How To Introduce New Chickens To Your Existing Flock

The 8 young hens that we bought at the feed store are big enough to introduce to the main flock of layers. We'd like to do this with very little fighting between the older hens and new younger hens. In this video I'll show you two ways we are going to accomplish this.
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#growreallife is my hashtag to connect people interested in Growing Real Life. This is a bit of a double meaning. Growing Real means following the patterns of nature. Real Life is developed fully in our gardens and our souls when we pattern ourselves in harmony with nature. Grow with me.
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[@madeleinebaier3896]

Wow, those babies grew up fast, glad to see them getting along with the older chickens! Um, Blake.....that image of your face in the middle of the night.....jeeeez louise.....

[@daddykirbs]

I know, scary right?

[@chrisdahl864]

I thought maybe it was Halloween already.

[@daddykirbs]

***** Nope, that's my normal face. I wear something much prettier on Halloween :)

[@michiadjeelise9562]

this was awesome did you see the cat enjoying himself in the background? thank you so much for sharing Blake! !!!!

[@daddykirbs]

You are so welcome. Thank you for sharing this moment with me!

[@oysteinholand]

Great video Blake! Good idea with the montage bit 😃 Loved it!

[@daddykirbs]

A little rock in my roll ;)

[@andeemac8152]

A very helpful video. I have five year old hens and I have been a bit stressed about adding more. My ladies are spoiled and used to Mom giving them all of my attention. Now I feel better about adding two more;

[@tom7601]

Great video. I think we're due for an update on Luke's garden.

[@daddykirbs]

I'll see what I can do ;)

[@nashwaran473]

Very thrilling funny and informative

[@sandhollowhomestead6972]

Hey Blake! Great video on integrating the chickens. They sure do look good and I bet your egg count is up there. I also noticed that you've been video taping for 8 years! WOW! By current standards you're senior citizens! :) I like your videos and enjoy watching how your family works together so well. Good stuff! God Bless you all! Butch

[@daddykirbs]

I'm ancient! Haha We do get lots of eggs. Thank you for joining my journey! :)

[@mizsterious]

Thank you for sharing. Oh I saw a goat in there. . . cool

[@daddykirbs]

I have two goats, but they get little camera time. They just don't do much LOL

[@AnnCrumsMiniHomesteadNews]

That was a good plan. I usually put chickens together at night anyway, but I wouldn't have thought about easing them in the way you did. I'll have to remember that!

[@daddykirbs]

I'm not sure it was completely necessary but it seemed like a good idea to me :) It worked out.

[@hanamaluhasa]

Thanks! These ideas really helped me with trying to get my new chicks into the existing flock - it sounds like slow and easy does it, plus I didn't know to wait until they are around the same size. I think you saved me (and them) a lot of trauma.

[@kathleenhensley5951]

Thank you for this!

[@sweetheartsmom]

this is perfect; this is how i do it

[@daddykirbs]

Good to know I'm in good company!

[@sdbigguy]

Great video, thanks for sharing. I remember catching chickens as a class fund raiser in high school... middle of the night 15 to 20 high schoolers in a house with thousands of chickens (we're talking more that 40 years ago). Like the last shot in the video, was waiting for the "good night John boy!"

[@daddykirbs]

Haha!! I seriously considered doing the "Good night John boy" at the end :)

[@rsllife9004]

So beautiful Video thank you for share +

[@Tukab2007]

Thank you! I've had a lot of problems with my older chickens pecking younger chickens and this video helped me make some decisions on the matter. I've lost 4 birds from this new flock of 40 I have, and I'd rather not lose any more of the little cuties.

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

I actually had the opposite. After introducing a few teenagers into my flock, they all ganged up on one of my older girls and killed her. 😢

[@nashwaran473]

I have four 13 weeks old and eight 9 weeks old . I introduce them to each other while free ranging for a weeks now on 10 to 15 minutes.The big ones still pecking specially the roosters. Going to make small temporary cage with in the run for the little once and see

[@neilh259]

Thanks for the great video! (All your videos are great!) you are living my dream! I've started with the chickens and will have 4 to transition in a few weeks. I'm also about to start with the honeybees next week, so I've been watching ALL your videos without fail! Thanks for all the advice and great info!!!!

[@daddykirbs]

I'm probably not your best bee mentor! LOL ... but thanks :)

[@Moe-sx6ss]

Great team work.

[@sbuzz5889]

great- your the daddy chicken whisperer.

[@daddykirbs]

Haha yeah :)

[@joansmith3492]

Well done IMO

[@daddykirbs]

Thank you :)

[@elizabethmccarty2105]

1:29 that chicken can't breath!

[@GardenNoviceFarm]

It works. That's how I do mine. It just messes with the pecking order for a minute then they work it all out.

[@daddykirbs]

Yep it works nicely. There were only a few minor pecking incidents... normal chicken stuff, no murders.

[@PainterDans]

How do your chickens get up and down from the rafters ?

[@mtheron100]

Does this work the same with introducing rescued battery hens to an existing flock?

