Integrating pullets - good plan?

[AntiqueB]

Yes, I’m trying to get some different items together for the run for them to be able to hide
I have some roosts in there now and old stumps and things but want to build some teepee like things they can run in

I put in a child's tunnel, bent into a U shape. All of the girls like to go in there, but the pullets can hide inside and behind it, too.

Check out this DVÄRGMÅS from IKEA

Here's a little more information:

Play tunnel, blue/green

https://ingka.page.link/VxqFejsWmDUQWHJVA

 

[aart]

How old are the pullets now? I'd do it earlier if at all possible, to try and take advantage of their smaller size.

Absolutely!
First new chicks I got I waited until they are 'close' in size'.
Never again when this worked so well:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are dealing with living animals so you can never say never, there can be an exception. But I typically do not see immature pullets standing up to and fighting a mature hen regardless of size. With cockerels and their hormones you never know what you will get, I am specifically talking about immature pullets and mature hens. My pullets try to run away. If they get trapped in a corner or against a fence where they cannot run away they hunker down and try to protect their head. If they are trapped like that the way another chicken tries to kill them is to peck a hole in their head. If you see that going on break it up immediately. What I do not see is an immature pullet fighting back.

You are dealing with living animals so you cannot always say always, there can be an exception and often is. Not all mature hens are going to immediately attack an immature pullet, even if their personal space is violated. Some will and it usually doesn't take long for a chick to learn to avoid the adults. An example. Several times I've seen a chick about 2 weeks old leave Mama's protection and join a group of mature hens around a feeder. Sometimes that chick can eat a few bites but it usually doesn't take long for a hen to peck the chick, telling it that it is bad manners for it to eat with its betters. The chick immediately runs back to Mama with its tiny wings flapping. It has learned a lesson, leave the adults alone. My brooder raised chicks quickly learn the same lesson.

Sometimes I see my brooder-raised or broody-raised chicks mingling with the adults quite a bit. But what is much more typical is the juveniles avoid the adults until they are mature enough to join the pecking order. There can be exceptions but often this is about the time the pullets start laying. This is not always when they start laying but onset pf laying is usually when they start sleeping on the main roosts with the adults.

My brooder-raised chicks tend to form a separate flock during the day and do not sleep on the main roosts with the adults at night. That is pretty consistent. My broody hens typically take their chicks to the roost around 4 to 5 weeks of age and protect them while they are up there. The other adults tolerate that. I love a broody hen. But often after the hen weans them and leaves them on their own to deal with the flock the chicks abandon sleeping on the roosts at night and find a safer place to sleep. After the broody hen weans them they generally form a separate flock during the day, avoiding the adults.

One huge factor in this is room. Adding clutter (things the chicks can hide under, behind, or over) greatly improves the quality of the room you have. They need widely spaced food and water stations preferably out of sight of each other so they can eat and drink without being bullied away from food and water. If you don't have enough room to widely space the feed and water their life can be a lot tougher. If they need to run away from an aggressive adult they need enough room to get away. They need enough room to avoid the adults so they are not forced to violate the adults' personal space.

I have this kind of room which makes integration very easy. My main coop has separate places for the chicks to sleep that are not the main roosts. I have two separate predator-safe shelters they can be trained to sleep in when the coop gets crowded. I don't care where my chicks sleep as long as it is predator safe and not in my nests. I don't need to micromanage that, I just don't care. In the morning after they wake up it is common to find the chicks on my 5 feet high roosts with the adults on the coop floor. That's how the chicks avoid the adults until I open the pop door and let them out for the day. If your roosts are too low then the roosts are not a safe haven.

I have three feed and four water stations in over 40 square feet per chicken outside (over 2,000 square feet total), even when I am most crowded. It is very easy for the chicks to stay a long way away from the adults and live a good life. My broody hens wean their chicks whenever they want to. At 5 weeks I open the brooder door on my brooder-raised chicks and walk away. Of course I pay attention but I don't usually have integration issues. My brooder is in the coop. The chicks go on there straight from the incubator or post office. They have five weeks of "see but don't touch" before they mingle.

People manage integration with a lot less room than this. That's where techniques like "see but don't touch", clutter, and separate feed and water stations are really important. You probably need to be a lot more hands on that I am and really pay attention. Try to not force them into a small space with the adults but you need to keep them predator safe. If your space is tight you may need to be a lot more hands on than I am.

The personality of your individual chickens plays an important part of how this works. I have been known to eat a hen that went out of her way to make sure this process is difficult. I solve for the peace of the flock, not in favor of one specific chicken. I haven't had a problem with a mature flock master rooster but occasionally an immature cockerel or more likely a mean hen can be a problem.

Good luck!