Introducing new chicks to older flock

[RRox]

I started five years ago with (10) day-old ISA Brown chickens from Hoover Hatchery. I LOVE THESE CHICKENS. Today I have two left due to MAREK’S DISEASE and predators.

So I ordered (15) day-old Golden Buffs from Meyer Hatchery (their name for ISA Browns) who are now eight weeks old. They are out in the barn with the two older hens separated for now.

I need to figure out how to let them join the two older ones seamlessly. They certainly outnumber the original flock, but I am afraid they will be picked on. How long should I wait to introduce them and how should I do it?

I have two small Tractor Supply coops in two horse stalls in my barn which I generally use to lock the chickens up at night. Each coop supposedly is good for 5 to 6 chickens but they only sleep there. During the day, they have another horse stall,the barnyard, and a really nice wooded fenced area where they roam freely.

If the new chickens get chased, they can run into one of the coops, but so can the older chickens.

How do I go about a successful introduction to my flock?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Can the hens see the chicks are currently and vice versa? How long have they been outside and in view of one another?

Any photos of the set up? Your chicks are at about the max age for panic openings so more likely you'll have better luck with cluttering up the general shared area when you're ready to introduce them face to face, but at least it sounds like space won't be an issue.

 

[RRox]

Can the hens see the chicks are currently and vice versa? How long have they been outside and in view of one another?

Any photos of the set up? Your chicks are at about the max age for panic openings so more likely you'll have better luck with cluttering up the general shared area when you're ready to introduce them face to face, but at least it sounds like space won't be an issue.

I never heard about cluttering up the area! I like it because the barnyard itself is open with no clutter unless you count a few very tall weeds. Tell me more! Maybe set the added run out there with the doors open? What else?

 

[RRox]

I never heard about cluttering up the area! I like it because the barnyard itself is open with no clutter unless you count a few very tall weeds. Tell me more! Maybe set the added run out there with the doors open? What else?

The chicks are 8 weeks old and have been outside since 6 weeks in full view of the others

 

[C Siena]

I never heard about cluttering up the area! I like it because the barnyard itself is open with no clutter unless you count a few very tall weeds. Tell me more! Maybe set the added run out there with the doors open? What else?

Clutter is setting up obstacles and safe spaces for the chicks. Ex. A pallet/wood/screen etc, on it's side at an angle where the chicks can run under to escape but not the hens. Anything for them to dodge the hens and not get cornered. Something for them to run around or under.

Also extra feeding stations. I have noticed that is where most of the hens want to peck and chase the young ones away.

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot of people have wide open runs, and there is a huge advantage to adding clutter. While that open space looks like maximum space it is not. It makes no use of the vertical space. Every chicken can see every other chicken 100% of the time.

Add pallets up on blocks, so chickens can get under and on top of, basically doubling the space. Put an old table on its side creating a mini wall that chickens can step behind and out of sight. This is a very good place for a hidden feed bowl. Add ladders, roosts, saw horses. My chickens love to get up on them, and bask in the afternoon light.

Add wind shelters I have scavenger a window well. In the summer I add a pallet up on top. Put the well up on blocks to create a good air flow - face it east. A nice place to go in the afternoon heat. In the winter, I put it flat on the ground, add bedding, a roof of some old tin, and lean a piece of plexiglass at an angle and face it west. They spend a lot of time there.

This will look cluttered, but it gives perches for birds to fly to, good exercise. It allows them to move away from some birds. It allows birds to eat out of sight of another bird eating somewhere else.

In your situation, I would confine the two older birds where you currently have the younger birds. Then rearrange your run. Add the chicks to it alone. This will let them explore, figure out the hideouts and feed stations without being chased for their lives. Then shortly before dark add in the old girls to this 'new place'. I would expect it to go very well from that point on.

Mrs K

 

[rosemarythyme]

I never heard about cluttering up the area! I like it because the barnyard itself is open with no clutter unless you count a few very tall weeds. Tell me more! Maybe set the added run out there with the doors open? What else?

You have some examples below, but there's a whole thread on clutter with many examples: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/page-6#post-25037140