new chicks

[fire sale chick]

How old should my new chicks be, before I can put them with the other hens. The chicks are about 1 month old. I am pretty sure they are too young, but what age can they go in with the others. The others are a little over a year old

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I would wait until your chicks are fully grown. This way they are on an equal footing with your older birds. I like the look but don't touch method of getting everyone acquainted before actually putting them together. Here is a lovely article all about it ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method

Good luck getting everyone together in the future.

 

[azygous]

You can let the four-week olds begin to integrate with the older chickens immediately. If the adult flock has never seen the chicks, it's best to set them up in a pen in the run for a week and kept separate so everyone can get to know one another. After this period, they can begin to mingle, using the panic room system.

This is accomplished with entrances into their pen that the chicks fit through but the adults can't. I find 5 x 7 inch holes accommodate the chicks until around age three months. Food and water are inside this enclosure so the chicks don't need to compete for essentials.

After successfully integrating for a week or so during the day in the run, you can try moving the chicks into the coop. The chicks will know to use their panic room when they need rest from coping with the pecking order so they should be safe. People who have used this method say it makes integration much easier and shorter than without it.

 

[ChickenGoesRuff]

I put my young birds in with the other birds when they dont need extra heat and are close to the size of my smallest banties. Otherwise i use a dog kennel in the coop, and then a hog fence splitting the coop. My big girls prefer eating and drinking from there and know if they don't bother the little ones they can eat there. The little ones get used to the big ones and have areas that are too small for the adults. I haven't had problems with this method yet.