So I have been reading about adding our new chicks to our current flock. I do not plan on adding them right now but trying to figure out when and how to add them the most peacefully as can be done with chickens. So our current flock is 5 hens that are this springs chicks, about 27 - 28 weeks old. We just this past weekend bought two chicks about a week old. Is this even going to be do able? Any insight would be a great help. Their free range area when we are not outside with them is a 10' X 10' soon to be sand area, should this be bigger for 7 hens?
That's plenty big. I find that it just depends on the chickens you have. Some seem to figure out the pecking order and some are just terrible to the new ones. I haven't found any tricks yet.
You need to wait until the chicks are nearly as big as your grown hens. It's also a good idea to put them in a cage or an adjacent run so all the chickens can see each other for at least a few days. Then you can put all your chickens together.
