Introducing Pullets (one runt!) to Good Flock, Aggressive Roo?

[MamaDoodle]

-Pullets:

I bought a pair of pullets almost two weeks ago to slowly add to my flock. They are about eight weeks old now. A Barred Rock named Harley Quinn and a Speckled Sussex named Crooked.

Harley is tough and friendly, having already pecked my aggressive rooster through the cage. She sits on my shoulder a lot and acts like it's her duty to take care of Crooked (stays between her and the world, shows her food, checks stuff first).

Crooked is a tiny thing, a runt I suppose. She was half the size of others in her brooder when I got her and can stand under Harley's chest. She is shy but friendly. She is often behind or under Harley until it seems safe.

-Currently:

Today is a nice day, 50 some degrees Fahrenheit, they both have good feathers, and have been without a heat lamp the past week in the bathroom. So I set up a dog crate in the coop and put them in to slowly begin introductions.

(You can kinda see the size difference...they were in the back, though...Will try to add better pictures later)

Just day visits in fair weather, of course.

-Plan:

After Crooked gets bigger, as I am more worried about her than Harley, I'd like to put them out with my sweetest hen, Oodle, an Orpington. After her, add my second hen, Wicked, a RIR.

After a couple of days, add my twin roosters, Fred and George. They are very experienced and not at all aggressive towards young or hens.

After a couple of days, finally throw in Joker, my aggressive Columbian Rock roo. He loves his hens but has never been with young before, so I'm hoping my duo will jump in to set boundaries if necessary.

Depending on this introduction, I'd like to add one or two more adult hens.

-Questions:

1) How big should my pullets be before meeting adults face to face?

2) Should I keep them in reach and stay in the run, or the whole yard?

3) What problems could you foresee in my plans/set up?

 

[Den in Penn]

-Questions:

1) How big should my pullets be before meeting adults face to face?

If you have a whole yard, I would use that during the day with all of the flock. The young ones will have the space to run and hide if necessary and the old ones will be distracted by foraging. A couple of weeks of that and the can be put in the coop with the adults

3) What problems could you foresee in my plans/set up?

Moving them back and forth from the bathroom to the run will get old. Turn the crate into a temporary housing by tarping it and putting a perch in the crate. If you do the one by one introductions then then they should be bigger, and I would add more hens before the roosters. The hens are usually the problem makers during the integrations.

Could the Sussex be a banty?

 

[MamaDoodle]

Could the Sussex be a banty?

She could be....I didn't think of that. I just noticed the other SS chicks she was with were twice her size and assumed she must be a runt. Especially when she had a bald patch and crooked toes (thus, her name), so it just came off as slow growth or lack of something to me. Thankfully, she has been less shy these past couple of days, her feathers are good, and she only has one crooked toe left.

Thank you, I'll look more into the possibility!