Introducing New Chickens to Your Flock

Reader Contribution by Rhonda Crank
Published on January 28, 2015
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When introducing new birds into your flock, it can create a stressful time for the new birds, your established flock, and for you. The pecking order of chickens is very strict and they can be very cruel to one another, at least it will appear that way to you. You’ve heard the old phrase “hen pecked?” It’s a real thing, and not just for men! 🙂

Help Avoid Much of the Fighting

If you have the space, put the new birds in a separate yard beside your chicken yard letting the flock and the new birds be in each others view for two to three weeks. If you don’t have that luxury, you can put your new birds on the roost at night when they are all fast asleep and let them wake up together. Then, if you can, separate your old birds from the new birds the next morning. Let the established flock free range or put your new birds into another pen, even if it is a temporary one in your chicken yard. This gives the new birds some time to get used to the yard and relax into their new home in peace. After a couple of nights of roosting together, they should be pretty used to one another and the fighting should be minimal.

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