How Young is Too Young to Join the Flock

[Growley Monster]

So, I have 6 Brown Leghorn adult hens, 2 adult Brown Leghorn roosters, (one to be dispatched for Sunday Dinner) and a tubby fluffy Blue Cochin hen. I also have a dozen Buff Brahma chicks almost 3 weeks old, half pullets half cockerels. Located Chauvin, LA which is near the coast, on Bayou Petit Caillou. The BL birds have a nice 8x8x8 coop and a 50'x25' fenced run. The roosters are a bit aggressive which is usual for this breed. My plan was to put the brood pens in the coop for a week on their 3 week birthday and let the grownups get used to them forr a week before turning them loose. Fence is ordinary chicken wire and right now they can probably squirm through it but doubtful at 4 weeks. Is this timetable pushing things? The problem is I have nobody I can really trust to look afterr the little ones and we are supposed to go visiting forr a week right before Christmas so they need to be out foraging by then in case they eat up the flock blocks I plan to leave in the coop for emergency rations. Otherwise I would probably keep them seggregated until the 6 week mark. The hens can be a bit bossy, too. I am hoping that the rooster will look after the Brahma chicks. We have lots of hawks and owls, a few eagles, and the only bird lost was to I think a coyote. The fence is 8' high so of course the chickens fly over it with ease and go gallivanting all over our 4 acres of dry land and onto neighboring properties. Anyway I think this will work but hoping for a little validation or else a reality check that I am not thinking right.

 

[Morrigan]

I usually introduce chicks to my flock on a similar timeline to what you propose. At 2 1/2 to 3 weeks, I move them to a sectioned off part of the coop (with a heating plate), and let everyone get used to each other for a few days. I than open a small door in the brooding area that is big enough to let the chicks through, but keeps the bigger hens out. I see how that goes for a few days. If no problems, I remove the barrier. Most of the times they are fully integrated by 4 weeks.

I've also had broody hens wean their chicks as early as 3 1/2 weeks old and those chicks seem to do just fine with the larger flock.

Only once did I have I had a chicken display what I considered undue aggression towards that chicks (keep in mind that some amount pecking/chasing and putting the chicks "in their place" is normal). In that case, I culled the troublemaker as I don't consider aggression towards chicks a normal or acceptable behavior.