Integrating young pullets with mature hens - what's the best age?

[lazy gardener]

I've heard and have had good luck with waiting until the chicks stop peeping and are making adult sounds instead.

Having tried it both ways, I've found that it works best for me to integrate between 3 and 6 weeks old. If they are integrated while they are younger, and smaller, they are not considered to be much of a threat to the pecking order. Pretty much, they might get an obligatory peck if they get under foot... otherwise, they're ignored.

 

[CluckerCottage]

So how do you guys keep your chairs clean?

I have one of those white plastic chairs from Lowes and I just tip it over, leaning it against a pile of cinder blocks.
No poop in the seat for me

 

[chickenlady1150]

Quote: HAHA... I actually don't have a chair. I have tires that I buried part of the way for them to get up on and play inside of and I sit on those. The birds love them. They play "Queen of the Hill" on them and then run thru them like an obstacle course . I just wipe them off if they're dirty before I sit. Sometimes if I'm wearing my grubby work jeans I just sit on the ground with them, after making sure there's no poo of course

 

[aart]

Quote: Absolutely agree with lazy gardener....worked great!

I integrated this years chicks at about 4 weeks old.
They went into the coop at 1 week with their heater, separated by a mostly mesh temporary wall from the main flock.
They had their own feed, water, roost, and run in the 'coop partition' as I call it.
At 4 weeks I opened the three tiny doors in the mesh wall and 'taught' them how to go in and out.
At 6 weeks I took down the wall completely.
There were a few pecks of course, some of the bigs pestered the littles more than others, but overall it was much less dramatic than usual.
I think the chicks were less of a 'threat' than when I used to wait until the chicks were larger...and a smaller, faster target to hit, haha!
Now at 10 weeks old, they all get along pretty darn well.
It was nice to get the integration over sooner rather than later and because I had way more chicks this year it was a very good move to integrate younger,
it's pretty crowded out there, but they are already used to each other.

 

[islandgirl82]

I've also tried both ways and find introducing the younger pullets to be far more preferable. When I have chicks, I keep a small starter coop in the big girls' run so they can safely be around each other starting at around 4 weeks. Within a week I begin letting the little girls out of their little run/coop and in with the big girls several times throughout each day, a little longer each time (beginning with just a few minutes) - under my supervision only - The hens are usually far more interested in the chick feed than they are the chicks and the pullets stay close to me for safety anyway. With another week or two, I will let them all out to free range around the yard. The chicks will stick together and close to what they're most familiar with while the hens are comfortable covering more ground. At this point, I will keep a crate in the coop to close the pullets in at night but this gets them acclimated to the big coop for a brief period of time and my last pullets stopped being closed in the crate at night after I went in to close everyone up one evening and found them on the highest roost with my top two hens.

This was their first day free-ranging with the hens (flanked by the top hens, neither of whom have ever raised chicks):

 

[chickenlady1150]

I would have preferred to integrate earlier but it was still pretty cold as I got them so early in the spring. I have no way to separate the coop inside or provide heat for the littles without over heating the bigs. It's not very large and only has 1 door to the run for them. We are building a new coop and this one will have a way to separate them so early integration is easier. We are looking at plans and will make sure we include an area for littles.

I let the littles out yesterday with the bigs and things went better. When I first opened the fence the bigs ran to the littles side and found the food. As with islandgirl82, the bigs were more interested in the food than they were the littles. The littles followed me to the bigs side and found the food and water right off. Once in a while the bigs would come over into their side and see what the littles were doing, give a few pecks and go back to the littles side. I was putting up misters at the same time so the bigs were distracted by that for a while. (It's well over 100* here now and they were very happy with the cool mist. It dropped the temp in the run by about 20*) I left them to mingle until bed time and there was some pecking but the littles seemed to hold their own pretty well. One would run away but come right back while the other 2 stood their ground and after a few pecks the bigs decided they weren't going to be bullied so they went off and left them alone. I watched from the porch so I was close enough to intervene but far enough away to see what might happen when I'm not right there.

