Integrating newbies...too chilly?

[JodyJo]

question for you all, I have 16 14 week olds, in the coop, it is getting down to the 50's at night...
inside the house I have 3 2 week olds...feathering out nicely, only used a heat lamp for the first few nights...now not at all.

I know how I should introduce them, my question is, is now or in the next 2 weeks, too soon?

Should I keep them in their cage and put them in the coop with the
older girls now? I fully intended to do this, but wondered if you all thought it was still too chilly for such young ones to go in that temp?

I would like to get them all together soon, but worry it is too chilly, even if I do leave them in their cage...

What say you?

 

[mandelyn]

Yeah it's still too chilly. Since the others are 14 weeks, the little ones need to be a minimum of 8 weeks to even think about living together. Around 6 weeks you can cage them nearby, if it is warm enough (over 65 -ish at night) so that the older ones can have a couple of weeks to see and hear them. Earlier than that can be a recipe for disaster. They will be picked at, the question is how severely. The older they are, the better equipped they are to handle it. They can be pecked to death if the older birds pick one to constantly go after.

It also helps to provide hiding areas, and additional food/water stations. The older ones can also guard the food, or simply be mean and run the others off it, just because they can.

At 6 weeks you can think about exposing them to each other in a controlled environment. Over 8 weeks you can see how they do over the course of a couple of hours. The longer you wait the better.

 

[JodyJo]

here is a shot of one of the chicks, they all look like this one, I figured I would wait till at least 6-8 wks...then would put the cage out there with them. I will wait another couple weeks...

Thanks for any advice...I will go with my gut instinct.

 

[mandelyn]

Aw! I have 3 that size in the basement, and one living with the ducks that's about 12 weeks I think. All will need to live with the big girls soon, but I'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting on them to get bigger. I have one hen in the older group who's going to be awful about it. Might put her with the ducks and see if there are any other mean ones while the babies get adjusted.