how old do chicks have to be to be put with adult hens?

[chickatee]

how old to chicks have to be when they can be put in with the adult hens. my chicks are 18 weeks old(well their not really chicks any more) now and are in a seperate pen to the other chickens. are they old enough to sleep in their house yet?

 

[chicmom]

Hi Chickatee from Ireland! So wonderful to talk with someone so far away! I'm in Ohio. With my chickens, I start out as you described--having the younger chickens next to the full grown ones, but separate, so they can get used to seeing eachother, but they can't touch eachother. Then the next step is letting them free range together, and by the time they're about the same size, then I put them all together in the same coop/run. Seems to go smoother that way instead of just throwing them all together. (The adult birds will literally beat the crap outta the younger ones, if you're not careful, which is why I do this gradually.)

Hope this helps!

 

[chickatee]

hi! yeh its so cool to be talking to someone who lives in america! thanks for the help. im only new to chicken keepin so i dont really know what to do!!

ive took your advice and i put the chicks in with the bigger hens just for a few hours. there was a little pecking at first but now there all grand!