How to introduce new chicks to adults?

[sunnydt]

I have a few adult hens and two roosters. I also have about 13 eight week old chicks that are in another see through section of the coop with the adults. They have had a lot of time to get use to each other but when I let them out they get pecked real bad and Im afraid to let them out completely because of the two roosters too. How do I do this without a little ones getting killed or beat up? A couple of the little ones are roosters too but I will be selling them soon. The adults peck all of them not just the roosters.

 

[MrRushed]

I put my 8 week Barred Rocks in a large dog cage inside my chicken run for a few days, so they would get familular with each othe then let them loose, it didn't matter they still got beat up for a couple of days and now they seem to be doing fine. I think it's just the natual pecking order taking place.

 

[sunnydt]

ok thanks thats what I have been doing. so the big roosters wont kill the little roosters ?

 

[funfeatheredfeet]

Hi,

I am fairly new to all this chicken biz but it has been working great for me. I have a mixture of hens and roos. My Barred Rocks and my Silkies all free range and at first when I got them (from a man who gave me the whole lot due to cancer he couldn't take care of them), the bigger BR's bullied the Silkies. So, my hubby & I built another room onto the original small coop. At the same time, I added a seperate run from the other room. Immediately the bigger BR's would all go into the newer room & the Silkies would roost in the original (they sort themselves when they go to bed at night...cool!) At the same time, I had bought 6 Rhode Island Red Pullets from the local feed store. I fenced off a small Brooder area in the original coop and cut a small door to go out into the big pen yet it went into a smaller pen (4x8') I had made in the corner of the big main pen. Everyday, I would let the BR's and the Silkies out into the respective pens and I would open the door on the little Brooder/Grower room and the little pullets could run around in their smaller pen and still be able to feel like they were among all the bigger birds. Everyone loved it. The older birds (hens & roos) were constantly checking out the newbies & the newbies constantly watched the older ones. Just two days ago, I had the feeling it would be ok to release the newbies into the flock...they are only 7 weeks old. It went great! The older ones were nice to them, roosters and all! Not a one of them has picked on them, nothing. They let the little ones eat from their feeders/waterers. They even showed the little ones how to use the dirt spa. It is so neat to watch them all in their together. Amazed me! And, I spent the day out their watching and working in the area so I could keep my eye on how everyone did. Not one problem. When it came time to go to bed, I put the babies in on the roosts with the Silkies.....no problems, I stayed out their spying on them till pretty late last night. They all just roosted fine. Yesterday, I let everyone out to free range & the newbies were at first nervous and sat just outside the fence picking at grasses. Today, when I let them all out the newbies actually tested their wings and flew from the roosts to the outside. They didn't wander more that 10 ft. from the pen but they and the flock are getting along great! I really think the small pen inside the main pen made all the difference. I put them in the brooder pen at 3 wks. under a light and didn't let them out of the brooder until the daytime temps were in the 80's (they were 5 wks. old). So, for two wks. they had their little pen to run in to get acquainted with the adults. It worked out great!

Good luck with your chickens! Rhonda

 

[sunnydt]

Thanks Rhonda, I hope that will be the case with mine too. Today I let them out for the first time and a couple of the big chickens were bullying the little ones so I put them back in. I too have the smaller pen inside the big coop with the adults. They have been in there for a long time. the only thing separating them is chicken wire. I will try again tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[Jkioneil]

well it has been a week since ours are in the dog cage next to our ladies and the ladies are trying to peck them through the bars. i had to wrap it in chicken wire cuz they were gettig them in the head pretty hard. I have doe a bunch of research about this and what i have learned is to do what your doing with the slow immersion then put them in at night when they wake up they are okay or so i have been told.

 

[funfeatheredfeet]

I've heard that too! This is the third night my little ones have been in the coop with the Silkies. I slipped them in after all the Silkies were on their roosts (every night that I slip them in the Silkies look at me like "not again!" but they haven't bothered them and I find myself up and out at the coop just after daylight to open the doors. I don't want them to pick on the little ones as they all wait to get out. I don't like letting them all out to free range too early, I'm too afraid predators might be out there feeding early so if I'm out there really early I turn em loose into the big pens until around 6:30 - 7:00. So far, slipping the little ones into the coop once they're roosting seems to help the situation!