intergating my new chicks

[my peeps and me]

I am adding new chicks to my existing flock of 6. I have 6 one year old Columbian Rock Cross hens, they are in 1 coop / run. I also have 7 Marans (7 weeks old) in another coop and run. I have 2 Golden Commets that are 3 weeks old and 8 Easter Eggers 2 weeks old. These 10 are together in my shed. I will be getting 3 brand new Buff Orps this week. I am hopng I will be able to add the 3 Orps in with the Golden Comets and the Easter Eggers. Does anyone know when I should be able to add these 13 chicks in with the Marans?

 

[M.sue]

Anytime after your 28-30 day quarantine of the new chicks. Add the new ones in the evening when the older gals are roosting.

I'm currently contemplating the same with my new additions. Mine are past the quarantine stage and it was recently suggested to hold out till the new ones are more the same size as the older ones.

From what I've been told the older ones can be bullies. The pecking order will be disrupted with any additions but I guess waiting will lessen it a bit.

 

[my peeps and me]

You don't thnk they will hurt them when they wake up and find strangers in their coop?

 

[azygous]

That's quite the mix you have! It's touchy merging different ages, but they usually sort it out given time.

A better way of introducing the young ones, so they'll have a sense of belonging to the coop, would be to install them several hours before sundown, locking the older ones out until just before roosting time. The youngsters will be roosting, and you can supervise the older ones if they try to knock the youngsters off the perch.

The real challenge will be out in the run. It's important that the young ones have some kind of refuge where they can dodge the bullies. It can be a "panic room", an enclosure that only the youngsters can fit into, or some branches tossed into the run with the leaves still on where they can hide under.

Place their food and water inside a small enclosure so the older ones won't prevent them from getting enough nourishment. I put up two walls of chicken wire in one corner with small pop holes cut into the walls. It sure makes the merger go more smoothly.

You may need to supervise roosting for a week or so until the youngsters begin to feel less intimidated about going inside. This is always the hardest part of raising chicks.

 

[my peeps and me]

Wow, sounds like I have my work cut out for me. I like the idea of a refuge for the chciks to escape the bulllying. I will have to get to work on that. To avoid additional issues I will add more roosting space in the coop. Would you recommend sharing the run (with a refuge) for a few days before I put them into the same coop?

 

[azygous]

As a management protocol, I always introduce new chicks to the run around age three-weeks, weather permitting. If the weather is very warm, I start letting the chicks spend days in their "play-pen" inside the run as early as two-weeks.

The little babies are, of course, inside a special pen where the adult chickens can't reach them, but everyone gets to know one another. Of course, the babies get popped back into their brooder as soon as the day begins to cool off, and for the night.

After spending days outside in their play-pen and nights in their brooder, they're well-acquainted with the flock by the time I move them into the coop at age six-weeks. A week prior to moving them into the coop, I will open small pop-holes in the "play-pen" so the chicks can begin to mingle with the flock, and learn the pecking order. This is when they quickly learn to navigate the pop-holes back into their "panic-room/play-pen" at top speed.

When they move into the coop, they usually get chased out in the mornings and end up directly in their safe enclosure. I sometimes have to put up partitions on the perch if the adults give the youngsters a bad time at roosting time. (I tend to micro-manage and referee a lot.)

But the system has worked very well for me for a number of years now.

 

[bj taylor]

how does it work for the babies to go into a coop they aren't familiar with? do you put them in there at night?
mine are used to going back into their brooder at night (5 wks). they've had a couple of weeks in a pen adjacent to the big girls so both know each other fairly well.
i feel like they should start having some real face time, but don't want injuries.

 

[mstricer]

I would say 2-3 weeks is way to early for them to go out. I never have any issues with my chicks. I weight till they are feathered out, around 6-8 weeks. Then I put them in as dog kennel in the coop with food and water and leave them in there for a couple days, then I let them out of the kennel and mosey around, after about a week I remove the kennel and everyone knows everyone and all is good. If you put them on the roost before the big girls go in, it had been my experience, that they will get pecked till they get pushed off. Just take it slow.

 

[Ole rooster]

I have seven chicks now that are staying out all day at 3 weeks of age. The other three youngsters hatched by a broody are 2 weeks old and have been out a week. That's the mama's choice. The seven I put up every night but out in their pen next day. I have to pick them up to put them in a box to take out and they've gotten to where in the morning when they see me they run to me to put them in the box. They love it outside. That's how the one got the black snake on it, but she's doing a lot better. I had a broody hatch 6 last winter and she them out in 3 days in 35 degree weather. I sold 2 cockerels and 4 are laying now from that hatch.

I would rethink saying 3 weeks is to young. Mother hens know it ain't so, why not you?

 

[azygous]

I should have been more clear. The weather has a big bearing on three-week olds going outside. It has to be at least 75F. They have shelter in the way of their pet crate to cuddle together for naps and to escape breezes and the direct sun. They are inside a play pen where no adult hen can get to them. They enjoy being outside and flexing their legs and wings more than anyone can believe. When the day cools down, they get loaded into the crate and transported back inside to their brooder.

Then, a week before I anticipate moving them into the coop, their feathers having come in fully by now, I cut pop holes into the play pen so the chicks can explore the bigger world of adult chickens. They quickly learn to run back to their safe zone when chased. I also cut pop holes into every wall of the run where the babies might get cornered by a bully. My run has several wings, having been added onto over the years. It's crucial that there are no dead-ends for them to find themselves trapped with no way out, opening them up to being pecked to death. It is just awesome, and hugely entertaining, to watch those little tykes navigate the entire run at full tilt, foiling wood-be bullies by ducking through strategically placed pop holes at the last second.

This system has worked extremely well. Yes, I do merge my chicks very young, but there are numerous safe-guards, and I supervise them a lot.