[walker]

Hi all
Haven't posted for a while been working away and other commitments a quick update we have two light sussex and two rir they are all healthy and very much settled one of the Sussex is still an escape artist and continues to be quite flighty.
As the title suggests we have bought some more chucks two specled stars and two crested cream legbars question is what is the time scale to keep the two sets of chucks separate , one of the rir which is the bottom of the pecking order is the only one of our original chucks that has paid any attention to the new arrivals and is quite aggressive trying to attack them through the wire mesh.with time will this stop and is that the time to introduce all the chucks together.
Thanks,
Mark

[bantam novice]

I am not an expert but from what I have read on this forum you need to keep new addtions separate from your existing flock for about two weeks for quarentine purposes.  That way you can make sure they are not harbouring any nasty bugs.

During this time they should be in sight of each other, which seems to be what you have been doing.

The next step is to move the newcomers into the resident hens coop at night when they are all very sleepy and let them all out together early next morning.

You will always get soome pecking order squabbles but once that has been settled they should be quite happy together.  The squabbles can get quite nasty so keep some purple spray handy.  This can be sprayed on any pink raw red or blooming areas that you see (avoiding the eyes)

It is actually called purple spray though it is actually gentian violet.  It acts as an an antiseptic and also disguises the colour.  Hens will peck continually at something that looks pink or blooming.