Introductions

[Taokaka of the Kaka's]

Hi! Tao here! I just got some Barred Plymouth Rock hens (baby hens)

to keep my 2 year old Red Star hen company. The rest of her flock was eaten

. They are now about 3 weeks old so i tried to introduce them to my Red Star out of the pen. When they got together, the big one kept pecking the little guys in the face

! How can they be here flockmates of this is happening?! Some body help!!!!

 

[AlienChick]

They are just too young to introduce to an adult hen.

The BEST way to introduce new chickens is to wait till they are all the same sized.

Since this is not always convenient, a good way to introduce them is to keep them in a cage or crate next to the adults. They can share the same coop (but the babies are inside their safe crate). You can take them outside with the adults, but keep the babies in their crate.

This way the adults get used to the babies and after a couple of weeks may not peck at them. When doing the introductions, you MUST supervise to ensure that none are getting pecked to death.

And if you are gonna mix them together, do it at night when the adults are asleep.

Congratulations on your new chicks.