Is there any way I can integrate my 1 month old chicks?

[Jared Vera]

I have 2 one month old chicks who are ready to be in the flock, but I wanted to get them used to the 8 month old hens. I brought one of the hens inside the house to get familiar with the two chicks. I think it’s nórmale for the hen to be a bit cautious about seeing new chickens and for her to nip back at them. I kept a precaution by leaving the chicks inside a cage just in case the hen tries anything funny. But is there any way I can get the chicks to integrate them with the hens?

 

[AOrchard]

Put the chick cage out with the hens! They can see each other, but can't peck, and can get comfortable with each other. A week of seeing each other through the cage should do the trick.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"See and Be Seen" is the way. I'm integrating three week old birds with the rest of my flock every three weeks - as new hatchhlings move into the booder box, and last hatch moves to the grow out pen in the barn, with its attached run. By age five or six weeks, that batch is ready to eat with, sleep with, and explore the pasture with their elder siblings.

Agree with the above. Don't bring the hen to the chicks, place the chicks in their cage out with the adult birds. Make sure they eat together, but from differing sources, just at the same time,in sight of one another. Abundance is a social lubricant - but if the elder flock feels the new birds are taking resources like food from them, integration will be more difficult. Get them used to one another first.

and when you do finally open the cage for the littles, make sure there are plenty of (not dead end) places for them to hide, to run, to explore - its distracting for everyone, and breaking line of sight can rapidly defuse tensions. Contra, a single defensive hen can absolutely command the whole space in a narrow, barren run. That tends to end badly.

 

[Jared Vera]

Put the chick cage out with the hens! They can see each other, but can't peck, and can get comfortable with each other. A week of seeing each other through the cage should do the trick.

The chicks seem really exited to see the hens but they are really crazy and they constantly stick their heads out and the hens peck their beaks and head. How do I stop that or do they just stop on their own?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Eventually, they will learn - but if necessary, put the cage outside the adult hen's run to increase the gap between them and prevent pecking at first.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Can we see pics of the cage you have the chicks in? Maybe put hardware cloth around it

 

[Auntiejessi3]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/change-of-plans.1454019/

This is what I did. Maybe it will give you some ideas

 

[Pork Pie]

Great info above. This link may be interesting - https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/topic-of-the-week-adding-new-chickens-to-the-flock.1164542/

From my experience, 4 week old chicks are tolerated by adult birds to a greater extent than chicks a couple of weeks older. I’d suggest reading posts / links and modifying advice to suit your specific set-up.

 

[3KillerBs]

Here are some useful articles on integration:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

And here is the thread documenting my integration of some chicks I got at 4 weeks old: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/integrating-the-splits-documenting-the-process.1469700/