intro 4 week olds to older hens

[gtbullitt08]

i have 4 game hens i got 4 weeks ago and i also got 18 buff 3 day olds the same day. the buffs were outgrowing their surroundings so yesterday morning i put the buffs in the big house with the older hens. observed all day and everything seemed fine. this morning i awake to find 2 dead buffs and 1 missing feathers . was it too soon to put them in same pen?

 

[DraigAthar]

Did the 3 day olds have supplemental heat in the big house with the older hens?

 

[gtbullitt08]

the 3 day olds were in my garage with heat lamp at correct temperature for 4 weeks. they were doing great and getting too big for my brooder. i then put them in chicken coop yesterday with older hens.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

For a smooth transition, the birds that you introduce should be physically the same size. So if I was introducing a group of pullets to a group of older laying hens, I wouldn't attempt to do so until the pullets were at least 18 weeks old, physically mature, and able to withstand some abuse. And I wouldn't do it all at once, I'd let them get to know each other on opposite sides of the fence for a couple of weeks before I put them together in the pasture, where the younger birds would have plenty of room to run away.

As you've unfortunately found out, just putting chicks in with older hens is a recipe for disaster. Older hens will kill chicks, as you've found out. Not much else to do here but remove the chicks before more are killed.

 

[gtbullitt08]

the chicks are back in the brooder. i will build a new coop for the 4 older hens. thanks for the help.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I hope all goes smoothly from now on. It's always so hard to find dead chicks. Good luck.

 

[stevodod]

i have 4 game hens i got 4 weeks ago and i also got 18 buff 3 day olds the same day. the buffs were outgrowing their surroundings so yesterday morning i put the buffs in the big house with the older hens. observed all day and everything seemed fine. this morning i awake to find 2 dead buffs and 1 missing feathers . was it too soon to put them in same pen?

The birds answered that question for you, a big 'YES'. Sucks, but size makes all the difference. If my smaller flock tries to go into the big house, it's beat down time....