How to introduce my chicks to my grown chickens

[Jamsies]

Well, my RIR chicks are about ready to make the move to their permanent home. This is the first time I've added chicks to a pen with grown chickens. I don't have another pen that I can put them in next to the chicken tractor. I have them in a laundry basket with a hardware cloth top on it. I could put that on it's side and put that next to the wall of the tractor. Any other ideas?

Thanks,
James

 

[AngelzFyre]

If there's a way that you can rig up a separate area inside or make a partition that only the chicks can get into..that would be best.
Until the older chickens get used to them they will chase and peck them, sometimes til death.
You also need to make sure that they are almost the same size as the adults you are putting them in with or they will be picked on unmercifully for sure.
I have used a dog kennel inside the main coop to do this but the chicks were almost the size of my hens when I introduced them. They definitely need somewhere to get out of the way or reach of the older ones.
Maybe someone else has done it with smaller chicks and will post too.


Welcome to BYC too!

 

[utefan_42]

I have 8 13 week olds and i just introduced a 6 week old and a 5 week old. I put the two young ones in a brooder in the coop for a couple of weeks. They began to get out of the brooder on their own, so i spent a lot of time sitting out there and watching to make sure they weren't to picked on. they learned very quickly to stay out of the way of the bigger ones. They had a little place that they could escape to if things got to rough. Last night I went out and placed the two small ones on the roost with the bigger ones. When i checked this morning they were all in the coop getting along just fine. The younger ones still avoid the bigger ones most the time, but we haven't had any problems yet today and they have all been together all day long.

 

[Country Living Farm]

What I did is what someone else suggested. I made a pen within the pen and put the chicks in there. After a few weeks, I let them loose and they are just fine. I put my chicks in the pen at about 3 weeks old with a light if needed and they are let loose around 8 weeks old.

 

[Country Living Farm]

O, forgot to add. When you make the top of the pen, make sure you do put wood across the it for the big hens to stand on. If not, they will walk on the top of it and damage it. Also, do not put the water or food under the wood becasue they will poop in it while on the wood. So the wood solves two problems.

 

[backyardigans]

Everyone here always says to integrate them when "they are the same size". But my modern games will never be the same size as the other bantams. Hmmm.