Combining the "flocks"...

     So we finally joined what was left of our old flock (Zebra, Brownie and our rooster Buckbeak) with our new flock of 30 hens.  

We had them in a separate area in June when we got our new girls.  We put the three remaining hens in a "temporary" coop and run so that they weren't in contact with the new hens.  It was a quarantine of sorts.  We wanted to make sure that the new hens were not sick and that the old hens were healthy too.  I had been procrastinating for a while now because I wasn't sure how the introduction of the two hens and Buckbeak into the flock of 30 hens with an established "pecking order" would go.  I really didn't want any of them hurt.  Chickens can be ruthless sometimes.  

     I had been bringing Buckbeak over to the coop to see the new hens for a few days, just to get him familiar with them.  I also read some tips online suggesting that you change things around in the coop to keep them curious, therefore sidetracked and not all totally focused on the new additions.  Another tip was to be sure to offer escape routes and areas that a hen or rooster could use to get away and hide from a potential threat.  Inside the coop, I cleaned out the old bedding and put brand new in (shavings), cleaned out the shavings in the nesting boxes and replaced with new shavings, put insulation foam panels in the window cut outs to help keep it warm inside.  Outside the coop in their run, I moved their log/stump they have in their run to a different spot, dug up some dirt and mounded it for them to scratch and play in, put some hay on top of the stump roots for them to pick at as well as on the ground farther away.  After all that, I sprinkled corn and sunflower seeds throughout the run (inside the hay on the stump roots and in the pumpkin).  They had so much exciting things to do they barely realized there were three new chickens in the run!

     I watched them for about a hour to see that everything continued smoothly.  There were a few tussles between Buckbeak and two of the hens.  They must have been some of the more dominant hens as they went after him and he had to stick up for himself.  No blood shed, just a few lost feathers (Buckbeak's).  

     I have been periodically going down to the coop to watch the hierarchy of things getting settled again.  There were a few squawks and some feathers in the run.  Last night in the coop when I put them in for the night there were a few pecks here and there, but nothing very aggressive.  I think things will settle in the next week or two.  I will just keep a close eye on them to be sure none get hurt.