At bedtime the littles couldn't figure out how to go inside so after all the bigs were in and roosted I put the littles in on the separate roost. As I watched thru the nest boxes the littles tried to move over to the ladder roost with the bigs and promptly got scolded. I gave it about 10 minutes and 2 of the littles went back to their roost but 1 tried to stay on the bottom rung of the ladder roost. All the bigs roost on the top and one of them wouldn't let up on her and just kept pecking at her head so I decided to put the littles in their crate for the night. I will open the fence again today and let them spend most of the day together and see what happens tonight. I expect to have to crate the littles for another week or so but that's about all I can do as they are quickly outgrowing the crate. Hopefully they will start getting along better soon and now I know that I need to get chicks later in the spring so it's warmer and integrate earlier.

 

[islandgirl82]

I would have preferred to integrate earlier but it was still pretty cold as I got them so early in the spring. I have no way to separate the coop inside or provide heat for the littles without over heating the bigs. It's not very large and only has 1 door to the run for them. We are building a new coop and this one will have a way to separate them so early integration is easier. We are looking at plans and will make sure we include an area for littles.

I let the littles out yesterday with the bigs and things went better. When I first opened the fence the bigs ran to the littles side and found the food. As with islandgirl82, the bigs were more interested in the food than they were the littles. The littles followed me to the bigs side and found the food and water right off. Once in a while the bigs would come over into their side and see what the littles were doing, give a few pecks and go back to the littles side. I was putting up misters at the same time so the bigs were distracted by that for a while. (It's well over 100* here now and they were very happy with the cool mist. It dropped the temp in the run by about 20*) I left them to mingle until bed time and there was some pecking but the littles seemed to hold their own pretty well. One would run away but come right back while the other 2 stood their ground and after a few pecks the bigs decided they weren't going to be bullied so they went off and left them alone. I watched from the porch so I was close enough to intervene but far enough away to see what might happen when I'm not right there.

At bedtime the littles couldn't figure out how to go inside so after all the bigs were in and roosted I put the littles in on the separate roost. As I watched thru the nest boxes the littles tried to move over to the ladder roost with the bigs and promptly got scolded. I gave it about 10 minutes and 2 of the littles went back to their roost but 1 tried to stay on the bottom rung of the ladder roost. All the bigs roost on the top and one of them wouldn't let up on her and just kept pecking at her head so I decided to put the littles in their crate for the night. I will open the fence again today and let them spend most of the day together and see what happens tonight. I expect to have to crate the littles for another week or so but that's about all I can do as they are quickly outgrowing the crate. Hopefully they will start getting along better soon and now I know that I need to get chicks later in the spring so it's warmer and integrate earlier.

It sounds as though integration is going quite well actually. A few pecks here and there is to be expected. The littles must learn their place. The bigs aren't ready to share their roosts yet and that's alright. Keeping the pullets in the crate at night is what's safest for them at this point but they'll be accepted on at least the bottom roost in no time. Especially if that one little remains so determined.

 

[CrazedCowgirl]

Everyone has such splendid advice! I have 5, 6 month old hens and 2 3 month old pullets that are currently in quarantine (and will be until the end of the month.)I was wondering how I should inrotduce my Littles to my established flock mid July.

My Littles are currently in thier mobile quarantine run and I was planning on moving it over next to my big girls run for a couple of weeks so they could get used to each other before adding the Littles and hoping they can fend for themselves.

Would it be a good idea to add one of the lower ranking hens from my flock in with the Littles, add them.in while they free range or add them in the coop at night so the girls "don't notice" that they have new flock members?

Any help others suggestions would be wonderful!

 

[chickenlady1150]

Quote: It sounds as though integration is going quite well actually. A few pecks here and there is to be expected. The littles must learn their place. The bigs aren't ready to share their roosts yet and that's alright. Keeping the pullets in the crate at night is what's safest for them at this point but they'll be accepted on at least the bottom roost in no time. Especially if that one little remains so determined.

