Odd Integration Situation, advice needed 💜

[CosmereBirds]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and my family just got our first flock of chickens! I'm really excited but it's an odd situation. Basically a family friend had to give away four Silkie hens due to city regulations and we were able to take them in. She also went to a poultry swapand surprised us with a frizzle (unknown gender) and a pair of Polish pullets (I'd mentioned hoping to own Polish someday).
The question here is how and when to integrate them. They're still smaller than the Silkies but have their full adult feathers, and although we've been using a heat lamp at night I'm a little unclear on when they won't need the heat lamp anymore-- for context, day temperature where we live is in the seventies but night temperature is in the fifties and sixties (farenheight lol)
I've never had chickens before and therefore have no metric to rule by, but I hope the wise people of this chicken forum can offer some advice.
Thanks so much!

 

[CosmereBirds]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum but my family just got our first chickens and I need some advice lol.
For context, a family friend had to give away four Silkie hens due to city regulations and in the process, we also ended up with three new pullets-one a frizzle silkie (of which we actually don't know the gender lol) and two Polish.
The problem is I'm not sure how or when to integrate them. The hens currently have the big coop and a run, and we're keeping the pullets with a heat lamp in the garage, although we've taken them outdoors a few times. The pullets have their adult feathers but are still smaller than the Silkies. So there are basically two parts to my question: 1. Will the Polish and frizzle gals be OK temperature wise? (Its been in the 70s in the day and 50s-60s at night)? And 2. Do we need to keep the hens and pullets apart so there won't be bullying issues? (If its the second only, we have a seperate, temporary outdoor space for the pullets).
Thanks!

 

[realsis]

Can they see each other.? Separate pens or separate housings is the best way for them to get to know each other. They of course need to see each other but being separate they can't hurt each other. Careful with the silkies and the larger birds if the silkies get pecked in the head it can be bad with neurological issues that can be permanent. Also silkies feathers aren't like other birds where water usually rolls off. With silkies it acts like fur where it will soak the bird and take a bit longer to dry out. Just a couple tips I learned having silkies. Enjoy your new birds! Sounds like your doing things right. Best wishes and hope this helps. Also you might want to put a bit of poultry cell ( multi vitamin) in the silkies water. It won't hurt the other birds either but silkies have a tendency to get vitamin defiency quite easily. It can display itself in strange ways like wry neck, twisted neck, backward walking not being able to walk or flipping summer saults. Is just a bit of prevention so you don't have to go through that. It is curable with vitamin therapy but takes awhile. I hope this helps you out a bit. Have fun and enjoy your birds.

 

[LaurenRitz]

If they're fully feathered they don't need heat any longer, even at much lower temperatures. For most birds that's at about 6 weeks. I've never dealt with silkies, but that is the general rule.

 

[sourland]

Fully feathered? With those temperatures, they do not need supplemental heat. Once the new birds have been quarantined, see but no touch for a week, and then try the integration. In my experience, silkies allow new birds into their order rather readily. The other way around can be more problematic.