Help with Integrating Chickens

[Trimpkey]

Size of your coop and run are often big factors. In feet, how big are your facilities? Photos to show layout of the coop and run and inside the coop may help us come p with specific suggestions. Are your pullets laying yet? Mine seem to hit a certain maturity level when they start to lay.

I integrate mine much younger. I find that if you integrate them pretty young it takes more room and possibly more work managing them but if they are older it can be more physical but trends to get over with faster. There are always trade-offs in what you do.

Not knowing what your facilities look like my main suggestion is to try letting them all free range during the day. Just open your run door and let them go out at their own pace. Be around so you can observe in case one of those hens turns out to be a true brute, but try to let them work it out. I'd expect the pullets to avoid the older ones. Let them sleep wherever they want to sleep, as long as it is not your nests and they are predator safe. Not sure how that will work out with how you have trained yours where to sleep.

I'd let them range together during the day for at least a week before I tried to put them together at night. Wait until after dark (hopefully t is dark in your coop so they aren't in danger overnight) and toss them in. Be there at daybreak to see how it is going. With mine it's not a big issue. But I have a large coop with lots of hiding places. Your results could be different.

I appreciate the preschool and chicken poop potential clash. You may need them all to stay in the coop/run together. Take advantage of your current ability to free range them to hasten the integration process. But you mention how the hens try to peck the pullets through the wire. That doesn't sound right. I always try to solve for the peace of the flock, not in favor of any one individual. To me the flock is the entity and it may have removable parts. If an individual is disrupting my flock I eliminate it. Eliminate could mean house it separately, sell or give it away, or eat it. You may be forced into that situation.

Once pullets start to lay they seem to mature enough to join the pecking order. Since yours are so close, you might try isolating one or both of your hens until most of the pullets are laying. Then try integrating them. It could change the outcome by a lot.

Thank you so much for your detailed response. Extremely helpful.

 

[Trimpkey]

I have 3 older hens. One is a bully. I put the other 2 in with my 11x 18 week old pullets this afternoon and although there is a bit of pecking and chasing they seem to be getting along fine.

Update: put all 3 hens in the the pullets this morning. The pullets are hiding in the coop. Every time they go out to the run they get chased or pecked, however no blood. No chicken pinned down. I feel bad my 11 pullets have to go through this hell for what? a week? Hoping they settle soon. It's obvious the pullets are being extremely submissive to these 3 hens. I put several food and water bowls out which is good and crates, boxes etc. for hiding spots.