Please help! Integrating Chickens 15 weeks and 6 weeks

[Nicci0110]

I don’t think you will have any trouble integrating your flock. They are all young. Most trouble comes from adding young ones to much older hens like 1 to 2 years old.

This is a relief to hear

 

[aart]

I have 13

Still...tight, especially for integration.
The actual dimensions might help here, I'll guess the coop is 4' wide and long.
At least you won't have to deal with frigid temps and nasty blizzard days.
Tho chickens have a harder time with heat than cold and you'l likely need some a lot more ventilation.

here in MS

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Nicci0110]

Still...tight, especially for integration.
The actual dimensions might help here, I'll guess the coop is 4' wide and long.
At least you won't have to deal with frigid temps and nasty blizzard days.
Tho chickens have a harder time with heat than cold and you'l likely need some a lot more ventilation.


Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 3463291

I am pretty sure the run is 12 feet. I could be wrong. The coop is huge. There is roosting room of 12 inches per bird for up to 16. I purposely looked into hardy breeds also because we do get some cooler temps in winter but they also have a heater in their coop and a ventilation fan. Thanks! I will try adding the location too. We are about to build a separate area for our Rooster to mature in and to later use as a separation area if someone is hurt or injured or sick. I am willing to rehome a few of my less loved pullets if this doesnt work or possibly extend the run. I do know they each have 12 inches of roost for 16 chickens. My 6 currently all roost up top and have room for more up there. They do 2 and 4 and sometimes 5 and 1. I am around 600.00 into the run so I am not sure how much more my husband is willing to spend LOL. My only option my be to rehome some if needed.

 

[TylerBareneckChickens]

I have 15-week-old Rhode Islande Reds and Mixes (5 pullets and 1 Roo) and seven 6-week-old pullet chicks (Buff Orpington, White Leghorn, Barred Rock, Red Sex Link, and one Easter Egger) I have set up a makeshift cage next to my bigger chickens run. I started putting them next to them yesterday in the daytime only. I have read I should do this for a few weeks and then try to integrate them? Is this true? Any recommendations? I am new to this and had no idea this was going to be such a hurtle. I do not have a second coop to put these babies in if this doesn't work. The newest flock is all female. I have one Rooster who seems to be a little bit of a jerk in his teen phase but am ok with rehoming him if needed and I have one RIR that is a real crabby lady who can also go if needed. My older chickens are free ranging now. Everyone else in the older flock is very mild mannered and docile. Should I wait 3 weeks and try it out or how should I go about this and know the time is right? I really need this work sooner rather than later as I do not have another coop for these babies now and the makeshift outdoor brooder is not safe at night but is perfectly fine in the day. Yesterday everyone seemed unphased but the Rooster did make some noises but nothing more. I know it is dumb but I really assumed I could just allow them to be together but I was naive and had no idea. I have only been doing this since January and had no idea this would be a problem. My run is not set up really to put the box in there so they are beside it. I do not think putting them in would make a difference since mine are out foraging daily from sun up to sun down.

We just added our second flock with our 2 year olds. We did not have any Roos in the first 6 but in the second flock we had 2 Silkie Roos, one was about half the size of the hens. The Large Sikie just follow the led Rhode Island Hen around while the other would jump on everyone, until he did it to me once. I gave him the boot in midair and he landed 10 feet away. He never came close to me after that. The flock got along well never had a mixing issue. We moved to Texas and started over. We have 3 weeks before we mix in our new Leghorns, 3 of them, with our 2 Reds and 3 Bareneck hens. The Bareneck or turkey hens are very big and we cannot tell who is in charge. One has black feet and eyes and black feathers and seems to be in charge sometimes, and sometimes the big orange seems to be. We have been mixing them in the run and have seen no issues yet, but they are also free ranged from sunup to sundown in the backyard everyday. 3 weeks to go before we put them out there full time. We'll see how it goes but as long as there is not a rooster already in the flock everything should be ok.

 

[Nicci0110]

We just added our second flock with our 2 year olds. We did not have any Roos in the first 6 but in the second flock we had 2 Silkie Roos, one was about half the size of the hens. The Large Sikie just follow the led Rhode Island Hen around while the other would jump on everyone, until he did it to me once. I gave him the boot in midair and he landed 10 feet away. He never came close to me after that. The flock got along well never had a mixing issue. We moved to Texas and started over. We have 3 weeks before we mix in our new Leghorns, 3 of them, with our 2 Reds and 3 Bareneck hens. The Bareneck or turkey hens are very big and we cannot tell who is in charge. One has black feet and eyes and black feathers and seems to be in charge sometimes, and sometimes the big orange seems to be. We have been mixing them in the run and have seen no issues yet, but they are also free ranged from sunup to sundown in the backyard everyday. 3 weeks to go before we put them out there full time. We'll see how it goes but as long as there is not a rooster already in the flock everything should be ok.

I have a rooster already
But I'm willing to rehome him if I need to do so
I hope mine goes smoothly

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We usually don't have trouble integrating our littles with our established flocks, but one time we did. We had a bossy hen who decided she needed practically the whole roost at night and wouldn't share with any of the littles. This went on for a week or two and we finally took (I think) @aart's advice and stuck the Old Witch in a dog crate on the floor of the coop at night for three nights. Turned her loose every morning and finally let her try again. She went back to her old tricks, so back to jail she went for three more nights. I don't remember now whether she needed a third treatment or not, but eventually the Attitude Adjustment worked and everybody lived happily ever after. Any rooster we have is always happy to have his harem increase!