4 week old chicks & flock intro?

[frenchtchr]

Hello! I've done some reading on a lot of threads thus far and it seems as though there are a myriad of ways to introduce new chickens to the flock. My big girls are about a year old (a couple weeks shy- 1 lavender orp, gold laced brahma, ameraucauna and a speckled Sussex)and my four new chicks are about 4 weeks(Sicilian buttercup, buff orp, blue Wyandotte and maran).
I live in soCal, and we have high temps outdoors( about 95 today and low 70s at night). It seems as though the littles might still be too young? I was going to try and put them with my broody lavender Orpington when we first got them, but she stopped being broody a couple days before we got them.

Suggestions for introduction? I've got the chicks outside in a dog x-pen to get used to the outdoors but I think they're still too small to climb the ramp for the coop. I have brought them back in at night just to be safe. Coop has a run, but I let the girls out to free range in the yard most days because they're a bit loud otherwise.

Thanks for the help and or suggestions.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

At four weeks they should be plenty big enough to go up a ramp. My little spitz-eggers are three and four weeks old (staggered hatch) and their mama has started encouraging them to fly up on various roosts throughout the run and yard and last night they slept on the low roost in my brooder instead of on the ground. I expect she will move back into the big coop later this week. My point being that by this age they should be capable of going up ramps and learning to fly up to roosts.

As far as being outdoors, I brood outdoors year round whether I have a broody hen or not and this time of year is especially easy because of the temps. So, your main concern right now is integration, and making sure the babies know how to "free range" without getting gobbled up...ie that they know to be on the lookout and not oblivious to their surroundings. The x-pen is a good start for getting the birds used to each other and letting them experience the outdoors. You shouldn't need to use it too long. When you say your yard, do you mean an enclosed backyard? Are you rural, suburban, urban?

 

[Pork Pie]

This is a great resource -
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/integrating-chicks-into-flock-at-4-weeks-old.1159151/

ETA: here is the article - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[frenchtchr]

Suburban, fully fenced back yard with a block wall about 7 ft tall. We have about a 10k sq ft lot in total.

Thanks. I'd keep the x pen outdoors, but need it for the dog as well.

 

[azygous]

Read through this thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...tegrating-chicks-into-an-adult-flock.1126547/ You'll find very valuable tips.

 

[abbydmac]

Our older chickens just weren't having integration, we started at 2.5 weeks of being visible and brooder in the coop then trying to let them out in the run at 4 weeks. The older pullets relentlessly went after the littles and were pulling a LOT of feathers. We ended up building a pen with pvc pipe and chicken wire, it's nearly the length of the run and was really pretty cheap and easy to make. Now the littles have been in there with one end covered on three sides to provide shelter for 2 weeks, so the older pullets have been able to see them for 3 weeks without access. Today I lifted one end of the pen up and the little ones (now over 6 weeks) have been able to come out without being harassed and can easily get back into the pen if they want to get away.