Well, I tried what nuttyredhead did, and put my young chickens in with my established flock last night, after all were sleeping. One of my silkies is just so small, though and one of my BR cross chicks has a crippled leg, so I went out early this morning before anyone but the alpha roo was up and took them all out. I would just feel so terrible if anything happened! My established flock killed a roo a few weeks ago, and he had been with the flock for at least a month----so I can't trust them with the young ones----guess DH better start thinking about building another pen!
I don't add until the younger ones are at least 16 weeks old. And then I put them in at night and on the roosts. It takes about 3 to 4 weeks for everyone to calm down after that.
I find that slipping them in at night does not work at all! My coop is half coop and half run, so what I do I at night I put the newbies in a wire cage in the coop with their own food and water and in the morning when they awake I Let the original flock out into the run and put up a screen barrier to keep them sperate all day and let the new ones wander around their new digs all day. The older girls go up the ramp throughout the day to visit. Nighttime comes they go back in the cage in the coop and I open the barrier for the girls to come and and pick their spot on the roost again. I do this for approx one week and it goes really smooth. Would love to get some feedback on how well it works for others!!
I a divded off place in the coop and that is where newcomers go (large birds) after quarentine. After a week or so I let them out with the girls no problems so far. have a coop for silkies that put young ones in. The silkies are very mellow and dont mind a young bird. I free range my big birds so they tend to hang out in groups they are only confined night. The silkies have a nice big run so the young ones go i that untill I feel they are big enough to free range.
Thanks for everyones input! Nottinghamchicks, I will try what you do. Actually, I've done that before, but read about slipping them in under cover of darkness, and thought I'd give it a shot. I just wanted to do it before very cold weather got here. Oh, I think my chicks are about 8-10 weeks, the one silkie is just not growing much!
