Merging my flock, am I doing it right?

[Bbmkr3]

My 14 week girls have been in the coop about 8 weeks now. The chicks I was incubating, hatched and had in the brooder are now 7 weeks and ready to go into the coop with the big girls. Last week hubby and I built a little fence and placed that in the run area under the coop (see pic) and I put them in there for the day so both flocks could see each other and back into the brooder at night. This week I have left the fence open enough that the little ones could get out and back in if they needed. My question is should I open the fence more or leave it so that they have a safe place to run to if they want? I have cameras in there and notice that one of the littles darts out and back in (think I’m now going to name him Scout) until the just big girls go into the coop to roost for the night. I give them a little time to explore the rest of the coop and then go out to get them and put them back in the brooder. Any suggestions is appreciated.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would keep that up until you see them eating side by side, when that happens, just put them in the coop instead of the brooder.