Introducing older chickens to babies.

[MissBHaven]

Can I safely put 2 older hens, 4-6 years old, and a roo same age in with my new 5 week old bantam silkies?

I have been given these 3 chickens from a farmer friend and actually I don't know what kind they are, they are all black..? I don't want to endanger my 16 babies by putting them all together too soon. Help???

 

[rooster-red]

First you'll need to quarentine the new chickens for 3-4 weeks to make sure they don't pass on any hidden illness to your babies.

After quarentine, if you want to try introducing the babies make sure you have plenty of time to supervise then closely, there is no way to tell how they will react, and maybe a 50/50 chance the older ones will try to kill the babies.

 

[MissBHaven]

OOoohhhh, maybe I'd better wait a few more weeks then, I really don't have any place to seperate them like that, my coop & run are new, and not designed for such an adventure. I really don't want to chance losing any of the babies, I've grown quite fond of the little buggers! Thank you very much.