Integrating pullets with established flock

[Chickchick121]

Hi! We are new chicken owners and got 8 started pullets in December that were 10 and 12 weeks old. Four out of 8 ended up being a cockerel and one of the pullets died sadly. We gave three cockerels away and so we were left with four chickens. Our rhode island red seemed to be late maturing as he just started showing signs of being a cockerel. We recently got 20 baby chicks that we wanted to put in with the three hens and the cockerel. Is this able to be done? At what age do you integrate chicks in with your established flock if you have a cockerel. Thank you!

 

[SilverBirds]

I know a lot of people do it differently, but I put my chicks permanently outside at 5-6 weeks in a separate coop from my big flock. They get supervised yard time for the first week and then I let them roam around the yard without supervision. I let my flock and chicks free range at the same time so that if the bigger birds are mean to them, they can easily get away. It's all shared space so they don't aren't as territorial but still establish a pecking order. At 10-12 weeks I move my chicks in with the rest of the flock. This way works well for me but my not for other people depending on if they free range, have a lot of predators, and have another coop.

 

[Chickchick121]

I know a lot of people do it differently, but I put my chicks permanently outside at 5-6 weeks in a separate coop from my big flock. They get supervised yard time for the first week and then I let them roam around the yard without supervision. I let my flock and chicks free range at the same time so that if the bigger birds are mean to them, they can easily get away. It's all shared space so they don't aren't as territorial but still establish a pecking order. At 10-12 weeks I move my chicks in with the rest of the flock. This way works well for me but my not for other people depending on if they free range, have a lot of predators, and have another coop.

Thank you! That is very helpful.

 

[aart]

At what age do you integrate chicks in with your established flock if you have a cockerel.

4-6 weeks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

How big is your coop and run, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics would help here.

 

[Battlepants]

What I did for my last batch was to set up a cat carrier in a circle of chicken wire within the yard of the existing chickens. This way, they can interact all they want, but nobody gets hurt. Left that like that for a few days, then ended up moving the cat carrier into the base of the coop at night with the door clamped open slightly (open enough for the chicks to get in and out, but not open enough for the big girls to get in) and let them all wake up together. For a while, there was two distinct flocks in my yard, but over time they became one.

But yea, for age, I'd agree with the others at about 4-6 weeks. Personally, I play things more by how well the birds are feathering out and the weather in the area. Fully feathered bird and 70F outside? Time to stop stinking up my house and go outside!

There is an interesting side dynamic with your particular setup that has me curious. It's said that when you introduce chicks, you introduce them in a group so they divide up the abuse they will take from the older ones. Your particular situation will see a flood of 20 newbies against the 4 existing. Due to the sheer numbers, you may see a complete flip in pecking order with your newbies picking on your existing flock. If this happens, it may be worth a re-introduction where you introduce the newbies something like 5 at a time per day.

 

[Chickchick121]

What I did for my last batch was to set up a cat carrier in a circle of chicken wire within the yard of the existing chickens. This way, they can interact all they want, but nobody gets hurt. Left that like that for a few days, then ended up moving the cat carrier into the base of the coop at night with the door clamped open slightly (open enough for the chicks to get in and out, but not open enough for the big girls to get in) and let them all wake up together. For a while, there was two distinct flocks in my yard, but over time they became one.

But yea, for age, I'd agree with the others at about 4-6 weeks. Personally, I play things more by how well the birds are feathering out and the weather in the area. Fully feathered bird and 70F outside? Time to stop stinking up my house and go outside!

There is an interesting side dynamic with your particular setup that has me curious. It's said that when you introduce chicks, you introduce them in a group so they divide up the abuse they will take from the older ones. Your particular situation will see a flood of 20 newbies against the 4 existing. Due to the sheer numbers, you may see a complete flip in pecking order with your newbies picking on your existing flock. If this happens, it may be worth a re-introduction where you introduce the newbies something like 5 at a time per day.

Thank you for your help. I was worried about this as I have read the older ones will pick on newbies but was not sure what would happen when introducing so many at a time to so few in our existing flock.