How early can i integrate my chicks with the big flock?

[PetesChicks]

The thing with integrating when they are young is that the hens don’t see them as real competition because they are so small. They are just little annoyances that need to be put in their place once in a while. If you add them when they are close to the same size, they are more apt to have a harder time integrating because the hens will see them as true competition.

Just make sure you have extra feed & water stations, and places for the littles to hide, and you can do it while they are still very young. Also, obstacles that they can run behind without getting to a dead end, so they can escape a bully if needed. Even when my BA was being her meanest, she wouldn’t be bothered to chase them very far if they got out of sight.

 

[Morrigan]

The thing with integrating when they are young is that the hens don’t see them as real competition because they are so small. They are just little annoyances that need to be put in their place once in a while. If you add them when they are close to the same size, they are more apt to have a harder time integrating because the hens will see them as true competition.

Just make sure you have extra feed & water stations, and places for the littles to hide, and you can do it while they are still very young. Also, obstacles that they can run behind without getting to a dead end, so they can escape a bully if needed. Even when my BA was being her meanest, she wouldn’t be bothered to chase them very far if they got out of sight.

+1 to this.

I usually integrate my chicks at around 5 weeks old, after having brooded them in an attached outdoor brooder when they can see and hear the main flock. I've never had any type of problem. When I integrated a 6 month cockerel with 7 month old pullets -- whoa. Now that was a struggle.

 

[Wrenne]

I am new, so take my experience as limited. But here is what happened to my little flock. I hatched two chicks - one male - one questionably female. I ordered two age appropriate pullets to integrate with them at four weeks. The chicks arrived and were not old enough to integrate with my two chicks - a misunderstanding of what I had intended. They were petrified of my two overfed chicks. Cowered in the corner and screamed if they came near them. The screaming then got my young roo (only 4 weeks older than these, but oversized) excited and he would chase them. He would not peck maliciously, but would nip without bloodshed. The other chick- potential female totally ignored them. So the shipper sent two new females. These were ~ 14 weeks on arrival when my original two were 7.5 weeks. I put the baby roo in with them after 4 days and both females pecked him. I tried to put one of the little female chicks in with the larger female chicks and she screamed like a child and flapped her little wings so hard I had to secure her back to me to prevent her from hurting herself. This tells me that these two little female chicks have experience with being pecked upon as their neck feathers are still in pretty bad shape. At three weeks and 7.5 weeks, I have all the younger chicks together and the two older ones separated from this group by chicken netting. I am keeping four and giving two away to 4H. So my guess is you should partition your pen with the green chicken netting (Lowes) mounted to a wooden frame. Mount it high enough for only the little chicks to get under, but not your bigger flock. Put a food bowl that can slide through both areas. This is how I got my two original chicks to accept the little ones.

 

[lomine]

I also vote on integrating as early as possible. I brood directly in the coop. So far, I've used a piece of welded wire fencing to separate the chicks from the rest of the flock. The openings in the fence are big enough for the chicks to fit through but not the adults. The first couple of the days the chicks stick very close to their heat plate and food/water. After that they will venture to just the other side of the fence. As they get more confident they will go further and further. By about 3 weeks the fence is down and they are fully mixed.

My rooster doesn't give one diddly about the chicks. The hens and older pullets will give a head peck if they get too close but otherwise don't care much either. My biggest problems have been the adults drinking all the chicks water (only waterer on the ground) and the ducks. A half fence to keep the ducks out of one area and putting the waterer behind a barrier solved those problems.

 

[Wrenne]

I am back again (#23 above). I have successfully integrated these as I mentioned above. So I have two 3 week olds in with two 8 week olds in with whatever age the two big ones are currently. My guess is they are around 12-14 weeks old. It is important to partition as Iomine said above, as I put the little chicks in the laying boxes at night, with only a small portion of the rest of the coop partitioned for them. They can get under the partition. But their food and water is in the brooder boxes.

 

[trufadog]

We put a dog fence around the brooder which is a dog crate with a "wool hen" in it. The dog fence is on bricks so the chicks(3 weeks old) can run around the run and then if they feel scared, they can run under the fence and the one adult chicken that we have cannot get under the fence.

 

[trufadog]

so question for everyone; How do you keep the babies from eating the adult food? Right now, we are trying to get more weight on our only adult left, so she is also eating baby food, but I might change her back to adult food soon. Thank you!

 

[Morrigan]

We put a dog fence around the brooder which is a dog crate with a "wool hen" in it. The dog fence is on bricks so the chicks(3 weeks old) can run around the run and then if they feel scared, they can run under the fence and the one adult chicken that we have cannot get under the fence.

I like your set up.

 

[lomine]

so question for everyone; How do you keep the babies from eating the adult food? Right now, we are trying to get more weight on our only adult left, so she is also eating baby food, but I might change her back to adult food soon. Thank you!

My entire flock gets Purina Flock Raiser; that way I don't have to worry about who is eating what. Makes things a lot less complicated. Oyster shell is out for those that are laying.

 

[feathermaid]

i need to integrate them as soon as possible, i am currently bringing them outside in a dog cage so they can be outside and the big birds don't seem very interested in the little ones.

Using the dog crate is a good start to integrating. Leaving them in view as long as possible is the best way. If you can keep them inside the coop with the big ones at night when they roost, that will help the little ones learn where home is. If you can section off an area of the coop where they can stay 24/7 would be even better.

If they need a supplemental heat source (maybe only for another week or two) look at this thread which suggests a heating pad:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/
It works! I tried it.

At about 3 weeks old, switch to a barrier that the littles can fit through but the bigs can't. That way they can explore but run back to safety if needed without panicking to find a single small opening. My barrier had 3" spaces because my Barred Rock could fit through a 4" gap.

Also, try leaving out some "line of sight" obstacles in the run to help the chicks hide, like a piece of plywood leaning against a wall, additional perches or a raised-off-the-ground upside down pop crate.

This pic was taken when my chicks were almost 5 weeks old. I too, got a late start with this method like @PetesChicks, but it didn't take long at all. You can see the barrier I used.

The only thing I would worry about in your case is the big rooster when your pullets start to reach Point of Lay because he might want to jump on them. Hopefully he's a nice gentle guy. If not, are you sure it's necessary to keep a big mixed-breed rooster if you're not breeding?