Introducing my new chicks to the flock

[ecoles1006]

This is my first time posting on BYC but I think you guys might be able to give me some advice. We have an exsisting flock of 3 hens that are about a year old now. We decided to increase our flock by purchasing six more little ones from the tractor supply store. We bought the chicks in early March so they are around 7 weeks old now. Our exsisting flock are Rhode Island Reds, and our new chicks are: 1 Rhode Island Red, 2 Brahma Whites, and 3 Australorp Blacks.

Our chickens are partial free range, we let them out of their fenced area when we are home or are spending time outside in the garden. To introduce our new chicks we added on the the old coop, and added another small section of fenced area to the exsisting fence. To separte the two flocks we put up chicken wire between the new addition and the old part of the coop. The new chicks have been in their part of the coop and fence now for about a week. We know for sure that the new Rhode Island Red is a pullet, but the others are still a question. Our guess right now is that there is one Australorp rooster and one Brahma rooster.

The question I have about this is: When and how should we put the two flocks together without the separating fences?

 

[faykokoWV]

There are lots of different schools of thought on this. I like to put them in before they get big enough to be threatening to the older birds, but not so young that they are in danger of being hurt. The way I do it

1. During the day I put the younger birds in the coop (some people introduce them after dark when everyone is sleeping)
2. I make sure to watch them for a couple of hours to see how everyone is behaving
3. I remind them that I'm top dog if I see them being too mean (I chase off the aggressor)
4. I give treats to the older birds when I put the new ones in so they are slightly distracted
5. I make sure there are lots of spaces that the younger birds can go to that the older ones cant reach just in case they need to run away.