Integrating two flocks

:welcomeWelcome to BYC. Glad you are here.

If you give us some more info, maybe the age range of your flocks, pictures of your setup, that will help folks to give you more spot on advice. Were they just two flocks housed in separate areas on your land, and now you are putting them into one coop?
 
:welcomeWelcome to BYC. Glad you are here.

If you give us some more info, maybe the age range of your flocks, pictures of your setup, that will help folks to give you more spot on advice. Were they just two flocks housed in separate areas on your land, and now you are putting them into one coop?
So, Flock one is three hens and a rooster 1 year old. The second is 16 Hens 8 weeks old. The 8 week olds are just now going out. We built a bigger coop to house all 20. The 1 year olds haven't left their current coop yet. I was going to drag it into the same run and put up fencing between to start.
 
That sounds like a good plan to do a divider. It will help if they can see each other, but I am guessing you are meaning chicken wire. That should be fine.

The 8 week olds could easily fly over a divider that is less that 48" or so, depending on their temperament, just so you are not surprised. Maybe even some 1 year olds, actually (I just thought of my BSL who likes to imitate houdini). You may just want to divide floor to ceiling, thinking of it now. 😅

I am assuming the 8 wk olds have been with you, or came from a reputable hatchery, so you don't need to do a quarantine period or check them for mites or lice?

With all those details it sounds like there is a good chance it will go relatively smoothly. The young ones that are lower on the totem pole are greater in numbers than the older ones, and they will all grow up with the rooster and hopefully accept him. The older hens may feel threatened or overwhelmed, but hopefully they will get over it quickly. Here is a thread with some ideas if you see any amount of bullying that seems over the top.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-pullets-in-the-flock.1573284/

Just post if you have any specific questions, or if something comes up, but it sounds like you have the right idea. A lot of integrations are kind of a wait and see pudding, too.
 
Oh, one more thought. I would have them all roost in the new coop at the same time, if you can manage that. That way no one will feel like their space is being invaded, but that they all will be discovering it together. That seemed to work well when we did it.
 
With a size difference between birds, a one way gate works well. When you are dividing things, leave the fence 6-8 inches off the floor. Which sounds kind of crazy - but it lets the chickes explore on their terms. If they are getting chased, they can escape where the big birds can't follow.

That with clutter, hideouts and roosts will really help.

Mrs K
 
With a size difference between birds, a one way gate works well. When you are dividing things, leave the fence 6-8 inches off the floor. Which sounds kind of crazy - but it lets the chickes explore on their terms. If they are getting chased, they can escape where the big birds can't follow.

That with clutter, hideouts and roosts will really help.

Mrs K
the younger ones are atleast half the size of my older ones.
 
So, what she is describing is that you can have a fence that has spaces big enough for the little ones to go in and out, but the older hens don't fit, so they are forced to stay on one side. That works well with birds that have a big age difference.

I can't find a good picture online, but the fence may end up looking similar to the one in this photo, or you could have one off of the ground a couple inches like she was describing.

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So, what she is describing is that you can have a fence that has spaces big enough for the little ones to go in and out, but the older hens don't fit, so they are forced to stay on one side. That works well with birds that have a big age difference.

I can't find a good picture online, but the fence may end up looking similar to the one in this photo, or you could have one off of the ground a couple inches like she was describing.
That works very well when chicks are small enough that hens cannot fit into the space. With OP's chicks being 8 weeks old, unless you're talking about 8 week old bantams and all standard or jumbo size adults, it becomes difficult to size the gap in such a way that all hens get excluded. Personally I've found 8 weeks to be the upper limit of when chick only openings will work, so you need to rely more on clutter at that age range and less on chick openings. I've had my heaviest hen squeeze herself through a gap maybe 4" wide (she wanted the chick's feeder).

My usual chick openings are about the size of a brick - I'll elevate chicken wire on bricks to form a temporary chick pen, or I leave gaps on the side of the brooder of that size. As long as the chicks are small enough to fit through a gap that height/width, that should work fine.
 

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