how does "slipping them in at night" work?

[RasMama]

title says it all. I'm planning well in advance, 4 pullets will need to be integrated with 3 hens in a couple weeks. They're near each other now, so are getting accustomed to 'other chickens' around & I thought I'd do the 'slip in at night' technique. Is their night vision really so bad that they don't see what's going on? They don't notice that it's much more crowded now than it was a minute ago? And in the morning they just figure that if they were in the coop all night they must be a part of the flock? So you just stuff the newcomers into the door before locking it up at dark or should I lock the girls up & then come back later with the pullets?

 

[ChooksChick]

I have been letting 3 age groups free range together for weeks: 1 year hens, 13 wk olds, and 8 week olds- or thereabouts.

The middle group have a coop of their own, and the hens are in the big coop all will share, and the babies have been physically put into a fenced-off area in the adult coop for a week, each night.

Last night we came home at very near dark, and expected to find the teens in their coop and the adults in the big coop, with some panicked little ones shrieking for guidance. Instead, they were sitting on one of the top roosts happy as can be, while the adults (GIANT BRs) ignored them nearby.

I think the key was letting them have ample space to roam around adjacent to one another for a while. Tonight I'm going to lock the teens out of their coop and hope they make their way toward the light!!