Introducing correctly?

[PREPPYGURL46]

Hi flock,
2 6.5 week old Barred rock chicks (I think one male, one female) and 2 30ish week old laying Barred rock hens.

The chicks are in the dining room but as it is now 70-85 degrees during the day, they are getting yard time.

I started with them on their own in the grass for a few days. Then moved the setup a few inches from the current chicken location. Immediately Petunia tried to peck the chicks. After a few days of this, the hens seemed to lose interest. I then upgraded the chicks to a larger area with just the one piece of fencing in-between.

Typically the hens have no interest in the chicks at all but Petunia in particular will just randomly peck at them as she walks past. She is the grumpier chicken out of the two (Lilac survived a dog encounter with us nursing her back to health so she seems more willing to work with us ).

Will the pecking continue? Should I be doing something else? We plan to keep fence in-between the couples until the chicks are closer on size to them. Will put a temporary coop out here with a temporary fence in a few weeks when the evening temperatures are higher.

 

[Bella the Chicken Lover]

I would keep a close eye on them. She may be just pecking curiously, but if she does continue for a couple of says more, just make sure that she can't get to them. Once they are bigger, able defend themselves better, they should be fine.

 

[Tonyroo]

More exposure between the chicks and adults will help get them use to each other. Especially if you can house a section in the coop for the chicks to sleep with the adults.

 

[PREPPYGURL46]

She cannot do more then a peck (her head barely fits through the fence) and the chicks seem to know immediately to back up. Bit concerned for the future though.

 

[PREPPYGURL46]

More exposure between the chicks and adults will help get them use to each other. Especially if you can house a section in the coop for the chicks to sleep with the adults.

It's still too cold overnight for them to be out to sleep. And I don't trust Petunia unsupervised at this point. Lilac the friendlier just has no interest unless I am out here then really ahead coming to see me, not them

 

[rosemarythyme]

It's normal for an adult to go after chicks during integration. I would give them the opportunity to mingle (with supervision) and see just how bad it is or isn't. My guess is she'll go after them if given the opportunity, but won't waste all her time on it, the fact that she normally ignores them is a good sign. Some pecking or bullying is acceptable, attacking to the point of injury or the chicks being chased from all resources is not.

What's a bigger concern is I think the chicks can fit through the fence openings in your adults' run, so that might make early integration difficult in your set up, but you will need to confirm if that's the case. I also don't see clutter to provide hiding places so that the chicks can take cover from the adults: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/page-6#post-25037140

BTW how cold is it overnight? At 6 1/2 weeks they should be able to tolerate down to freezing as long as you provide a dry, draft free place to sleep.