Sizes of Private Pens (maternity wards, brooders, integration pens, sick bays, etc.)?

It's normal for chicks to show up and they are usually not a threat and are mostly ignored by the adults except for an occasional peck, the key is your existing birds need to be adults over a year and the chicks need their own place for a bit.

I move my out as soon as they don't require extra heat. If you wait too long older birds are seen as intruders. I pen them separately within the coop for a week or two so everyone gets a good look than I start letting them mingle with supervision, locking them separately at night until I'm comfortable leaving them free. Some use a panic room with a smaller opening, I have enough room not to need that.
 
It's normal for chicks to show up and they are usually not a threat and are mostly ignored by the adults except for an occasional peck, the key is your existing birds need to be adults over a year and the chicks need their own place for a bit.

I move my out as soon as they don't require extra heat. If you wait too long older birds are seen as intruders. I pen them separately within the coop for a week or two so everyone gets a good look than I start letting them mingle with supervision, locking them separately at night until I'm comfortable leaving them free. Some use a panic room with a smaller opening, I have enough room not to need that.
Hmm... you make a valid point. Another reason I had the growout pen was for the chicks (teenage chickens?) to have access to grower feed. Is this necessary?
 
I personally no longer feed layer, I either feed a non medicated grower, to my bantam and my young ones or an all flock. I used to switch everyone to the grower when I have chicks in the flock. Always providing a separate dish of oyster shells. I found layer to be not enough protein for way of feeding.
 
A lot of the integration depends on space. I've tried to introduce 3 month birds to a coop where space was already kind of tight with disastrous results. Just now, I've integrated a 2 month pullet with 4 and 5 month old pullets, and then that group with the main flock with absolutely no issues. Why? Cause they're free ranging in my yard, everyone has lots of space for the littles to run away from the bigs if need be.
 
We did 3 weeks in a fish tank (expected a broody to foster the pair so it was a bit last minute :)

2 weeks in a 2.0mx 2.0m pen with house. (Converted bathroom cabinet) that agjoined the main run.

Then at five weeks they joined the flock but continued to sleep in their old house. After about 10 days they put themselves to bed with the big girls and integration was over with zero problems.
 
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