Adding to the flock

[Ritakprkns]

Our new girls are now 14 and 12 week old. We have them in their pen inside our chicken run. We have had them in the run with the older girls for 8 days.
We are thinking of releasing them into the flock in a few days. Should we wait longer before we integrate them? What are your thoughts?

 

[LaFleche]

How many older birds do you have and what breeds?

How much space do they have in coop and run?

Do you free range them at all?

Will they have enough clutter and perches to get out of the way if the big girls get nasty?

Will you have several feeders and water stations to make sure they can get their daily fill unmolested?

 

[aart]

How many older birds do you have and what breeds?

How much space do they have in coop and run?

Do you free range them at all?

Will they have enough clutter and perches to get out of the way if the big girls get nasty?

Will you have several feeders and water stations to make sure they can get their daily fill unmolested?

Ditto all these^^^ Q's.

.....but 8 days isn't long.
Did you raise the youngsters fro chicks?

 

[Ritakprkns]

We have 4, 7 mo old hens. Lost 3 due to them being cockerels.
The run is 20x24’.
There are chairs, a small dead tree for perching on the branches, a draw bridge to jump on the coop, and a couple of crates plus we will keep the brooder pen inside with the door fixed to allow a young one to escape. We have 3 waterers and 3 feeders.

 

[Ritakprkns]

Ditto all these^^^ Q's.

.....but 8 days isn't long.
Did you raise the youngsters fro chicks?

We raised them from 4 and 6 weeks old.

 

[LaFleche]

We have 4, 7 mo old hens. Lost 3 due to them being cockerels.
The run is 20x24’.
There are chairs, a small dead tree for perching on the branches, a draw bridge to jump on the coop, and a couple of crates plus we will keep the brooder pen inside with the door fixed to allow a young one to escape. We have 3 waterers and 3 feeders.

Your run is big enough for four hens, but how many younger ones do you want to add?
Do you plan to add an extension?

I would wait another three weeks and let them get used to live side by side with the divide in place.

Older birds will defend their territory and can corner and scalp or even kill the younger ones within minutes if something tics them off

 

[aart]

The run is 20x24’.

How big is the coop?

 

[Ritakprkns]

Coop is 4x10’

 

[Ritakprkns]

Your run is big enough for four hens, but how many younger ones do you want to add?
Do you plan to add an extension?

I would wait another three weeks and let them get used to live side by side with the divide in place.

Older birds will defend their territory and can corner and scalp or even kill the younger ones within minutes if something tics them off

Our run is a total of 540 square feet. We have 10 chickens in total. The younger ones are in a pen that is taking 28 sq ft of that space. We do plan on getting a larger coop for the girls as we know they will need more space for sleeping.
Hope this explains more clearly.