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$64.25 USD Education Hub
Stop the squawks: a real plan for integrating new chickens
TL;DR: Go slow, quarantine right, introduce across a barrier, expand space, and supervise merges. Drama drops. Pecking order resets safely. Everyone eats.
Adding birds scrambles the social order. Your job isn’t to “make them like each other”—it’s to set rules so the pecking order resets without injuries. We’ll show you the low-stress, biosecure path we use with landrace flocks.
Clancy Crowed It: “Patience isn’t optional. It’s equipment.”
Phase 1 — 30-Day Quarantine (separate airspace)
House newcomers in a totally separate coop/run, downwind if possible.
Dedicated shoes, feeder/waterer, and tools. Handle residents first, new birds last.
Watch for: abnormal droppings, nasal discharge, coughing/sneezing, lethargy, major weight loss.
Optional vet check if anything’s off; otherwise observe and log daily.
Phase 2 — See-But-No-Touch (7–10 days)
After quarantine, set a fence panel or dog-kennel barrier inside your main run so both groups can eat, dust-bathe, and ignore each other safely.
Run two full feeding/watering stations on each side—no one should “guard” resources.
Phase 3 — Shared Range, Separate Nights (3–7 days)
Supervised yard time together where space is abundant.
Use visual blockers: pallets, shrubs, a leaned sheet of plywood—anything that breaks line-of-sight and gives escape routes.
If anyone body-checks, pins, or chases for >3 seconds, reset distance and try again later that day.
Phase 4 — Night-Time Slip-In (when daytime is boring)
When birds are routinely ignoring each other in the day, place newcomers on the roosts after full dark.
Next morning, add a third feeder and extra waterer at opposite ends to defuse breakfast tension.
Phase 5 — Stabilize the New Pecking Order (7–14 days)
Expect some chest-bumping and squawks. No blood, no problem.
Intervene only for blood, repeated pinning, or pile-ons. Use a towel to separate and cool off in a crate for 20–30 minutes.
Good yard math: Space solves 80% of fights. Double feeders solve the other 20%.
Icelandics & Ölandsk Dwarfs: alert, agile, often fly to diffuse conflict—give vertical escapes and high perches.
Hedemora: dense plumage and cold-tolerance—don’t mistake quiet birds for sick; watch behavior + appetite, not just “fluff.”
Swedish Black Hens: smaller frame; add an extra low feeder so petite birds eat in peace.
Blood on comb/face
Bird pinned and pecked while down
Guarding of feeder/waterer that doesn’t stop with added stations
Newcomer isolates, stops eating, or breathes open-mouthed at rest
If any show up, separate behind the barrier and roll back one phase for 48 hours.
Late spring–early fall: best; space is generous, bugs are distractions.
Winter: do it if you must, but expand indoor enrichment (flock block, hang a cabbage, straw bales) to offload energy.
Tell us what’s happening in your integration (ages, sizes, breeds, space, what you’ve tried). We’ll reply with a phase-by-phase adjustment—barrier tweaks, feeder placement, and timing—so the pecking order settles without blood or drama.
