Introducing two young birds, what age?

[Jgrice]

Hi there,

I purchased two new birds today - 3 month old and 2month old. I currently have 4 full grown hens that are in a 10x10run. I’ve isolated my new birds and put them in a closed part of the coop so they can see other birds, but not get pecked right away. 2 questions:

1. is this age of the young ones okay to integrate into flock?

2. How long should I keep them isolated?

 

[Chicken101-07]

I would say keep them isolated for at least a few weeks,if your hens are fully grown,I would wait for the 2 month old to get a little bigger,possibly when they are 5 months of age at least,chickens in general tend to be a little opportunistic when it comes to meeting younger chickens than themselves.

 

[Neggative]

it depends on how agressive your full grown hens are... what kind are the full grown???

 

[aart]

Might be too late, but....
Consider biological/medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article


Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Jgrice]

it depends on how agressive your full grown hens are... what kind are the full grown???

They’re Rhode Island reds, they aren’t terribly aggressive. One of them is, but I’ve integrated 4 month olds before and they’ve been fine