Introducing 6 week old pullets to a 4 month old mixed flock...

[paradisepentacoop]

Good day all~
I have my main flock of Australorps and Sebrights that I want to add three 6 week old pullets to. The problem I am facing is that my pullets are already the size of the four month old Sebright bantams. This prevents the usual "provide a hiding place for the littles to get away from the bigs" advice. I particularly worry about the little hens being bullied by my silver Sebright rooster, who is a lot more territorial than my Golden Sebright head rooster.

Right now I have them in an adjacent run that they have been in for a week. The run shares a hardware cloth wall, so they have had plenty of time to eye each other and know they exist. Part of me wants to stick the Silver Sebright Roo in the small run while the rest get intermixed and sort themselves out. I also have thought about sneaking the little ones in under the current flock as they bed for the night.

Thoughts? I can provide photos of the sizes for reference if it helps.

 

[paradisepentacoop]

I have seen advice on putting a member of the older flock with the younger. My pullet run is pretty small, so I would worry that space would add to the stress instead of the exp being beneficial.

 

[paradisepentacoop]

Bump