Adding chicks

[HJMimi]

I have eggs in my incubator that should hatch next Saturday. I plan on putting them in the coop with my 2 hens and rooster inside a brooder when they hatch. My question is when should I be able to let them out of the brooder to integrate with the others.

 

[DobieLover]

My question is when should I be able to let them out of the brooder to integrate with the others.

You can start the process when they are 3-4 weeks old. You make 2 little chick doors that only they can fit through. Then lock the adults out of the coop after they come off the roost in the morning and open the chick doors and bribe them out with meal worms or raisins or whatever they like near the door and out in the coop. Let them find the doors themselves. Then work on teaching them how to get back inside the brooder. Then let them explore the coop for an hour or so. Then open the pop door to the coop and let the bigs in and sit and monitor the interaction. Only intervene if a chick is in real trouble and needs help getting back to the brooder. More often than not, because the chicks have been raised in full view of the bigs, they accept them really quickly.

Chicks in the build-in brooder.

First day with the doors open for them to explore before I opened the coop pop door.


The run attached to the chick brooder:

 

[HJMimi]

I have eggs in my incubator that should hatch next Saturday. I plan on putting them in the coop with my 2 hens and rooster inside a brooder when they hatch. My question is when should I be able to let them out of the brooder to integrate with the others.

Thank you so much! This is exactly the information I needed. That is what I am going to do.

 

[Toothpick]

Good advice. But I do it a little differently. I have an in-coop brooder. I just moved 16 two week old Bahama chicks to it a couple days ago. I typically wait for them to be fully feathered and then I just open the brooder door and let them venture out on their own.

I've done a couple batches like this and it's worked fine. They "grow-up" together for 3 weeks at least before they are fully let loose together.

What really worked well was having a separate chick run in the main chicken run.

So you'd have your main chicken run...and within that you'd have your brooder chicks and brooder run. So the chicks can get outdoor time without being bullied by the hens but still around them while outside. I don't have that set up anymore but it was pretty awesome.

The one time I had that set up it was flawless when they were finally introduced to each other. The grown hens could not care less about the "chicks". They were already part of the flock.

 

[jreardon1918]

You can start the process when they are 3-4 weeks old. You make 2 little chick doors that only they can fit through. Then lock the adults out of the coop after they come off the roost in the morning and open the chick doors and bribe them out with meal worms or raisins or whatever they like near the door and out in the coop. Let them find the doors themselves. Then work on teaching them how to get back inside the brooder. Then let them explore the coop for an hour or so. Then open the pop door to the coop and let the bigs in and sit and monitor the interaction. Only intervene if a chick is in real trouble and needs help getting back to the brooder. More often than not, because the chicks have been raised in full view of the bigs, they accept them really quickly.

I do what @DobieLover sugests.

My brooder is also in the run. Here is a picture of one of three chick doors. The chicks were in this brooder by day 3 of getting them. There is a MHP in the brooder. I open the chick doors at 4 weeks old. They come out and mingle. By 8 weeks they sleep in the coop. Hope this helps.

 

[HJMimi]

Thank you so much! This is exactly the information I needed. That is what I am going to do.

I have another question if you don’t mind. I will feed my chicks the chick starter feed normally for about 18 weeks. After the chicks are in the coop with the hens and the rooster, can the big ones eat the chick starter until the little ones are 18 weeks? I normally feed my big ones all flock with oyster shell on the side for the hens.

 

[HJMimi]

I do what @DobieLover sugests.

My brooder is also in the run. Here is a picture of one of three chick doors. The chicks were in this brooder by day 3 of getting them. There is a MHP in the brooder. I open the chick doors at 4 weeks old. They come out and mingle. By 8 weeks they sleep in the coop. Hope this helps.

Thank you so much! I have another question if you don’t mind. I will feed my chicks the chick starter feed normally for about 18 weeks. After the chicks are in the coop with the hens and the rooster, can the big ones eat the chick starter until the little ones are 18 weeks? I normally feed my big ones all flock with oyster shell on the side for the big ones.

 

[HJMimi]

Good advice. But I do it a little differently. I have an in-coop brooder. I just moved 16 two week old Bahama chicks to it a couple days ago. I typically wait for them to be fully feathered and then I just open the brooder door and let them venture out on their own.

I've done a couple batches like this and it's worked fine. They "grow-up" together for 3 weeks at least before they are fully let loose together.

What really worked well was having a separate chick run in the main chicken run.

So you'd have your main chicken run...and within that you'd have your brooder chicks and brooder run. So the chicks can get outdoor time without being bullied by the hens but still around them while outside. I don't have that set up anymore but it was pretty awesome.

The one time I had that set up it was flawless when they were finally introduced to each other. The grown hens could not care less about the "chicks". They were already part of the flock.

 

[HJMimi]

I have another question if you don’t mind. I will feed my chicks the chick starter feed normally for about 18 weeks. After the chicks are in the coop with the hens and the rooster, can the big ones eat the chick starter until the little ones are 18 weeks? I normally feed my big ones all flock with oyster shell on the side for the big ones.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have eggs in my incubator that should hatch next Saturday. I plan on putting them in the coop with my 2 hens and rooster inside a brooder when they hatch. My question is when should I be able to let them out of the brooder to integrate with the others.

To me a huge question is how much room do you have in the coop and in the run? If you have 4 square feet in the coop and 10 in the run per chicken you are more likely to have issues than if you have a lot more. The more room you have the easier this is. I have an 8ft x 12 ft coop and over 2,000 square feet available outside and the weather that the outside space is basically always available. Like you, my brooder is in the coop. That starts the process. I generally open the brooder door at 5 weeks of age and walk away. With 5 weeks of look-but-don't-touch and all that room five weeks is plenty for me. The "safe haven" concept the others have mentioned is a good way to add to the safety factor, especially if room is tighter.

I have another question if you don’t mind. I will feed my chicks the chick starter feed normally for about 18 weeks. After the chicks are in the coop with the hens and the rooster, can the big ones eat the chick starter until the little ones are 18 weeks? I normally feed my big ones all flock with oyster shell on the side for the big ones.

You can either feed all of them the chick starter or the All-Flock with oyster shell on the side as you mentioned or even from the start. If you look at the analysis there is not much difference between all-flock and starter. For baby chicks I'd want the All-Flock to be crumbles, not pellets.