[@dekelchile]

cool!

[@dexterking9003]

Great video 👍

[@lucianfranetovic6267]

Hi guys first of just want to let you no I watch your vids and love the lifestyle you guys live I plan on one day to have land and the animals you do. ive found your vids helpful so am grateful you share your stories and experiences. im in a littlw place called New Zealand the other side of the world to you, so some of the animals you have we can not keep in a urban setting but I do have the dog, cat, chickens, fish &and a roudy parrot. I would have alot more if I had the space. just wanted to say thank and keep up the good work from the otherside of the world.

[@lucianfranetovic6267]

Sorry about the spelling errors annoying trying to write on a phone.

[@daddykirbs]

Thank you for introducing yourself. I'm so glad you are enjoying our journey along with us. Very nice to meet you and I hope to hear from you more here! :)

[@daddykirbs]

No worries on the errors. I totally understand :)

[@WONDERring]

love it

[@daddykirbs]

Thank you!

[@biglou4452]

Nice job:')

[@daddykirbs]

Thank you :)

[@yeevita]

omg, that was so funny! and good job! lol!

[@daddykirbs]

Haha, glad you liked it.

[@denisehawthorne-beyhall4114]

My question is I just raised four easter Eggers in a coop within a coop separate from the big girls and have three older hens who have never free ranged! I want to integrate the youngster with the old gals and then give them all the liberty of free ranging! There are predators like hawk, owl and coyote. Do you or anyone have any suggestions on the best way how to do this? Thank you

[@jtbailey1030]

Great video. While you were integrating them within the coop but keeping them separated, did they roost in the main coop each night or no roosting for them at all the first few days?

[@yackfzay6224]

Interesting technique. Chicken are not easy to introduce new to flock.

[@daddykirbs]

Sometimes it's disastrous! This method has been pretty good to us (after learning a few lessons the hard way).

[@becca1495]

Great video! Thank you! I am getting ready to integrate 2 new hens (currently 5 weeks) into my established backyard flock of 3 (14 weeks). I’m letting them have supervised time together ranging in the yard but one of my older hens is particularly brutal, bullying the new pullets. So my plan is to mostly keep them apart until they are a bit bigger. Any tips for calming my biggest girl down? Our setup is much smaller than yours. Little ones sleep in a small cage, big ones in coop w/ attached run.

[@elizabethmccarty2105]

1:05 chickens shouldn't jump higher than 20 inches

[@jennapicard6892]

I was the one that asked you about your goats the one in this video she was pretty but can u make a video about your goats

[@daddykirbs]

What would you like to know about the goats? I have two, but they just don't do much so I don't show them often on the channel. Would you just like me to introduce them?

[@jennapicard6892]

+Blake “Daddykirbs” Kirby I love goats I wanna see them

[@artifloragranville]

I like this approach but I'm hesitant to leave the new gals outside for several nights, even enclosed in a separate pen. We have lots of raccoons and while my yard is fenced top to bottom, I have concerns about invading raccoons. Thoughts?

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

This was my biggest concern too.

[@NobleRyx]

so many chickens can I have one on Craigslist plz

[@daddykirbs]

You can probably find some deals there. Sometimes I sell roosters on that site.

[@brettsky740]

how many chickens do you have total now?

[@daddykirbs]

We counted about 50 adults and maybe 20 or so chicks right now.

[@workinonit9562]

New subscriber, good video.I want to introduce a rooster into an existing flock that has a rooster, they are the same breed, there are about 40 hens, do you think this would work? They have an indoor space of about 14'x20' and about the same outdoor space. Thank you for answering if you can.

[@daddykirbs]

This going to depend on a lot. One rooster can flock up to about 30 hens. 40 hens could use another rooster, but the personality of the roosters will make a big difference. The space available sounds pretty good... more would be better, but it's ok. Introduce the new rooster at night and keep an eye on them the next day. If things are rough maybe you could block half your chickens outdoors and the other half indoors. Divide the flock with the different roos for a day or three. See how that helps.

[@workinonit9562]

Thank you for responding.

[@abdollaha4115]

البات

[@blackkat3352]

u should sit under the rafters and see what happens

[@hypocentric]

Good job on integrating the chickens. Even better job with the family participation!! Keep up the good work!!

[@daddykirbs]

Lots of fun!

[@eeeekie]

We have a rooster who's got leg issues. When we've tried integration he seems to do well for a few minutes and then he'll try to assert dominance by pecking. When he does it to my low on the pecking order girls they gang up and chase him, pull his feathers out and he runs to hide behind me. He has his own little coop/run right by theirs but we really want to integrate him. Would it be best to do the night time roosting option? Should we get more hens to add with him? We're at a loss. Thanks

[@daddykirbs]

You could try the night time thing. If you have room you could introduce some very young hens only for him. Let him be the king of a small flock of girls that haven't "figured it out" yet. ... might work :)

[@jennapicard6892]

What was that yellow chicken I have one but they told us the wrong name

[@daddykirbs]

Perhaps you mean the Buff Orpington.