Introducing chick to hens...

[ch1ckenmama]

Hello! My baby chicks have all their feathers now. All are healthy and happy. They have been in their brooder in the coop for about 3 weeks now. So our hens have been around them. Can I introduce them to my hens now and let the roam the run with them?
This is my first time having to introduce chickens so not sure when the right time is and how to do it.

Thanks!!

 

[eggbert420]

Sure, just keep a eye on them.

 

[azygous]

Yes, your chicks are ready to begin entry into the flock. But you do need to take precautions.

Chicks need hiding places and get-aways. Something as simple as a tree or shrub branch with leaves still on tossed into the run will serve as a hiding place. A table or chair will serve as a high place to evade the adults. Extra perches in the run are even better.

But the best thing you can do to insure the safety of your chicks is to rig up a panic room. I got the idea ten years ago when I had but two adult hens and three chicks. The hens were scarfing the chicks' food so I made a little enclosure out of chicken wire in one corner of the tiny run. I made the opening just large enough so the chicks could get through but not the big girls.

Since then, I've perfected the panic room by making portals in every partition in my run with one sectioned off space where the chicks can find refuge and relax and eat and drink without any harassment from the adult flock. I even brood in this space now, and my chicks grow up from day one in close proximity to the flock, making integration a breeze.

The secret to a successful panic room is to have it large enough so a grown hen can't stick her head inside and eat the chicks' food, and it should have more than one entrance so a chick can get in if one entrance is blocked. Adult bullies will do that.

Look at my article on outdoor brooding linked below and you'll see photos of my panic room.

 

[ch1ckenmama]

Yes, your chicks are ready to begin entry into the flock. But you do need to take precautions

Chicks need hiding places and get-aways. Something as simple as a tree or shrub branch with leaves still on tossed into the run will serve as a hiding place. A table or chair will serve as a high place to evade the adults. Extra perches in the run are even better.

But the best thing you can do to insure the safety of your chicks is to rig up a panic room. I got the idea ten years ago when I had but two adult hens and three chicks. The hens were scarfing the chicks' food so I made a little enclosure out of chicken wire in one corner of the tiny run. I made the opening just large enough so the chicks could get through but not the big girls.

Since then, I've perfected the panic room by making portals in every partition in my run with one sectioned off space where the chicks can find refuge and relax and eat and drink without any harassment from the adult flock. I even brood in this space now, and my chicks grow up from day one in close proximity to the flock, making integration a breeze.

The secret to a successful panic room is to have it large enough so a grown hen can't stick her head inside and eat the chicks' food, and it should have more than one entrance so a chick can get in if one entrance is blocked. Adult bullies will do that.

Look at my article on outdoor brooding linked below and you'll see photos of my panic room.

Thank you! Great idea!! Thank you for the advice. I will give that a try. Im excited to let the chicks out!

 

[ch1ckenmama]

Sure, just keep a eye on them.

Thanks! I will give it a try. I may wait until tomorrow. We have bad thunderstorms today. Cant wait to let them out to play.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

the panic room idea works great. I use it with my chicks every spring. I partition off a section in the coop and as the chicks get big enough I just pull back the ends of the fence divider so the chicks can slip through but adults can't. I leave it like this till the chicks start to venture outside into the run, after a couple days of them going out into the run I jsut remove the divider and let them mingle from then on.

The only thing is the first time the leave the coop they usually don't figure out how to get back, so I have to put them back in the first day or two of them leaving the coop. Once they start to find their own way in at dusk is when I remove the partition.

 

[ch1ckenmama]

the panic room idea works great.  I use it with my chicks every spring.  I partition off a section in the coop and as the chicks get big enough I just pull back the ends of the fence divider so the chicks can slip through but adults can't.   I leave it like this till the chicks start to venture outside into the run, after a couple days of them going out into the run I jsut remove the divider and let them mingle from then on.

Great! Thanks for the advice. Im excited to let them adventure.

The only thing is the first time the leave the coop they usually don't figure out how to get back, so I have to put them back in the first day or two of them leaving the coop.  Once they start to find their own way in at dusk is when I remove the partition.