Is it time to add them to the flock?

[purplepoen]

I have 6 two and a half month old pullets, 3 RIR and 3 Black Austrolorps. They are living in a box in the barn and are getting a little big to be living in there even though they get to go outside into the pen every day. I have 11 barred rocks who are 11 months old and I think it might be time to combine the two flocks into one. I have been putting the pullets in the pen with the barred rocks and they have gotten to know each other. There have only been a few gentle pecks from both parties. Is it too soon to add the pullets to the barred rocks? If it's too soon, when will it be time to add them in? If I can put them in together should I just put both flocks into the pen and let the pullets go into the coop and roost with the BR's on there own? Or should I put the pullets in the coop in the evening like people recomend? Any advice would be appreciated!


This is the two flocks in the pen a couple of days ago, as you can see, all is well.

 

[chickflick]

I usually wait until they are almost equal in size. I also had them separated by wire for a week or two. There are times when the older chickens will gang up on the newbies, so you have to keep a watchful eye for awhile. Make sure there are no areas where the young ones can't get trapped by the older ones. I have 3 1/2 months old pullets that have just been added to the older flock. The newbies are still pretty scared of the older ones right now, but things are going pretty good.

 

[mtnhomechick]

I tried to put 3 month old red stars in with 4.5 month old assorteds. It was difficult and I wouldn't mix that young again. The big ones kept the smaller ones on the run a lot and kept them from the feeders. Now, they are all the same size and doing fine but I felt sorry for the little ones at first.

I can't imagine doing that in this heat down here right now.........the little ones would have to be running all day long just to get away and be safe.

I have some two month old rir's that I would love to integrate but they at least have peace in their smaller house and run. I will definately wait until they can hold their own.

jmho

Good Luck whatever you decide.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I will be doing this in a few days!

 

[Mahonri]

Interesting... I would think that at 16 weeks most pullets could be integrated into the flock.

 

[ibpboo]

I had very good luck adding 4 months to 6 year olds and now even the one months are in with the rest. They had been free ranging during the day all together, so for me, it was a piece of cake!

 

[ZooMummzy]

I'm not having much luck at all introducing 2 1/2 month olds to 4 month olds. I've tried everything I've read on here but it's not working. I really wanted to get them together before I leave on vacation in 3 weeks but it's not looking good. I guess I'm going to need to add a small coop to their small run till I get back