30 chicks in the coop with 6 hens?

[Joplus]

So I just hatched my first hatch, I got 30 chicks out of the 3 dozen eggs I set. So lots of chicks, more than I expected. So I have a coop and run outside which has my 6 hens (a couple years old), my Flemish Giants and guinea pigs. They all get along. The area is large like a sectioned off part of my yard with trees and the coop and rabbit hutch. Its very hot (AZ), so caging pets usually kills them, they need misters and be able to lay in the shade on the cool wet ground. So my chicks are in my garage right now but once they outgrow that and it gets hotter I have no where to put them. I want to let them run free with my other hens, etc. But reading on here 16 weeks is best. Is it possible that the hens will be nice since they're so outnumbered? And I could do it slowly and put them in the babies play yard to start out. And they should be plenty warm. Its gonna be 100° by the weekend. But I want them out before memorial day if possible since I'm going out of town.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

No, outnumbering won't work unless they are pretty close to the same size as the older hens. They will corner a chick and kill it most likely.

You may (since you only have 6 hens) want to give the territory to the chicks and make your hens a little area where they have to be more confined for a while (since building something for 30 chicks is very involved). Like some kind of range shelter that is predator proof or something. But be careful since predators can reach right through a lot of fencing and grab toes or worse.

 

[Joplus]

Ok I'm thinking the big girls might just have to stay at my parents house for awhile. They can free range in the grass and trees. I don't think we have predators but I'm not sure. I've never lost any baby guinea pigs or bunnies but they're FAST. I wonder how fast 3 or 4 week old chicks are? I can't catch my hens, they're fast too. I have to corner them in the coop or sometimes if they feel like it they'll just sit down. We live in a residential neighborhood so we could have neighborhood cats (never seen any) or birds. I wouldbe devastated if after I'll I've done for my babies a cat hops my wall and takes them.