Integrating chicks into flock at 4 weeks old.

[Mrs. K]

You might start with locking all the older birds where you have the younger bird, and put the younger birds where you have the older birds. Just keep them that way for a couple of days. This will give some territorial rights to the new space, and then let the others out close to dark. WHEN you can keep a close eye on them the next day.

When a bird explores a new place, she knows this is different, strange, even if she can see it for weeks. This makes her unsure and less confident, and when a lower ranked bird, sees that, it almost triggers an attack.

if you get a couple heartless birds, lock them back into the brooder.

Mrs K

 

[fuzzi]

You might start with locking all the older birds where you have the younger bird, and put the younger birds where you have the older birds. Just keep them that way for a couple of days. This will give some territorial rights to the new space, and then let the others out close to dark. WHEN you can keep a close eye on them the next day.

When a bird explores a new place, she knows this is different, strange, even if she can see it for weeks. This makes her unsure and less confident, and when a lower ranked bird, sees that, it almost triggers an attack.

if you get a couple heartless birds, lock them back into the brooder.

Mrs K

Thank you. I appreciate it.

The younger birds were in a 2'x3' dog crate, so putting the older birds inside it wasn't possible.

So...I spent the last 6+ hours out in the coop, rearranging, and rearranging some more. And interfering a few times when needed.

First I created a new "cave" using a pet carrier top and fresh straw, with a cement block in front to keep the bigger Sussex out.

I placed the smaller chicks' feeder on top, covered by an old laundry basket with an opening cut out.

Then I removed everything from the crate except the Dominiques, which hung back until I used a broom stick to gently herd them out. I picked up each chick and pushed them into their new cave so they would know where to run to for safety.

I then removed the crate so they wouldn't try to run back inside. And I started making changes to the inside of the coop.

I made a lot of places for the Dominiques to hide behind or under.

When the Dominiques came out to explore the bigger Sussex went over to investigate, and peck. The little chicks ran and found places to escape to.

Then, after about 5 hours something happened...the Dominiques got bold, and weren't as scared as earlier.

They even settled in the straw underneath the big chicks' roost!

At that point I put away my tools and went inside to take a shower. I wasn't worried.

I'm going to go check on them before dark but I think they'll be okay now.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think so too. A lot of clutter makes a huge difference. They need a place to retreat, bow to the queen by getting out of the way, and it is over. I have seen them come out 30 seconds later, stand right next to the queen and it is not a problem.

I think you are golden.

 

[Jojosine]

I've got two separate broods hatching now and was thinking of letting the chicks mingle in a week's time, but the moms can only see each other and each other's chicks but not reach. There is also fencing separating all from the main flock.

Do you think this is the best way to let them get used to each other?

And from what age could I let all young ones + mothers integrate into the main flock?
There is plenty of space for everyone to get out of the way.

 

[aart]

And from what age could I let all young ones + mothers integrate into the main flock?

I let broodies and their chicks back in with the flock a week or two after hatching.
Never had two broodies at once.

 

[QODTMWTD]

Wasn't sure where to put this, thought it might do the most good here in the chick forum.
Yes, you can integrate your little fluff balls at a much younger age than you might think.

Prior thinking was to wait until chicks were at least 8 weeks old or of a size almost equal to the older birds,
so they would have a 'fighting' chance against the usual aggressive rejection of new birds by an established flock.
It has come to pass that many folks are now finding that integrating much younger is easier for all involved.

One thing has stayed the same tho, the new birds are kept in a 'see but no touch' adjacent pen for a few weeks prior to allowing physical contact.
This allows everyone to get used to seeing and hearing each other without having to share physical space and feed/water.

Here's a couple of key reasons why it works:
Tiny chicks are less of threat to the older birds and their resources(space, food, water).
Tiny chicks are a small target for pecking and fast as all get out - so harder to 'catch'.

For easier composition/editing/linking I wrote and illustrated with pics how I integrate chicks in an 'article' found here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old
Post any questions here in this thread as I don't get notifications of comments made on articles.

This is really encouraging. I've had to integrate chicks just once and it went really smoothly, but it was also time consuming. I waited until they were nearly the size of the resident hens. I used deer netting hung from the run joists and weighted at the bottom to keep the two groups separated but within sight of each other during the day. It required a lot of wrangling the two groups to keep them separate while moving the pullets to and from their coop-within-the-coop. They got a couple of supervised 1-hour mingles after a a few weeks of that before I took all the barriers down and left them alone. There was no bloodshed and virtually no conflict. The pullets were happy to signal their position at the bottom of the pecking order. All that said, it *was* a PITA and I'm glad to know that with escape hatches built in to their expanded brooder the next batch of chicks will be able to integrate at a much younger age. Thanks for passing on your experience.

 

[bruceha2000]

Young chicks are not seen to be as much of a threat to the older birds so there is less drama. When you bring in full grown birds it is different.

 

[loulusea]

Much more agitation, aggression, and defensive actions on the part of the existing flock when chicks are NOT brooded in coop.
I think the real key is the size of the chicks, smaller newbies are less threatening to the existing adult flock.
But the general principles of integration....a 'see no touch' period, lots of space, multiple feed/water stations, places to 'hide'....still all apply.


Not sure about this....my take on this technique is about much younger chicks(4 weeks) that were fully sharing the main space with adult birds by 6 weeks.
It's also about brooding IN the coop by one week old, and doesn't include multiple age groups of chicks(been there, done that, won't do it again).
I also have a pretty large coop(~125 sqft) and runs(500sqft).

Hi, I have a couple week old chicks and a 2 week old chicks. Can I still add two more baby chicks to their brooder? Or is it too late?

 

[azygous]

You can add them.