Each flock has its own dynamics. You never know for sure how any flock will react to a change like that, but most of the time they handle it quite well. You mainly read about the few cases that it doesn’t go well instead of the many cases where the transition is really smooth.
I don’t know how much room you have, to me that’s a big issue in integration. As long as you have enough room that the adults and chicks can be separated and not forced to interact I’d try it now, even if you had not just removed the rooster. My adults usually don’t go back into the coop except to lay eggs from when I let them out in the morning until the sun goes down. Sometimes I move chicks to my grow-out coop. Once they imprint on that as home I open the gate and let them mingle, that’s usually around 8 weeks.
But more like your situation sometimes I just open the brooder door at five weeks and let them mingle. The chicks normally spend the first day or two in the coop before they venture outside, but eventually they do go outside. They still avoid the adults until they grow big enough to force their way into the main flock but I’ve never lost a chick to another adult doing it this way.
A few suggestions. Have food and water at different locations in and out of the coop so the young ones can eat without challenging the adults. That cuts down on potential conflict a lot. Have lots of roost space. The young ones will not want to roost with the adults, the adults can be pretty brutal on the roosts even if they are fine during the day. I put in a separate roost, a little lower and horizontally separated from the main roosts but still higher than the nests, to give them a safe place to roost that is not my nests. As a side note, don’t expect them to roost right away. They will probably continue to sleep in a group on the floor for several more weeks. That’s natural even if no adults are present.
The first few mornings be down there pretty early, like about sunrise when they wake up, to open the pop door and let them out. That avoids them being trapped in a tight space with the adults if things don’t go well. It probably won’t take you many days of doing this to realize it’s not all that necessary, but it is a good safety precaution. Especially if your coop is small it might be necessary. There is a fair chance that if they are already awake the chicks will be on the roosts or hiding in a hole somewhere when the adults are on the coop floor. That’s the chick’s way of avoiding the adults and is perfectly normal.
Do this when you can be around to observe how it’s going. We all have different set-ups and our flocks all have different personalities so it is possible you could have problems. But it is also very possible this will go so smoothly you wonder why you were worried to start with. Good luck!
I agree. You made the right decision on the rooster.
