Introducing new chicks

[Wisconsinted]

Hello. One on my first hens passed away 3 weeks ago unexpectedly. I had 3 barred rocks now 2. They are a little over 2 years old and both good layers. 2 weeks and 2 days ago we bought 2 new chicks and had my young kids pick them out. One is a red star(my one son wanted the most orange one) and one is a rustic rock which is a barred rock mix and looks just like my barred rocks did as chicks. They are around 3 weeks old as i bought them at a store and were a few days old when bought. My last chickens were my first and I moved them outside at around 7 weeks but they had no other chickens to acclimate to. How should I introduce these two to my current 2? Considering the first two are adult laying birds and this will be a little of a shock to them. My first thought is to let them mature more in brooder(8 to 10 weeks) but give them evening visits for a couple weeks. I just don't want any major problems. My 2 older barred rocks don't seem like mean hens but you never know when new chickens are introduced.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Photos of your set up would be very helpful here - if you can run electricity out to the chicken area you can brood outside and begin the integration process early (or if it's warm enough at this point, where heat is no longer needed, you won't even need the electricity). After that it's a matter of giving the birds time to acclimate to one another, and having the space to minimize conflict.

I integrate very early to take advantage of the quickness and small size of chicks, as adult birds find younger birds to be less of a threat. In turn the adults teach the youngsters how to be chickens. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/ - the integration sections are about halfway down.