Chickens are amazing creatures, and I’m so glad that we have them! But since they’re like feathered family, the loss of our first chicken hit us all hard. When we were ready, I had to learn how to integrate new chickens into our backyard flock. And now I’m sharing everything I learned, including photos and video, to teach you how to introduce some new fowl friends into your family.
I may have affiliate links in this article. You support my flock at no cost to you – win-win! Thanks!
I’ve been a chicken mama since spring 2017, and lost my first bird due to the Texas heat in summer 2018. When Dottie passed away, I was a total wreck. It was a sudden death and I hadn’t emotionally been prepared to lose a bird for a few more years. I found her in the morning and I cried my eyes out.
(Side note: I made a quick video of what my husband made me from Dottie’s feathers. It was really inexpensive and so sweet, one of the most thoughtful things he’s done for me. I’ll cherish my Dottie Byrd always!)
Once I was ready – and had learned more about how to keep chickens cool and safe in the summer – I reached out to my local crazy chicken people to see about integrating a new bird into my flock. I had two year-old hens and wanted more than just a pair.
Here’s a few quick facts that I learned early on:
- Pecking order is a real thing, and will always happen.
- Chickens need diversions to keep them from getting bored: a bored chicken can turn into a bully, or even a cannibal!
- If no rooster is present, a female will become the alpha (and may even crow!).
- Quarantine of the new birds is necessary to protect both them from bullying, and your existing flock from any parasites or disease.
- Quarantine should last at least five to seven days.
Finding the “Right” Chickens to Add to Your Flock
Briefly I’ll mention that you should look to add new birds who are about the same age and size as your others. You could potentially add bantams to full-sized birds, for example, but it’ll be more of a challenge. So if possible, look for chickens who were hatched within a few months of your current flock, and who are about the same size.
I’ll also say that, just like fish and some other “herd” pets, you probably don’t want to add just one chicken. I know this sounds like a chicken math conspiracy, but it’s true! One new guy can quickly become the scapegoat to even the most well-meaning flock. So always try to add at least two new birds at a time, to help spread out the new attention.
Why Quarantine?
If you take nothing else away from this article, know this: You must quarantine the new birds! This is necessary for a few reasons.
Firstly, you need to give the new birds time to adjust to the flock: The new faces and sounds, climate, scenery, etc.
Secondly, you need to protect your current flock from any parasites or diseases that the new birds may have. Yes, you should quarantine even if the seller is trustworthy. It’s not worth the risk!
Thirdly, quarantine gives everyone time to get used to each other gradually, where the new chickens are safe within a crate or a kennel. This is much safer for them than just dumping them into the chicken yard and yelling “Good luck!”
How to Quarantine the New Birds
I recommend a dog crate or a kennel to quarantine the new chickens, but whatever the containment, you want it to ideally be in the run where your existing flock is. That way the veteran and newly added chickens can see and hear each other, and start to talk through the bars, so to speak!
For my examples, you can see this amazing folding dog crate that we use. If the ground is dry, I recommend not using the removable floor piece as it’ll make clean up easier. However, if you’re in a particularly cold or wet season, put that solid floor in. Additionally, you can raise the crate up on cement blocks or bricks if you’re concerned that their space will get wet.
The most important thing is when you are going to integrate new chickens via quarantine, you must ensure that the quarantine space has everything a chicken needs: clean water, fresh food, and shelter. They do need ventilation, so you can’t just throw a cover over the entire cage, but the new chickens should feel safe. I recommend pine bedding as it’s safe for them in every way.
For extras, you can make a little nest box area with a shoebox and some shavings, and you can make a roosting zone so that they can follow their instincts and sleep off of the ground.
When to Release the New Birds
This is more of a “chicken owner’s intuition” than anything. I quarantined my birds for about five days, but I have a very small flock in a rather small space. So I felt like they got used to each other more rapidly than a larger flock might.
Once you feel like the chickens don’t spook at the sight of each other, and they seem pretty well content being close to each other, you can prepare to release the new birds.
The few suggestions I have about this step:
- Let the new birds out in the evening, when chickens are looking to go up to bed. They’re sleepy and less likely to get into initial pecking order at this time. You could even pick up the new chickens and physically place them on roosts, after your existing flock is already up in bed.
- You do need to watch your chickens in the morning to make sure all the new chickens know where the food and water is.
- Additionally, you can put the “quarantined” food and water containers near the flock food and water containers, as a transition to help the new chickens learn where everything is. Keep them there for a day or so, as you make sure everyone knows where the food and water is, and then simply remove them when the transition is done.
- Expect the new chickens to not lay eggs for a few days, but do keep tabs on who lays when and what their eggs look like. (Chicken journal, anyone?)
- Also, keep note of the date you started to integrate new chickens into your flock, so that you have additional data in case something goes awry in the future.
Watching the Integration
When you integrate new chickens, you need to be extra watchful for the first few weeks. The quarantine phase is easy in a way because everyone is safe and protected. Once all of the chickens are out, however, things become a bit more complicated.
Firstly, pecking order must be established. This can be a bit hard to watch, but it’s normal and it’s going to happen so try not to intervene. (Exceptions would be if one bird is constantly being attacked, if there’s blood or an obvious injury.) The new chickens have to be sorted into the social order of the flock, and they’ll probably start somewhere toward the bottom.
I think it’s also a good rule of thumb to always see each chicken eat, drink, and poop at least once a day. It’s just my mental way to “check off” that each bird is acting healthy and doing normal chicken stuff. Other activities would be things like taking a dust bath, scratching around in the dirt, and laying an egg. You can keep a journal to track these things as you get to know your new chickens.
I also tried to make a “safe zone” for the new chickens, where they could retreat to when they were chased a bit, or just feeling overwhelmed. Think of it as a decompression area. All I used was an old wood palette and some large branches, but it was enough for them to get away for a little bit.
Hopefully now you have a better idea of how to integrate new chickens to your backyard flock! I’ve done two integrations now and have five happy birds. But I’m always learning and I love hearing from you! Tell me your questions, best strategies, and tips – let’s help chickens and their humans!
And check out all of my YouTube content on these ridiculous birds, including my first quarantine video:
I'd love to hear from you!