how to i transition young chickens with older ones

[chickenlady2004]

hey everyone, it’s my third year with chickens and am wondering how i make the transition for my younger chickens to stay in with the older ones? my younger ones are around 3 months old and i would like to move them into the same coop as the older ones (they are a year old) they already free range together and they never have problems some occasionally pecking but that’s all. right now my young ones are in a small coop with small run (made for 15 chicks. they just sleep in there now as it’s too small for them to stay in all day and would love to move them as winter is coming. how should i go about that? just put them in at night? i’m worried that the older ones will hurt the young ones but i’m not sure how that works. will they be okay in there??

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

hey everyone, it’s my third year with chickens and am wondering how i make the transition for my younger chickens to stay in with the older ones? my younger ones are around 3 months old and i would like to move them into the same coop as the older ones (they are a year old) they already free range together and they never have problems some occasionally pecking but that’s all. right now my young ones are in a small coop with small run (made for 15 chicks. they just sleep in there now as it’s too small for them to stay in all day and would love to move them as winter is coming. how should i go about that? just put them in at night? i’m worried that the older ones will hurt the young ones but i’m not sure how that works. will they be okay in there??

Keep them in a spot where the other chickens can see but not touch them, with food and water. If the hens/roos seem hostile, then keep them in the secluded spot until they seem to accept them. Once or twice a day for around an hour (If you have the time) sit in the coop and if they start fighting, stop the fighting and separate them again. That's what I did for the 2 new hens I got.
Hope this helps! I can give more info if you need.

 

[rosemarythyme]

How long have they been free ranging together? If it's been a week or two, you can probably just 1) close up/lock up the old coop and run so they can't get in, in hopes that some might follow the adults instead and 2) physically move any birds that don't make it into the larger coop by dusk, into the larger coop.

 

[chickenlady2004]

How long have they been free ranging together? If it's been a week or two, you can probably just 1) close up/lock up the old coop and run so they can't get in, in hopes that some might follow the adults instead and 2) physically move any birds that don't make it into the larger coop by dusk, into the larger coop.

they’ve been freeranging together for about 2 months will the bigger ones hurt them if i put them together? there’s 5 older girls and 11 young ones

 

[chickenlady2004]

Keep them in a spot where the other chickens can see but not touch them, with food and water. If the hens/roos seem hostile, then keep them in the secluded spot until they seem to accept them. Once or twice a day for around an hour (If you have the time) sit in the coop and if they start fighting, stop the fighting and separate them again. That's what I did for the 2 new hens I got.
Hope this helps! I can give more info if you need.

thanks so much! i don’t really have a area i can put them in that the bigger ones could not get them. their coop is pretty open, could i sit in there with them all for a bit and see what happens then? they’ve been free ranging together for around 2 months. will the older ones hurt them? there’s 11 young ones and 5 older

 

[rosemarythyme]

they’ve been freeranging together for about 2 months will the bigger ones hurt them if i put them together? there’s 5 older girls and 11 young ones

If it's been 2 months they should be plenty used to each other. It wouldn't hurt to make sure to let them out of the coop at the break of dawn in case the younger ones need to run for it, for the first few days.

I move chicks in with adults at 4 weeks old. It's not about their size but their familiarity with one another.

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

thanks so much! i don’t really have a area i can put them in that the bigger ones could not get them. their coop is pretty open, could i sit in there with them all for a bit and see what happens then? they’ve been free ranging together for around 2 months. will the older ones hurt them? there’s 11 young ones and 5 older

You could definitely do that, but you could also get a large dog kennel to put it in.
If there's that ratio of young to old, and if they've been free ranging together for a while, it should be fine to just sit with them.
Either way, 2 months is a long time and they should be fine together

 

[THE CHICK LOVER]

hey everyone, it’s my third year with chickens and am wondering how i make the transition for my younger chickens to stay in with the older ones? my younger ones are around 3 months old and i would like to move them into the same coop as the older ones (they are a year old) they already free range together and they never have problems some occasionally pecking but that’s all. right now my young ones are in a small coop with small run (made for 15 chicks. they just sleep in there now as it’s too small for them to stay in all day and would love to move them as winter is coming. how should i go about that? just put them in at night? i’m worried that the older ones will hurt the young ones but i’m not sure how that works. will they be okay in there??

When you put the chickens in the coop together put them in a separate area where they can see each other see how they react then put them together.