Okay the last time we merged them things didn’t go so well so on some of the online forums and some books I read it was suggested to me that we merge the chickens in the dark of night. If you did not know chickens cannot see well at all at night so they pretty much are stuck roosting in the coop next to other chickens whether they like them or not….much like many of us who don’t get a long with a co-worker or family member. So the idea is after they spend some good quality time with each other that they will start “Chicken Bonding” or maybe they will think…”you know this guy isn’t so bad after all…”. I doubt it’s that complex though since chickens have a difficult time navigating a simple path in my yard if something new is in their way. They do have recall when they see me or my husband they are happy because they know that means fresh water, fresh food, fresh bedding, or some treats.
My son is video taping my husband and I in this film transferring our older gals to the newest chicken coop you can see that our Barred Rock Roxie is not happy with this decision at all.
The next video I am posting is my husband and son taking down the wall in between the two coops earlier that day to see if they would all come out and mingle…..that did not go over well at all….
The saga continues with The Capulets and The Montagues….I will update you soon on how these two flocks that have agreed to disagree are getting along. Have a great Wednesday everyone!
PS – After all of my posts going forward in November I am going to post what I am grateful for. Amy @ Homestead Revival mentioned this and I think it’s a good thing……
I am grateful for my health after battling thyroid cancer a year and a half ago I am healthy and active. Without my health I could not enjoy all the wonderful things in my live such as my loving husband, wonderful children, my Parents, and my entire family! I could not enjoy my job, my hobbies, spending time with my friends, gardening, volunteering, bee keeping and doing all the things I love and am passionate about doing. My friend Lisa @ Grandmama Does It has a wonderful post on a book review on the new book “Folks this Ain’t Normal” but she shares some of her thoughts on what she believes caused her Thyroid Cancer. Lisa and I are not only bonded by our love of homesteading but we share a scary and painful story and luckily we were both blessed and recovered from this disease she actually inspired this first Gratitude from me. If you would like to know more about Thryoid Cancer please click here Thyroid Cancer Survivor’s Association for more information if you are someone you know is suffering please support them as best you can and this website will help you. Unfortnately many people die from Thyroid cancer each year.
Great information! I am slap nervous about our upcoming meeting of the two groups (in about 4 weeks).
I lol’d when I read the title of this post b/c our roo is “Romeo” and one of the new group is “Juliet”. I hope our drama ends more happily than Shakespeare foresaw. Good luck w/ yours, too!!
Charmfarmgal that is so funny that you named some of your chickens Romeo and Juliet…too funny! Thanks for stopping by…I hope the drama gets better soon! Good luck with yours!
I allow my chickens to free range during the day and close them up at night in the coop. When I get new hens, I leave them in a cage for about 3 days inside the coop to get used to the coop and everybody else. Then, on the evening of the 3rd day I open the cage and close the coop door. I have nesting boxes and 2 roosting poles and a shelf so they can go wherever they feel comfortable. That seems to work out pretty well. Nobody’s complained. 🙂 Good luck with your new “family”!!
Misty we are still working out a system if we let ours free range here we would absolutely not have any plants…but we are working things out with our run. You brought up some great ideas! Thanks for the well wishes and we have been getting some green and brown eggs from our new gals 🙂
We’ve had to merge once so far as well., We put up a fence between the older gals and the newer flock and let them get used to eachother over a few weeks time, then we took the fence down… At the time we had two roo’s too and they caused more rucus with all the girls than the merge did. Now that they are gone, ( in our freezer ) things are very calm and all the girls seem content with the new arrangement. One thing that helped I think is that both runs were plenty large so they can run away and find their own space if feathers get ruffled during the ” getting to know you phase ” of the merge. Thanks for sharing your story on the Hen House Hop! It’s our first one and will be open to entries until December 21st!
http://deborahjeansdandelionhouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-annual-hen-house-hop.html
We look forward to meeting more passionate backyard chicken keepers!
Deb