Introducing Chicks???

[ChickenLilly]

So we are thinking about getting a chick this summer. I don't know how I should introduce it to my 2 laying hens. I really want this chick to be happy with my chickens without getting pecked and bullied. Does anyone have suggestions? By the way, my chickens sleep perching on a ladder barely big enough for the two, so i cant slip it under them in the night.

 

[LRH97]

If you have a broody hen, she should be sitting on a nest, so you could slip them under her after about three weeks of sitting. By this time, she should think that her eggs are hatching. Night, as you mentioned, is the best time to do this. Also, I wouldn't suggest just getting one chick. I would say no less than three.

 

[Judy]

Yes, a broody isn't going to sleep on a ladder when broody. She would sleep on the floor first.

 

[ChickenLilly]

oh, wait! sorry, i meant laying hens. i get broody and laying mixed up a lot. any suggestions for laying hens?

 

[LRH97]

oh, gosh! sorry, i meant egg-laying hens. they dont want to hatch eggs, but they lay them. i get the 2 mixed up a lot.

That's Ok.

You don't want to stick baby chicks in with non-broody hens. With new additions, the hens will need to re-organize the pecking order, and babies are simply too fragile for this. You could however, get a few chicks and wait until they're old enough to introduce them to the older girls.

 

[ChickenLilly]

ok... so when do i introduce them? 2 or 3 months?

 

[LRH97]

ok... so when do i introduce them? 2 or 3 months?

Yes, that will be fine. I've even done it at about a month and a half, and didn't have any problems. Two months is probably better, though. I first let them range together for about a week or two. That's the way I've always done it, If this isn't an option for you, try to find some way that the older birds can see the younger birds, but can't get to them. For example, setting up a small pen inside the coop, or dividing their run.

 

[ChickenLilly]

Great!!! Thanks so much.