Introducing younger chickens to more grown chickens

[SandyC]

I would like to get a few more chickens for the winter so my girls will have a little more to keep each other warm. I saw a posting on Craigs list today, for some 9 week old Buffs. The chickens that I currently have a about 20 weeks, White Buffs and Americanaus. Are there things I have to take into consideration here? Can I introduce the 9 weekers right in with the older ones or are there going to be pecking issues? I am thinking of getting 2-3 that would give me a total of 8.

 

[Katy]

I always wait to combine young chickens or ducks with older ones until they are the same size as the group I'm adding them to. I also always put them in a cage or smaller pen inside the larger pen for a few days so the older group can see them and get used to them before I combine them. Even then, there's usually some chasing and feather-pulling until they get their pecking order figured out.