I recently lost 3 of my pullets. My husband is dying for another barred rock, and the only ones I can find are at a feed store, they are about 1 week old. The two that I have currently are 7 weeks old and are in a run in our back yard. We would raise the chicklets in the garage like we did with the others, but eventually will want to put them outside. How do I introduce them and when should I do this? I don't want them to be picked on but I want to have them coexist. Thanks!!
I actually did the exact thing you are going to try to do this year. I had 80 10 week old birds and bought six 4 week old Barred Rock pullets from the feed store. I waited until dark and put the new birds in with the older birds. Mine were in a big barn stall and I had several roosts set up. The younger chicks learned to hang out above the other birds until they were accepted. It actually went very smooth looking back on it but it was pretty stressfull at the time. You just have to keep an eye on them and make sure that the older birds are not keeping them from eating and drinking. If you have another run, you may also want to try and move them all into a new run at the same time. It kind of levels the playing field when all of the birds are thrown into a new environment at the sametime. I'm sure others will have some sound advice for you. All birds have different personalities so each situation is different. Good luck too you! James
