how to introduce new chicks??

[Teresa the chicken lady]

So in March I got 4 chicks from the tractor store, well 3 were roos, however I keep my brahma. So I have an 18 week old brahma hen and roo they are very close. I have 3 new chicks they are 4 weeks old. I have built a play pin outside and they go in that for a little at a time if its sunny and the older ones are very curious about them. I only have one coop and don't want to have to buy another. The new chicks will not go out until at least 7-8 weeks at night. So how to I start introducing them? Should I start putting the littles in the chicken run and see how they do? I don't want the littles to free range like my big 2 do. My big 2 are very friendly, I hold them all the time, they cuddle up next to my dog and cat. Should I be worried when they hit 8 weeks that they will eat them at night?

 

[bayareapilot]

So in March I got 4 chicks from the tractor store, well 3 were roos, however I keep my brahma. So I have an 18 week old brahma hen and roo they are very close. I have 3 new chicks they are 4 weeks old. I have built a play pin outside and they go in that for a little at a time if its sunny and the older ones are very curious about them. I only have one coop and don't want to have to buy another. The new chicks will not go out until at least 7-8 weeks at night. So how to I start introducing them? Should I start putting the littles in the chicken run and see how they do? I don't want the littles to free range like my big 2 do. My big 2 are very friendly, I hold them all the time, they cuddle up next to my dog and cat. Should I be worried when they hit 8 weeks that they will eat them at night?

I have a similar situation I we'll be introducing some new chicks also from tractor supply they're the golden comets.
They just turned 7 weeks old today. I put them out in the new coop I built.

The flock I will be combining them with eventually will be three Easter eggers one Cockerel and two pullets that are about 8 months old. So basically I put the new coop I had built in an area that was part of a very large run area used by the existing younger flock that I just mentioned. I separated using plastic poultry fencing about 1/4 of the original entire run area. So basically the seven-year-old chicks can see the rooster and the two pullets (and vice versa) through the plastic poultry fencing, but they can't get to each other.

My plan is to see how big the chicks are at 10 weeks and if I'm not comfortable with their size at that point I'll probably wait till 12 weeks. In any case either at 10 weeks or 12 weeks I'll remove the plastic hexagonal opening poultry fencing and observe how things go.

You will get lots of opinions on this website, so I'm offering mine weigh it accordingly. My two cents says they're too young to begin combining with the flock but again that's just my conservative opinion. Also keep in mind I've never combined a flock before so I'm just going by different information I've read.

I also have two older Easter eggers that are totally separate from the other two flocks that won't ever be combined they are over 10 years old and they seem to be doing fine on their own and I don't want to complicate things for them.

But back to your little ones my two cents; wait till about 10 or 12 weeks and during that time have an opportunity where the checks and your existing flock can see one another but not get to one another until it's time to combine them

 

[FortCluck]

Use the see not touch method...

Here’s a few links to help you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-chickens-step-by-step.72815/