Introducing different age groups

[maddogdodge]

I hope this is in the right section, feel free to move it if it isn't.

Okay so I have two questions. I currently have 6, 8 week old chicks (two, possibly 3 are roosters, i'm planning to keep 1 roo). In roughly 4-5 weeks time, i'm planning to get 15 one year old hens from a chicken farmer, so my current chicks will be about 13 weeks old at the time. What i'm wondering is how would be best for me to introduce the 15 adult hens to my established youngsters. Will it be okay for me to just put them together as long as the smaller ones have areas they can get away from the bigger hens? That would make things easier for me if that is going to be okay.

My second question is regarding my current 6 day old chicks. I'm wondering at what age will i be able to introduce them to what will hopefully be a flock of the adult hens and my older chicks. Will it be safe to introduce them to the flock at 8 - 10 weeks old if they have places to hide from the bigger chickens?

I'm just trying to get as much info as i can before the time comes to introduce groups together, in case i have to build a new coop or something to contain different groups.

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have

 

[Judy]

If it were me, I would set up a second area so that I could separate them if I needed to. As a general rule, it's safest to mix them when they are all about the same size. And housing them side by side for a few weeks lets them get accustomed to each other and can minimize the conflict during the actual mixing.

But some people just throw them all in and watch for blood, and let them sort it out for themselves unless they see blood. How well this goes will vary from one flock to the next. It can help to have distractions and multiple food//water stations available when you mix them, but probably the most iportant thing is lots fo space -- with hiding places if possible. Here's a whole thread about different people's experiences:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/803815/integrating-two-groups/0_20