introducing new girls

[nova022]

i am trying to combine my 14 week olds with my my 22 week olds and am not having any luck, They have been in seperate coops but with ajoinning runs since the youngest came out of the brooder, but the first time I put them together in a large fenced area there was total mayhem. I decided to seperate them until they were closer in size. Today I tried adding one of the older girls to the young group and it went well except with one of the 14 week olds. As soon as the older bird pecked her she took off running and wedged her head in the corner. The other bird quickly followed and began pecking her on the back and she just layed there. I seperated them and put the older hen back with her group. I tried it later with a different older bird, with the same results. Does any one have any ideas on how to get these two groups together?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You can wait 2 more weeks and try again.

There is a change that happens around 16 weeks where they get more assertive, I have noticed. Many people recommend waiting until 16 weeks to integrate for that reason.

I would add all the youngsters at once to the older hen group, to kind of overwhelm them with the newbies. Older hens kind of get tired of chasing them all around if there are a lot of them.

Also your idea of adding the older hen to the younger group is good- I'd pick the most docile hen you have for this job.

 

[nova022]

Thanks for the advice. I will wait for two more weeks. My older girls are sweet to each other and me so I was surprised that they did not take to the babies, but I know chickens have their ways.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with the above post, but also have some hideouts or areas where a slightly smaller bird can get to, but a larger bird cannot.