How to Introduce Young Pullets to My Established Hens

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

I have 10 birds, 5 adult hens (breeds below) and 5 pullets, who are all farmyard mixes that I got about 2.5wks ago. They are all within the age range of 13-18wks old. Since the day I got them, they have been living in a see-don't-touch situation with the big girls. As you can see below, I basically split my run in half with temporary fencing and gave the pullets a makeshift coop until they move in with the adults. They are all doing very well, so today I let all the birds linger together for about 10mins. There was some pecking and chasing, but no one got targeted, pinned, or ganged up on as far as I could tell, and I was watching the whole time. Of course there are lots of perches and hideaways for all the birds in both runs. None of my hens are bullies, but my Orpingtons are at the top of the pecking order and are thus a bit more fisty. My question is this: can I just take down the fencing and let them work it out, or should I keep doing these controlled visits? What is your experience with bringing new pullets into the existing flock? Any and all advice is appreciate. Thank you in advance!

My adult hens: Brahma (x1), Orpington(x2), Easter Egger(x1), Olive Egger(x1)

My pullets (farmyard mixes):

The current setup:

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I like to do free-range mingles before I let everyone out full time in an enclosed space. If they are fine with the available clutter and have multiple feed stations then you can probably let them out for a day and see how it goes since you have even numbers and the pullets aren’t little. Just keep an eye out at roosting time.

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

I like to do free-range mingles before I let everyone out full time in an enclosed space. If they are fine with the available clutter and have multiple feed stations then you can probably let them out for a day and see how it goes since you have even numbers and the pullets aren’t little. Just keep an eye out at roosting time.

I like the free ranging idea, but unfortunately I cannot have my hens outside of the run because I have dogs. Thanks for the advice!