Has anyone ever just "thrown them in" when integrating new birds into a flock?

[aart]

Hear me out.

Sounds like you did great!
You never know what will happen with live animals,
hope for the best(with proper prep) prepare for the worst.
Would love to see pics of your run.

As long as there is adequate space, multiple feeders and fountains and obstructions to slow the old ones down, yeah.

These things are key^^^ ....all of which @Rooster_Tyranny had prepared.

 

[member 512732]

Here me out. I have 5 grown hens, and four 5-7 week old chicks that are currently outside. I have PLENTY of space, the run is 18/24 feet. When I took the chickies outside I thought that before I put them in their cage in the run I should just plop them down with the other birds and observe carefully to see what happens.

It went really well, there was of course quite a bit of pecking in the beginning but the hens only ever pecked the chicks if they were in their way or trying to eat some of their food, and there was no blood, just some pulled feathers when the rooster chick challenged the top hen (it didn't go well). Other than that, they leave each other alone. I put out 2 new feeders and waterers so everyone gets fed, plus lots of treats to occupy the big ones. I ended up leaving them like that all day long yesterday, but I was going out every 20 minutes to check on them.

When it was time to go to bed the hens went into the coop and the chicks followed them and they let them stay there! Granted they slept on the floor and there was a lot of squawking from the big hens (but no biting), but still. I shut them in together but woke up half an hour before sunrise and opened the coop so it would not be light out and the chicks would be trapped. It went well they all made it through the night.

I am still watching them VERY carefully. And I know we all hear the horror stories of hens scalping chicks or eating them like hyenas, but this seems to be going very well. Is it likely at some point the hens will just "snap" and kill them? And is this normal or is my flock special? I have an uncle who integrates chickens the same way (but with adult hens), and it's the same thing. They get a good peck if they come too close but otherwise they're left alone.

Let me know what you think and please your experiences. Please be kind.

I would never let my chicks be with other chickens besides their moms. I once had pekin ducks and one mother went and kill all seven of the one week old chicks. I never knew ducks could or would do that. Triple that concern in chickens. I wish you luck but I cant see you having all the chicks reach maturity with others in there.

 

[aart]

I would never let my chicks be with other chickens besides their moms. I once had pekin ducks and one mother went and kill all seven of the one week old chicks. I never knew ducks could or would do that. Triple that concern in chickens. I wish you luck but I cant see you having all the chicks reach maturity with others in there.

Your situation may have been different than the OP's....but many integrate chicks young with great success, as you might have seen by reading all the other posts.....depends on your set up.

 

[Rooster_Tyranny]

I would never let my chicks be with other chickens besides their moms. I once had pekin ducks and one mother went and kill all seven of the one week old chicks. I never knew ducks could or would do that. Triple that concern in chickens. I wish you luck but I cant see you having all the chicks reach maturity with others in there.

Observation is key here. I spent the majority of Sunday out in the run watching them. Everyone's situation is different and everyone has different birds, and I was ready at any moment to separate them when things went sour. There are no definite answers in chicken keeping, or with anything that involves live animals for that matter.

 

[Rooster_Tyranny]

Sounds like you did great!
You never know what will happen with live animals,
hope for the best(with proper prep) prepare for the worst.
Would love to see pics of your run.

These things are key^^^ ....all of which @Rooster_Tyranny had prepared.

Thanks so much! My run is basically just a box made out of fences but I'll get pics up to you when I can.

 

[Rooster_Tyranny]

Thank you EVERYONE for these great insightful comments.

 

[starri33]

I've currently got a roo in a TSC Pre-Fab coop within the run of the new coop that I built, I had to rescue him from a friend that I'd hatched eggs for, she'd waited till they were about 7 weeks and dumped him and his hatchmates in with the existing flock, he was a bloody little mess when I got to him. I've been trying to integrate him in with my flock, but it's not working so far. Sounds like your's working out.

 

[WhiteMtsChickens]

They'll be fine, iv'e had zero problems putting littles in with the flock. Issues only pop up when the youngsters are past the peeping stage and introduced.
Scalping and eating babies isn't the norm, what you're seeing is.

I have 5 8-week olds that are growing up in their own pen next to the 3 'ladies'.... so are they too big (getting towards end of peeping stage I think) to expect to toss in and be successful? My plan was to let them get bigger for a few more weeks until they can hold their own (although 2 are bantams, the ladies they'll be moving in with are a Comet, Barred Rock and Buff), then try to sneak them in at night. They've been spending their days on opposite sides of chain link fence for about a week so far....

 

[Rooster_Tyranny]

I have 5 8-week olds that are growing up in their own pen next to the 3 'ladies'.... so are they too big (getting towards end of peeping stage I think) to expect to toss in and be successful? My plan was to let them get bigger for a few more weeks until they can hold their own (although 2 are bantams, the ladies they'll be moving in with are a Comet, Barred Rock and Buff), then try to sneak them in at night. They've been spending their days on opposite sides of chain link fence for about a week so far....

I'm by no means an expert but my suggestion would be to pick a time when you can stay home all day and just stick them out there and see what happens. If they are chasing them mercilessly or if there is any blood stop it immediately, if not, keep watching. Provide multiple feeders and waters and if you can provide places where the chicks can hide. But this is just if you want to do it my way, you don't have to. How much space do you have?

 

[Rooster_Tyranny]

With all the positive responses it's making me wonder why there is NO information I can find on this whatsoever. Search "integrating chicks into established flock" and every article I found states you should spend at least a week doing the "see don't touch" method. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough?