REPLACING POULTRY: Having had hens on my allotment for over 8 years now, I have always replaced my stock in full but have just added 5 POL hens to my seven 20 month old birds that will be culled in a few months. I know there is to be some bullying for a day or two to sort the pecking order but they have been mixed for 9 days now but the new ones are still not mixing too well. Is it best to continue to replace all at once or overlap each year.
Anybody?
What we've found in similar circumstances is that the "new flock" tend to stick together, so it takes a little longer to sort out the eventual pecking order. Provided there's no serious bloodshed, we leave them to sort things out, which they eventually do.