Best way to introduce them?

[TwistedSerpent]

My coop will be done soon, I am getting 25 babies and already have 3 older birds. What will be the best way to get them all introduced to each other and the new coop? I am thinking when its time for the chicks to go out put the older birds out too with them, that way nothing has been established its all new territory for all of them and they can all be locked in for a few weeks before being let out.

Any other suggestions?

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

How old will the younger ones be? If they are going to be substantially smaller than the adults I would say not mix them up till they get some decent size on them (2 months of age) and then put the youngsters in coop first for a few days - let them get settled and established in there, then enter the 3 older hens. This has worked out well for me in new areas when I want to intergrate newbies as the youngsters/new ones get established and calmed down and aren't stressed out by two things (new place and older established chickens) - and so they can cope much easier when you enter the elder chickens. with 3 adult birds they can use the shake up of being put someplace new with a bunch of newbie chickens - and they won't be so rough I believe if they are the 'newcomers in the hen house' kind of mentality, so thus the picking on the littler ones won't be quite so bad.

If this doesn't make sense excuse me I have a headache and too little sleep - lol.

 

[Ady Road Chicks]

How do you handle the feed question with 2 month old chickens and adult chickens all living together? When do you put the babies on the same feed as adults?

 

[chicksbestfriend]

I have never introduced a large number of baby chicks to a few existing birds, its been the other way around for me. I will introduce maybe a half a dozen or so to the existing flock. I have a folding pen that I set up inside my run where I house the new little ones until they are around 2 months old, so the older birds "see" them and they all get acquainted that way in the beginning. I have used two different methods of releasing the younger chickens into the existing flock and both have worked. I remove the portable pen inside the run with just the smaller birds inside the coop so they can get their places on the roost when the older ones come in for the night, or, I go in there at night when they are all sleeping, placing the younger ones on the roost and when the older ones awake in the morning, its like, "oh, there you are". Good luck and congrats on your babies!

 

[DaniLovesChickens]

We have always had a divided coop. We move the chicks from the brooder in the house to the outside where they share a 10 foot fence with the adult hens. They can see eachother and can actually reach through the fence to eachother. We wait until the chicks are pullets and are ready to eat layer feed. It is kind of a pain, but it seems to work well.

Hope that helps!?
Good luck