Introducing new chooks!!!

You should ideally keep the new ones separate until you are sure they are not carrying any diseases.  If they can be where the older girls can see them that is ideal.  Two weeks is normally recommended.  They will fight when together for the first time so make sure they can get away from each other and have separate water and feed stations.  Lifting them into the same coop at night once they are sleepy is the easiest way to introduce them if they are not keen during the day.  My hens have never needed their wings clipping (even the feisty ones) as once they know where their coop is they dont stray too far from it!

wing clippings ok it dont hurt them

wing clippings ok it dont hurt them

I agree - it won't hurt them.  But it might make them more vulnerable to predators (that's one of the reasons I don't clip mine).  Also if it's not needed, then there's no point in going through the time, effort and stress of doing it.  Low-maintenance chicken keeping is much more fun than the high-maintenance way!

we have always been told that if you introduce a new chicken at night then you shouldn't have any problems but if this doesn't work then best to put them in a coop and run near the other until the chickens get used to being around each other and then it shouldn't be a problem.
Hope they settle!

I am still suffering the pain of introducing new chickens - they were apart but next to each other for just over 2 weeks, then moved them in at night, and 2 weeks today they have been together, and its still pretty awful. They are improving a little each day, and one of them is getting there, but the girl at the bottom (who isnt laying yet - not surprising!!) is still getting a hell of a lot of stick.

I am not sure there is the perfect way to do it - I have done all I could, and still its been dreadful, yet some other people do none of it, and get a couple of days of feathers flying!