integrating young chicks with adults

[Allanita]

Day time coyote raids have taken all but one of my dear Dixie Chicks of 2014. Now I have 6 new chicks I'd love to have follow my free range survivor on our ranch. The baby chicks are inside during the night and after Dixie Chick leaves her coop in the mornings I put the babies in her coop. I've given the chicks a run outside the coop during the day. They love it. When frightened they jump into one of the egg boxes (now unused by the older hen) I'm wondering if I should overnight the chicks in a screened off egg box with the Hen up on her own roost during the night? And how old should the baby chicks be? I am in south central Texas where a heat lamp is probably not needed. The Hen is very friendly with all of our family: people, dogs, cat, cows, horses, donkeys. Even lets the dog lick her. I'd like to integrate as soon as possible and my Moto is KISS - Keep It Simple,

Stupid!

 

[Allanita]

Her is the last of the Dixie Chicks so lonely she's taking up with the cows lately

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. Personally, I would not begin integration until chicks are around 10 weeks old. At this time of year, I would say that chicks should be fine without heat after 4 weeks, assuming that their feathers have developed. The best way to know is to observe the chicks. Remove the heat lamp and they chirp and huddle together = too cold. Here a good link on integration:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method
Since you only have one adult, I would not imagine that the integration be too difficult.

 

[blackdust951]

helloand welcome to backyard chickens thank you for joining us

 

[drumstick diva]

I agree with PorkPieKen . and Welcome to BYC

 

[N F C]

Sorry for your losses, hope things go better this time around. Thanks for joining us!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC I generally integrate between 8 and 12 weeks depending on how big the new birds are. With only one hen, it might not be an issue. I'll wait to hear more from others...

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to Backyardchickens.com aka BYC!
We are so glad you joined our flock.

Jump right in and make yourself at home.
You might want to think about adding some smaller holed hardware cloth on your coop.
Those holes look quite large.

This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

 

[Allanita]

Sorry for your losses, hope things go better this time around. Thanks for joining us!

Now that we have a LGD Dog (Great Pyrenees) I haven't seen a single Coyote and not more missing chickens or ducks.

 

[Chickenlover2017]

Hi welcome to byc it's a great place to be it's very informative as you have probably discovered I just want to give you a warm welcome to you and I hope you feel welcome here we are glad to have you!