I'm an idiot

[PhilErvin]

Quote:
I did this exact thing too. Works GREAT! I kept the temporary "teenagers' house" and will set this all back up soon because my teens are almost ready to go out into the real world.

 

[gryeyes]

My yard is a Chicken Compound, with multiple coop buildings. I have "grow-out" coops for the youngsters, with their own penned areas within the main area. They get their own feeder & waterer, stay there for two weeks (after they're around 8 weeks old or so) and then I just pull up the temporary fence made from garden stakes and chicken wire. They will have had two weeks "beak to beak" as someone already mentioned, hearing each other, seeing each other, and thus becoming known to the flock. When the newbies are released, they are no longer strangers. There's some pecking order issues, but very minor ones.

I kinda went all out on the grow out coops thing, but you can do the same with a plastic dog house, plastic Little Tikes playhouse, etc. Just a place for them to sleep at night, with a bit of temporarily fenced space for a small "run," until they are large enough to join the main flock.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Quote:
I actually am doing this right now! I have one dog crate that is 3ft x 4ft and a 3ftx2ft; approx. I have 4 chicks in there, 2 four week olds and 2 five week olds. I just opened up two of the doors on the ends and put them right up against eachother. I put a 'puppy mat' down under the break so that whatever falls between doesn't soak through to the carpet (it's in the finished basement). I'll see if I can get a pic in a few; I'm not sure where my camera is...

 

[BooBear]

I have 4 chicks at 7 week old that have been mixed into the main flock. They were already being put in a play pen during the day to where the main group could see them and they were in a sectioned off part of the coop for the introduction pen.

The older members pretty much ignore them and do their own thing. Every so often one of the big hens will give one of them a peck but that is about it. Lester who is the chief rooster keeps the peace and will give stern warning looks when needed. The Silkies mess with them a small bit; however, the 4 new kids are the same size as the Silkies and can hold their own. Butters looks out for her companions and will chase off even Cinnimon who is the leader of the Silkies.

I do believe that allowing the older members to see the new guys for a while through fencing helps make the final introduction go smoothly. My group has handled the new introductions well so far.

 

[AnaD]

This is my temp. coop. It is a disused entertainment center that we removed the shelving from. Yeah, it's rinky dink, but hey, they don't seem to care.

They are about too big for it so I'm going to put up a wall in the coop that I can remove later. I know there is a crack in the back, but I'm going to call that ventalation.

This is my duckling pen that they will be in until their house is built (Go away rain!), but it would have worked for chicks too. I cover the sides with boards at night to keep any wind out.

 

[san415]

So cute! I want ducks!

 

[schellie69]

What I did was use some post and chicken wire and put that up in part of my run the girls used under the porch for their coop put some boards up for them to roost on. they had their own food and water. I would let the big girls out to free range then let the younger girls out they all free ranged together during the day and then at night the little girls went to their area after the little girls started flying over the wire I removed that and let them all roost together no problems.