I have a one year old flock of 7 hens and one bantam rooster. We just got 4 additional chicks, about 2 weeks old. They are in the brooder for a while yet, but I am working on the grow out pen. I was planning on putting the grow out pen either inside of the run or just outside of it so the birds can see and hear each other. My question is what to do at night? My older girls go into the coop at night to roost. I can put a small pen in the roost for the new chicks, but how in the world do I keep them separate during the transition from out to in and vice versa in the morning? I'm probably over thinking it.
Put a small "coop" of some sort in the grow out pen for the chicks to sleep in and leave them in there until they are ready to move in with the older chickens.
I build a box out 4x4s and covered two sides and the lid with chicken wire. I put this in the corner of our coop and cut a second chicken door (last year was our first year with chicks after inheriting some adults the year before). Using some more chicken wire for walls and netting over the top, I made the girls a small run that was just theirs. This let them be side by side with the adults for a few weeks, too, before they were added into the flock. And the adding was easy, too. I just took down the fencing on their run one morning and supervised them. I did cut the new door a bit smaller than the regular chicken door so these Buffs could escape the advances of the Rhode Island Red rooster or overly aggressive adult hens if needed.