Yes things are going well, I just wish it would go a little faster. Sunrise is about 5:45 and I open up the coop about 30 minutes after that. I left the fence closed until about 9:00am yesterday and things were calm all day. A few pecks as normal but other than that each group pretty much stayed to themselves most of the day. I did put the littles in the crate for bed.

In the mornings the bigs are really pecky with each other and pretty pushy so I wasn't sure how it would go with the littles. Well I gave it a shot this morning and the results were less than ideal. I carried the crate to the littles side and let them out but didn't shut the fence. About 2 minutes later I heard the littles squawking and found that the bigs had all gathered around and were collectively pecking at them. The littles would try and run away but the bigs would just push them right back in and keep pecking. I gathered up the littles and put them back on their side with the fence closed. I am wondering if I should let it take it's course in the mornings but just can't bring myself to do that yet. Will it make the littles stand up to them or set the tone for the long haul? I know the littles have to learn their place but it seems pretty harsh to me since they are so much smaller still, about half the size of the bigs. If the littles were slightly bigger they could push back and maybe they will eventually, only time will tell. Just not sure what to do...

I go to work at 8:30 and will open the fence before I leave. My husband is home today so he can keep an eye on them and watch for trouble.

Thanks for your support and encouragement. It is helpful.

 

[islandgirl82]

Everyone has such splendid advice! I have 5, 6 month old hens and 2 3 month old pullets that are currently in quarantine (and will be until the end of the month.)I was wondering how I should inrotduce my Littles to my established flock mid July.

My Littles are currently in thier mobile quarantine run and I was planning on moving it over next to my big girls run for a couple of weeks so they could get used to each other before adding the Littles and hoping they can fend for themselves.

Would it be a good idea to add one of the lower ranking hens from my flock in with the Littles, add them.in while they free range or add them in the coop at night so the girls "don't notice" that they have new flock members?

Any help others suggestions would be wonderful!

Personally, I would not remove any of the older pullets to place them with the younger. You're dealing with two groups close in age and based on my experience, I think your integration will be a little tougher. Older, mature hens are more secure of their place in the flock. Adding new chicks to what's already a young flock could wind up doing a lot of damage to your littles. Best to let them continue to see each other through barriers and have very short, well supervised mingling time.

Yes things are going well, I just wish it would go a little faster. Sunrise is about 5:45 and I open up the coop about 30 minutes after that. I left the fence closed until about 9:00am yesterday and things were calm all day. A few pecks as normal but other than that each group pretty much stayed to themselves most of the day. I did put the littles in the crate for bed.

In the mornings the bigs are really pecky with each other and pretty pushy so I wasn't sure how it would go with the littles. Well I gave it a shot this morning and the results were less than ideal. I carried the crate to the littles side and let them out but didn't shut the fence. About 2 minutes later I heard the littles squawking and found that the bigs had all gathered around and were collectively pecking at them. The littles would try and run away but the bigs would just push them right back in and keep pecking. I gathered up the littles and put them back on their side with the fence closed. I am wondering if I should let it take it's course in the mornings but just can't bring myself to do that yet. Will it make the littles stand up to them or set the tone for the long haul? I know the littles have to learn their place but it seems pretty harsh to me since they are so much smaller still, about half the size of the bigs. If the littles were slightly bigger they could push back and maybe they will eventually, only time will tell. Just not sure what to do...

I go to work at 8:30 and will open the fence before I leave. My husband is home today so he can keep an eye on them and watch for trouble.

Thanks for your support and encouragement. It is helpful.

Supervised mingling at ALL times during integration, even if it's just for a few minutes here and there. If the hens are ganging up, chicks could wind up severely injured or dead. They're still far too little to defend themselves and NEED you there. You should be the boss of your flock. I use my index finger just like they use their beaks. When one is getting too bossy with another, I poke her just as a higher up would peck her, not hard, just enough to make her move. Most of the time, I don't even make contact and they move away from whomever they're getting bossy with.