I want to get 18 new chicks. Is that to meny? I have a 10feet by 18 feet coop. I have 11 pulets and 1 roo right now. I will not get the chicks tell Mar,09. And how do you put new chickens in with the other ones? Thanks a bunch!! Chicken Girl
If you are getting baby chicks, you can't put them out with the rest of the birds right away. They need to kept warm, with a heat lamp, or something as simple as a 100 watt lightbulb. They need to kept that way until they are fully feathered, 10-12 weeks. After that you can start slowing integrating them in with the others. IN our hen house, we have a small area that is seperated by chicken wire from the others so they can get to know the babies. Then we let them out into the coop with the others for a few hours at a time and see how they do. If they get picked on, we don't let them out for so long, but we do keep giving them visiting hours with the flock. Usually at about 15-17 weeks they are fine and integrated. No problems yet with that method!!!!
I first put my younger birds in a run next to the older birds. They look at each other for a month or more. At around 15 weeks I let the younger ones out in the yard with the older birds as long as I'm watching them. At times the big girls can get pretty aggressive with the younger ones. I don't interfere unless it looks to be too aggressive. I know they have to work out their pecking order. They are still in different coops at night.
