Eventually mixing chicks with 2 year old hens. Any pointers??

[yankeefan]

Hello everyone.

I have 4 two year old hens ( 2 BO's and 2 BR's) and I'm considering adding 2 RIR's and 2 RSL's (chicks). I have a suffcient sized henhouse with an enclosed run that I use regularly although my girls generally free range.

I'm wondering if anyone could offer a few pointers or suggestions as to how to go about incorporating the chicks when they're ready. As of now I'm thinking of raising the chicks up for a few weeks in my basement with a heat lamp and then moving them to the henhouse while keeping the adult chickens closed in the enclosed run. My thought is that this side by side living arrangement would be good for everyone to "talk" for awhile before actually introducing them face to face. I could even use a small piece of chicken wire to cover the opening from the henhouse to run rather than have the door closed. Maybe this would be good so the big girls could see and talk to the little girls for awhile also.

This is just my idea at the moment. I'm certainly no pro but I thought I'd bounce this idea off some more experienced people.
What do ya think??

thanks for any help
Josh

 

[Brandi Leigh]

Try to get them use to each other before you put them together. I have also heard that putting them together at night helps a lot. There will always be some fighting.

 

[yankeefan]

Thanks Brandi.

Any other suggestions?

 

[debid]

It really depends on the personalities involved. My six hens lived side-by-side with four chicks from a couple weeks old until 19 weeks. They started ranging together ages ago. They got along OK out ranging. Still, it was not pretty when the little invaders started getting bolder and entering the big coop so I waited and waited. The first squat just came from the youngsters so I had to force the issue because the juvie coop lacks nest boxes.

I've just accepted that there are no peaceful integrations. But, no blood was shed this time so we're doing far better than last time (where there was a fatality of a grown pullet). FWIW, night introduction makes no difference other than that you aren't as likely to see the fighting and intervene. That may speed things up or it may be a disaster. I honestly think side-by-side is the safer bet.

I'm wondering from your description where your hens will go to lay/eat/drink/sleep if the chicks are in the coop and the hens have the run?

 

[yankeefan]

I have given it a lot of thought and I've talked to a much more experienced chicken farmer than myself and I think I've got a plan in mind that will work much better than my original idea. My plan is to expand the size of the coop I've got and then simply split it in half using a bit of chicken wire. This will allow me to have pullets completely separate from laying hens yet they'll be living under the same roof and when everyone is nearly the same size, I can begin to integrate young pullets with the adult hens.