and Haystack came with 3 other hens and C and Z were with another hen, we lost the roo. I watched for awhile as the three strong older hens went for him, and he just ran... LOL now all of them are living in harmony, and the poor Rescue Roo in the pen they moved out of, just watches thru the wire. I dont have the heart to break all of them up, so I am looking for an older hen or will wait till my 3 week old hens can go in the pen with the RR (Rescue Roo)

Thanks! I do attach human emotions to my girls. Clanish is a good word for it. They really stick together.

I guess reasoning with them is out then, huh? ;)

I have just a few Jersey Giants: one is 18 months old - the last of a group I got last year and the other three are about 8 months old. Although they are different ages they hang out together and not with their contemporaries. Very clannish.

In my experience, which is not vast :) , they will work things out if the playing field is level. But if older hens are much larger the scales are tipped against the younger pullets and things need to be watched closely to make sure they are able to get feed and water. Throw a game hen in the mix and all bets are off. They are mean girls. Mine have spurs and will hold their own with the big stock roos.

Cajunin,
my game hens also have nasty very very sharp spurs. I have one polish hen with spurs also.

What kind of game chickens do you have? I have Hatch, Gray Legged Hatch and William MacCrea Roundheads.

I have wheaten old english game. I dont know the bloodlines. I also have black breasted red bantam oeg.

Could we see some pics? I have never heard of those.

I will take some pictures of them when i go out there in a few mins.I just got my pair of seramas in from jerry and im so excited i have to go take some pictures of them at the same time.Here is the picture of the bantam black breasted reds.Ill take pics of the wheatons

Ok cajunin,
Here are the pics i took of them.I was thinking they were also black breasted red but i found them on a site somewhere and they were wheaton.
Ill look for the site i think i saved it somewhere.

Here is a picture of the roo is hard to see them well in the barn lighting.

Bet they'd be pretty trimmed. They are sure nice looking birds. I love the colors. My hatch is colored like that and so was my RH roo, Charlie. Thanks for sharing the pics.