10 week olds (chicks) question

[Dottie Pratt]

I am going to take my 6 chicks out of the brooder and in with the other chickens.

My question is do I have to keep them apart from the others for a time?
The big girls free range daily. Can I just let the others ( babies) in the coop one night and let them go out the next day? Will they come back? I was told they would but need more advice before i just do it.
Hope you folks understand my questions. It hard for me to explain.
Any thoughts would be great.

Dottie

 

[SharonX]

Maybe the others have a different opinion, but youngsters with old hens can be a problem. The older hens do not like them and are territorial with their coop and food. I would be careful. I introduce my youngsters to the older gals by putting them in a dog kennel outside first.

The teenagers also come in and sleep in/on a dog kennel on a screened glass porch at night as the old gals do not want them in their stagecoach coop and peck them and scare them out. As my teenage chicks get bigger, the bigger hens seem more and more accepting of their presence in the yard and their coop.

 

[SharonX]

Here is a coupla my teenagers learning to potty on the back porch:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/17431_litterboxtrainingx.jpg

 

[Dottie Pratt]

Thats cute!!!!
I an't seem to get any good pic's they won't stay still enough.
Or maybe I'm to SLOW!!!!

 

[sewincircle]

I had a rough time integrating my flock last fall.
I raised some new chicks and tried to put them in with the older ones.
It did not go as planned. You can try and see what happens but I do agree with Sharon. A seperate cage within the big cage will allow them to meet with out blood shed. They can see each other and get use to seeing each other.
Anytime you put them together you need to watch closely for injuries. Make sure its when you can be there awhile. Good luck!
Mine are all together now. It just took time. (and the removal of a roo) hehehe He was the worst. After they were all settled I put him back in and he was okay too.
Jeanmarie

 

[Dottie Pratt]

Ok I'll put them in a cage.
Lets say if all goes well when I let them out all together. Do you think they will just come and go. with the others? Or do I have to keep them in untill they really know this is there home?
These are my first born and I don't want them to fly off.
Guess I'm overly protective.

 

[SharonX]

My teenagers now free-range with the 2 adult hens and they are OK in the yard, but at bedtime, the younger gals head into the back porch kennel and the hens go into their stagecoach coop. The older hens will NOT share their nice condo with the youngsters. No way!

 

[BayCityBabe]

I have spent over two months introducing 6 younger, smaller Silkies to my flock of 24. After some supervised visitation & pecking, we decided to keep them in a separate pen within our coop. Six to eight weeks of seeing the babies but no access helped the flock adapt to the youngsters. Also, now, the "babies" are just about as big as they're gonna get. So we have an opening in the Silkie pen, so the Silkies can come & go, but none of the bigger girls can enter.
I think the number of older birds would also be a factor for you. Two or three hens would have a hard time giving your six babies a run for their money. In my case, I had six that were squarely outnumbered. Good luck. Err on the side of caution.