Combining flocks, moving younger chicks to the coop

[aldarita]

thanks olivesmama and lauranickerson for the compliments on my run and coop!

I must say we are very proud of it.
My chicks are now 8 weeks old so I am planning to integrate them with my older hens next week. They have been living "together" for three weeks so far, just separated by a partition with wire. I have been reading several posts on integration and there are several opinions about how to go about it, some say to wait until they are the same size and others say that if they are a little smaller the chicks will submit to the bigger birds easily without not too many fights. I guess it is difficult to tell what would happen until we try. I imagine that one advantage is that I have to integrate 20 chicks to a flock of 9 hens, it will be a mob of chicks running around my chicken yard which is about an acre. I will be there to watch them all the time, the problem will be when I put them in the run and open the partition door and at night when each flock will have to go to their own coop. I am so very curious to see what happens, will they mix in the coops or will each flock go to the coop they have been roosting at night?
I am planning to rehome the extra cockerels and keep 2, I think the integration will be smoother once I get the cockerels out of the way, however I am not sure yet how many cockerels I have, they are all ameraucanas and it is hard to tell on some of them if they are pullets or cockerels. On the wheaten ones I know because of the coloring, but I have splash, lavenders and blue and in those it is hard to tell.
Any words of wisdom from anyone???
I am new to raising chickens so what I know is what I have learned in my little experience and reading posts in BYC, so any help I can get will be very much appreciate it.

 

[OlivesMama]

It's hard to say what they will do. I combined my flocks in the same coop and for weeks they roosted all on the same ledge, but still in separate groups. Now they mostly mix in. I have 2 that seem to be the connectors that will mix with either flock. All of the littles are for sure lower in the pecking order than the older flock.

I only have one Americauna that I believe is a pullet. She doesn't have waddles or a bright red comb yet, so that's my assumption. I have one additional Golden Laced Wyandotte that is a cockerel for sure. He developed much faster than the pullet and has darker/flashier coloring.

 

[Den in Penn]

Like that coop too aldarita. With all that space in the coop and chicken yard I would guess that integrating the young with the old will go well. I wouldn't push them to sleep in the same place for a while. You will likely have in essence two flocks sharing the same yard, but go to their own roosts for a while. And yes if they were bigger they could stand up for themselves and it might go better. Yet with all that space and hiding places it could be done at eight weeks.

 

[Vindi]

I am wanting to add a couple chicks to my 1 week old chicks of a different breed. Any words of wisdom?

 

[aldarita]

Like that coop too aldarita. With all that space in the coop and chicken yard I would guess that integrating the young with the old will go well. I wouldn't push them to sleep in the same place for a while. You will likely have in essence two flocks sharing the same yard, but go to their own roosts for a while. And yes if they were bigger they could stand up for themselves and it might go better. Yet with all that space and hiding places it could be done at eight weeks.

This is exactly why I decided to go ahead and integrate them now instead of when they are the same size (way too long to wait). My hens are so used to their coop and the chicks are very comfortable in theirs that I believe each flock will roost in their own coop, but with chickens one never knows

 

[lauranickerson]

Going to get a few laying hens tomorrow about 1.5-2 years old tomorrow. In the next three days, I'll be adding these new hens (thinking of getting 5), my seven 10-week olds, and thinning my roosters down to 2 (I currently have 10 I think).

Wish me luck!

 

[cthockeymom]

This sounds exactly like me this past weekend!

 

[aldarita]

Going to get a few laying hens tomorrow about 1.5-2 years old tomorrow. In the next three days, I'll be adding these new hens (thinking of getting 5), my seven 10-week olds, and thinning my roosters down to 2 (I currently have 10 I think).

Wish me luck!

I guess you already know it but don't forget to quarantine your new hens specially because they are already grown up, you don't want anything to happen to your 10 weeks old chicks.
Let us know how you did with your integration. Today I set my 20 chicks (9 weeks old) out to free range in the yard with my 15 months hens. There was some pecking done specially when they came back inside the run but nothing too serious. I am still leaving the partition closed after I get them in, I am not brave enough yet, I think a few days more with this operation, then I will start leaving the partition open.

 

[wrenfri]

That is a great coop,

 

[aldarita]

Thanks wrenfri!

An update on my integration. They have not integrated completely yet, my hens still chase my chicks away every now and then, however I have noticed that day by day the hens let them stay closer, they even nap near by and let them use their dirt box. My chicks are now 4 months old and I am letting them free range all day so they have more freedom to run away from a pecking hen. I close the partition after each flock has gone to roost and I open it in the morning and stays open all day.
I guess the hens are getting used to them being around. I might say that letting 20 chicks loose with 9 hens must have been a little unnerving for them so it has taken a while for the integration. Of course I let them see each other for weeks with the partition in the run before I let them all out.