Integrating new babies into flock, Help please.

[BeckyandHerBrood]

Hello, I am loooking for a little integration advice. I have 3 hens that are 11 weeks old and 4 chicks that are 4 weeks old. They have been in the run togehter with a divider in the middle (they could see each other) for about a week. Tonight I slipped the babies into the coop with the bigger girls for the night. Am I crazy? Will I wake up in the morning to a bloody mess? I have read that it is best to wait until they are all the same size, but would really love to de-segregate my chicken population and get on with our lives. Should I run out and grab the babies back out to save them, or do you think they will be fine?

Please help calm this nervous chicken mama...I am scared that I just threw my babies to the wolves.

 

[Mahonri]

I'd be out there as the Sun comes up to see what happens.... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but where they are all so young, I think you have a good chance of it working.

 

[BeckyandHerBrood]

If it doesn't work am I going to be sorry that I tried?

 

[BeckyandHerBrood]

I just went to check on them, and they are all in a big fluffy chicken pile cuddled together in the coop, this makes me SO happy. I sure hope this works.

 

[macdoogle2]

I've done what you have done and it worked out fine. The fact that their are 4 little ones helps.

 

[CowgirlPenny]

I had GREAT luck combining group #2 and #3 with three being youngest and two being my middle ones. I think the fact that there were more in the younger group overwhelmed the #2 group so they accepted them. However, I have never had ANY luck adding group #2 to group #1. Group #1 is just about 3 weeks older but I should have tried to mesh them at a younger age, I waited until the older ones were about 15 weeks which was too long. I'm glad yours worked!

 

[BeckyandHerBrood]

I went out to open the coop door this morning and everyone was fine. My BO hen is the leader of the older girls and she is a little pecky with the little ones, but she never removes feathers or draws blood so I think it will be OK. So far so good.