I have a similar issue but different ages...
I have 7 that are 14 wks and I call them the bigs, 2 Austrolorps, 2 Barred Rocks, 2 RIR's, and 1 ISA Brown. I have 3 that are 7 wks, they are Whiting Welsummer Hybrids from a breeder in Delta Colorado. I call them the littles. Last week I put the littles outside with a fence separating the run. The run is 20x30 feet and I have the last 3rd fenced off for the littles with shelter, water, and food for them. At night I put the littles in a dog crate that fits inside the coop so they are in there but protected from the bigs.
They have been pacing the fence for the last week and once in a while one of the bigs will give the littles a peck thru the fence but they mostly seem to ignore each other. Yesterday I decided to open up the fence and see how things went. For several hours none of them noticed it was even open. Finally one of the bigs did and she seemed to be ok with them. She was eating their food and one got too close so she pecked it on the head and that was the end of it. Then all the other bigs realized what was up and headed that way. The littles just stayed out of the way for a while and all seemed to be ok. Then one of the littles got too close and all the bigs surrounded the littles and started pecking at them. I shooed the bigs away and they went for the shelter in the small area so I gathered up the littles and put them in the large run area. I showed them the food and water that is under the coop which is 4 ft off the ground. After about an hr the littles were getting food and water and seemed content so I opened up the fence again. After about 30 minutes the bigs came into the large area and chased them out form under the coop and surrounded them again. I shooed them away, scooped up the littles, put them back on their side and closed the fence. Obviously it's too soon but after a week I thought I would give it a go.
The Welly's will weigh in at abut 9 lbs when fully grown and will be more than capable of defending themselves. I had one in my last flock and she was without a doubt the Queen of the castle. I am hoping that these littles will be able to hold their own when they are bigger. I have to go out of town next weekend and was hoping that my DH wouldn't have to worry about the separation issues while I'm gone but oh well... I will try again when I get home form my trip and we'll see how it goes.
We don't allow free ranging all day because we have a hawk issue. Several of the chicken keepers in the area have lost chickens to them recently. They have become quite a problem in the area but because they are federally protected we can't do anything about it. We can't even catch and release them. I called the game warden about it and even he can't do anything. The hawks sit in my willow or my neighbors elm tree and watch the chickens for a while at a time and then go out to the fields and hunt when they tire of that. Therefore we keep the chickens in their run which is fully fenced and netted until evening when I see that hawks have moved on. I would like for them to free range all day but it's just not safe for them at this point...
I'll let you know what happens next week when I try again. Good luck with yours
My little ones just run to the dogs. And that is usually the end of it. lol Have one dog that keeps the hens away from the food when I have the chicks out free ranging. I have just started letting them out when I am home so I can go check on them regularly. They are only 4 weeks old. Usually stay very close to the coop. Today they ventured out about 15ft away. Which is the furthest.