7 week old Chicks being introduced to 10 week old Chicks

[The Karube Coop]

Good afternoon y'all!

I am a new chickee momma and I'm completely obsessed with my girls and my surprise boy. Of course when my first batch of four chicks became fully feathered and I found out one was a roo I did the chicken math and got four more hens!

My first batch of four are: Two bare necked ladies, one Australorp hen and one Australorp Roo (Our roo is the sweetest boy ever!). Our first babies have been living in the outdoor coop for a little over two weeks now.

Our second batch of chicks are: Two Delawares and two Buff Orpingtons. They are 7 weeks old and ready to go into the coop because the weather is lovely! For the last three days, during the daytime only, I've had the new batch inside the coop while my first babies are outside in the run. At night I bring the littles back inside to sleep and open the coop back up for the big ones. Everyone seems calm with interacting through the chicken wire, dust baths galore and no intense squawking.

My questions is: can I integrate them now or do I need to keep doing this? I really want everyone to be happy and safe so please let me know what you feel is best.

Thank y'all so much!

 

[rosemarythyme]

They're still young so you won't have the same issue as introducing adults to adults. If they've been fine with the fence in between, I'd pick a time when you have an hour or two to supervise, and let them mingle. Most likely they'll be fine from that point on.

 

[The Karube Coop]

They're still young so you won't have the same issue as introducing adults to adults. If they've been fine with the fence in between, I'd pick a time when you have an hour or two to supervise, and let them mingle. Most likely they'll be fine from that point on.

Thank you so much! Do you know if some pecking of the smaller ones by the bigger ones is normal? When does the pecking become a concern where I should step in or when is it just normal behavior of them figuring each other out?

 

[aart]

Thank you so much! Do you know if some pecking of the smaller ones by the bigger ones is normal? When does the pecking become a concern where I should step in or when is it just normal behavior of them figuring each other out?

Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

 

[The Karube Coop]

Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Thank you so much! Soooo helpful