Introducing chicks into coop

[featherednest]

any suggestions for introducing chicks into an existing coop with 2 hens and roo?
In the past I have put a small pen with new hens nearby to acclimate them to one another this has worked sometimes, but these are smaller and I am wondering what others have done?

 

[Gargoyle]

We had them in a separate section, separated by chain link, for a couple weeks so they could see each other. Then we started opening it for an hour a day for several days, so they could hang out together under supervision. When we did merge them it went quite smoothly.

 

[thasista]

I have mine in grow out pens in the coop/barn. The older chickens and roosters are around these pens all the time, however when I let the younger ones out they still get picked on. I even wait until they are about the same size. The picking doesn't last long, so I have been just letting them work it out.

 

[Gargoyle]

The picking doesn't last long, so I have been just letting them work it out.

They've been working it out without our help for a few thousand years, so...

 

[Dean W]

I have some younger ones I just released from a pen adjacent to the coop. They do need to stay out of the way of the older hens though. The hens will peck them and the younger ones will make a noise and run off. The roosters don't seem to mess with them yet. And at night they go to their separate sleeping quarters. That is until I lock the young ones out of their baby cage. LOL!

 

[thasista]

They've been working it out without our help for a few thousand years, so...

You couldn't be more right!!

 

[redneck farmer]

Any technique in introduceing a group of chicks to a brand new coop

 

[Gargoyle]

Any technique in introduceing a group of chicks to a brand new coop

mine seem to figure things out pretty quickly. I'll dip their beaks in the water so they know where it is, and if they're little I put them on the roost in the daytime so they know where it is, but then they explore every nook and cranny.

 

[redneck farmer]

Thank u I was thinking of doin just that!!

 

[Meld75]

How long do u leave chicks in the coop before letting them range when u first put them out in the coop? Want to make sure they know that's home.