how do i introduce my 3 month old chicks to my hens?

[BellLisamo]

Help me! My 3 month old rir's are getting HUGE! they are ready to make their home in a our newly made hen house and coop. how do you suggest introducing them? ive seen alot of people say sneak them in the hen house at night.

is that the only way?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

use a divider or a large cage.

 

[birdsofparadise]

No problemo! Just move them in with fresh water and food and they will be fine. Some old farmers say to dump their last load of used litter in to the new coop to make it smell like home, but why risk contamination. My guess is that they will be happy with the new digs. But remember not to let them out of the coop for several days until they are comfortable there. Otherwise, they may scatter and be difficult to recover.

 

[BellLisamo]

thanks

i only have 2 hens, and 8 little chicks. so im hoping they will all get along!

 

[Padre]

That method will certainly work. I suggest you put them together during the day so you can supervise the reaction of the older hens, you will need to allow for the natural pecking order to form amung them. They should be fine.

 

[andehens]

I'm not sure that 3 month old chicks have the mental where with all to hold their own with older hens. I keep mine in a pen next to the older hens and introduce slowly, a little more time together each day. They also need to weigh as close as possible to the older hens in order to hold their own. Introductions and transitions are a pain, I know.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I don't put my chicks in with the adult flock until 18-20 weeks old, when they're old enough to eat the layer feed. Until then, I keep them penned separately and give them chick feed. If you must put them all together, I'd recommend giving them all the chick feed, or Flock Raiser, for another 2 months.

 

[Lollipop]

The older hens will give the youngsters a hard time. Be sure the youngsters have room to get away from the older hens. Chickens are very territorial and resent newbies. The idea of penning them in sight for a week or so has merrit.