Introducing new chickies!

[the Precious Ladies]

So on feb. 28th its chick day! I will be getting 5 more baby chicks, and will want to have them be in the same chicken coop as my other chickens someday. The other chickens are a year old and the coop is 8x4. What will I need to do?

 

[Elphaba2140]

Try reading this. I was looking for the same information myself tonight.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock

 

[WallTenters]

Here's how I do it.. maybe this will help...

I would quarantine FIRST. NEVER trust outside birds. They may not be sick, but may be carriers of something your birds weren't vaccinated against.

Then....
Put them in a crate or build a little crate for them from hardware cloth to put them in the coop at least during the day. Keep them seperated so the older birds hear and see them and do this for several days. I actually have a little chick area built in under the poop board so the chicks have a heat lamp and can stay the night out there.

When the chicks get big enough to move a bit faster (several weeks old by this point - yours will already be there as they've been quarantined first, but still use the coop-within-a-coop method for at least a few days before letting them out). I make sure I feed the chickens FIRST and everyone's full, then let the chicks out with the chickens and let them kind of wander around a bit. Usually, the hens want into the chick's area more than the chicks want out. The hens will usually give a few "I'm the boss" pecks but by this point the chicks can move out of the way and rarely get really hit. Because the hens have heard and seen them so much by this point they aren't thinking of them as much and are more concerned with the shiny new toys hidden in the chick's little pen.

Also, our roosters are really good about protecting the chicks, so I always make sure a rooster is nearby when I first start letting the chicks out. He will herd them towards him and go show them the ropes for a few hours, then they're usually ready to go back into their little chick area for a nap. I do this for several days and then I start leaving the door to their little coop-within-a-coop open so they can come and go as they please.

Within a week or two of being "out" with the flock they will start going up into the roosts with them instead of sleeping in their own little chick area. Voila. Members of the flock! Sometimes they become a "favorite" of the head hancho birds and one or two will sleep on the top roost! fancy!