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

[islandgirl82]

Thanks for the answer. That's what my husband suggested as well so I left them separated while I was at work. I stepped out long enough to feed the dog but that was obviously too long so now I will only do supervised...

How big do they need to be before they can defend themselves and be fully integrated? The crate for bedtime is going to be too small for them soon and I have no other way to separate them at night. The littles are 9 wks old and the bigs are 16 wks old so they are only 7 wks apart but that seems to be enough of a difference.

In hind sight I should have passed on the littles but didn't know anything about integrating and the feed store finally got the ones I really wanted so I bought them. When I bought the bigs the store had no idea if the breeder was sending the Welly Hybrids or not and I couldn't wait to get them due to vacation timing so I bought what they had at the time. I did research what they knew they were getting before they came in though. The bigs are as follows... 2 RIR's, 1 ISA Brown, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Austrolorps. We bought 2 of each but 1 of the ISA's turned out to be a roo so he is no longer with us. The littles were my preferred breed but I am happy with the others too.

You really are dealing with tough ages to be integrating which is going to slow the progress - in my opinion. A 7 week age difference is huge when they're this young. Slow and steady is my suggestion. Keep a watchful eye on their progression. You'll definitely know when they're ready and able to be a single flock.

 

[CrazedCowgirl]

Do you ever let your flock out for free range? That's an excellent time to have the first mingling. Toss a bit of scratch on the ground before they go to bed for the night, and let both groups out. As others have said, supervision at first is a must. The sooner you can quarantine the better. How big is your coop and run? dimensions, please.

My girls free range for a few hours during the week after I get home from work and 4-8 hours a day on the weekends. They have a fully enclosed 10x10 run with their 4x6 coop in there. They have free access to feed, water, and grit in their run and I've made a "free range" area of my yard about 50x25 that extends off their run. I have dogs and one happens to be a chicken killer so I had to put up some kind of fence to keep her out and away from the birds.

My little is in a 4x10 isolation pen with a 2x3 coop and free access to food, water and grit. I move it around the yard so she can have fresh grass once a week. I'm planning on moving my iso pen over next to the bug girls run this weekend and just letting them get to know each other through the fences before free ranging them together.

 

[chickenlady1150]

@chickenlady1150 multiple feed/water stations can really help


I second this statement. A bossy bird will guard the food and water but they can't be in multiple places at once. Your littles may be getting more exercise running between feeders/waterers but they'll at least have access.

I do have a second food and water station at the opposite end of the run where I keep the littles during the day. When they are mingling the fence is open so they have access to either end.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Just integrated my 4-5 week old chicks. Had them penned for about 5 days, opened the door yesterday. They are out and about like they own the place. An occasional peck but nothing serious, one was trying to take food out of an older hens mouth, another was pecking at my oldest roosters wattles, others were going everywhere. No one cared. Easiest integration yet.

 

[chickenlady1150]

Just integrated my 4-5 week old chicks. Had them penned for about 5 days, opened the door yesterday. They are out and about like they own the place. An occasional peck but nothing serious, one was trying to take food out of an older hens mouth, another was pecking at my oldest roosters wattles, others were going everywhere. No one cared. Easiest integration yet.

That's awesome

So glad it's going well and here's hoping mine get there soon!

 

[chickenlady1150]

Bedtime went better last night than the night before. The bigs went to bed faster with only 1 BR concerned about the littles. Every time the littles would try and head up the ladder she would chase them right back down. She finally settled in on the top rung of the roost and left them alone after several squirts from the water bottled. One of the RIR bigs was trying to get on the top rung of the ladder roost and the other bigs kept pushing her back off. She soon gave up and perched on the window sill outside opposite the roost staring at and talking to the bigs inside. It almost seemed like she was begging for mercy, "Please let me in?"

Meanwhile the littles were up and down the ladder going in and out the door while the RIR just ignored them. She was way more concerned with getting up on that roost. After about 15 minutes it was dark so I put the RIR inside on the bottom rung of the ladder roost. She pushed her way up on top and settled in. Then I pushed the littles inside and shut the door. They wondered around for a few minutes not sure what to do so I put them up on the side roost and everyone settled in and got quiet.

This morning I was up before they were again and everyone was in the same place they were last night. After the bigs were out for about 15 minutes I looked in on the littles and 2 were still perched while the other was wondering around. I pushed them out the door and the bigs promptly started scolding them. After a squirt all but the 1 BR walked away and started playing with the willow branches that had fallen in the run last night. The 1 BR that was concerned with them last night would not be distracted. She kept following them around and when she could get within reach she would give a hard peck and then chase them when they ran. Squirts would stop her for the moment but then she was right back to it. The other bigs ignored the littles as long as they were not encroaching into their immediate space.

I am now thinking that this 1 BR is the biggest reason the integration is not going so well. She seems to be the one who instigates most of the chasing of and pecking at the littles. My thought is to separate her rather than the littles and see if things calm down. She is not dominant as far as I can tell and maybe that's part of the problem. Should I separate her out instead of the littles?

The problem with this is that I don't have anywhere to isolate her and keep the littles isolated too. If I separate her then the littles are with the rest of them and I can't be out there all day to monitor. Just not sure what to do. I keep thinking that I just need to be more patient but it's been 3 weeks now. I thought we'd be further along than we are now.
Getting impatient and feeling frustrated...

 

[aart]

The worst bully is probably low bird of the bigs pecking order.....
...they seem to be the ones who either love finally having someone of lower status to pick on,
or they are concerned about being passed over again in the pecking order.

I would not separate her, that just sets you up for another integration,
unless there is copious blood letting or she's trapping/pinning the chicks down and beating them unmercilessly.
Then she'll need a time out, just for an hour or a few, see if that helps....might have to rinse and repeat the timeout before it has an effect.

 

[chickenlady1150]

The worst bully is probably low bird of the bigs pecking order.....
...they seem to be the ones who either love finally having someone of lower status to pick on,
or they are concerned about being passed over again in the pecking order.

I would not separate her, that just sets you up for another integration,
unless there is copious blood letting or she's trapping/pinning the chicks down and beating them unmercilessly.
Then she'll need a time out, just for an hour or a few, see if that helps....might have to rinse and repeat the timeout before it has an effect.

Well that crossed my mind too. I definitely don't want another integration...
There's no blood letting as of yet but as soon as she starts I get the littles out of harms way in their own area. I have to re-pot all my house plants today so I will set up to do that next the run so I can watch. I'll isolate her when she starts in for an hr and then see where we're at.
Thanks again for the advice

 

[aart]

Quote: I'd make sure the littles had hiding places they can get to on their own, instead of you rescuing them.....
.....they need to learn to deal with it, and the bully needs to learn they can get away.
I there area adjacent to the main coop/run?
Can you put small doors that they will fit thru but the bigs cannot?
Pics of your setup might help.

 

[chickenlady1150]

I'd make sure the littles had hiding places they can get to on their own, instead of you rescuing them.....
.....they need to learn to deal with it, and the bully needs to learn they can get away.
I there area adjacent to the main coop/run?
Can you put small doors that they will fit thru but the bigs cannot?
Pics of your setup might help.

Yes their area is actually in the run and I just put a temporary plastic orange construction fence up across the run.
My husband and I were actually discussing putting in a few hiding places for them so great minds think alike huh?

I can easily cut a few small holes in the bottom of the plastic fence and hopefully they will be able to figure out how to use them. We were thinking about putting a small kiddie pool upside down with a hole cut into the side just big enough for the littles. We ended up having to replace the swamp cooler today so not sure how much will get done in the chicken run but I'll be home tomorrow and Tuesday so maybe then.