Mixing babies with adults

[Larry in Hawaii]

We have had chickens for several years, but this has been the first time we have raised chicks from a day old. We have 13 chicks to add with our 4 hens and 1 ro. Question is can we put all 13 in at the same time or would be be better to add a few at a time over a few days?

 

[thecrumbler]

How old are the chicks? The more there are, the more diffuse any pestering will be; but regardless, the chickens are going to want to establish pecking order. If they're too small they can get injured.

 

[LoveThemBirds]

My birds are 2 months.I put them in there.NEVER,do this unless the adults have saw them threw pins or fencing.

 

[azygous]

A great many of us have no problem merging chicks with adult chickens using the "panic room" feature that gives the chicks a protected space where they have feed and water that they can retreat to and the older chickens can't fit into.

Yesterday, as a matter of fact, I opened the 5"x7" portals from my grow-out pen into the main run so my four three-week old chicks could explore the rest of the run and start experiencing the pecking order. They learned very quickly that safety was back through those portals, so when they get pecked or chased, they could retreat back into their pen and the adults couldn't follow.

I documented my chicks merging with the adults yesterday with pics, showing the portals that separate the chicks from the adults. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update/980

A panic room can be a permanent pen like in my run or a temporary fenced off section in a corner of your run. It just needs to have entrances, and more than one is advisable in case a mean hen tries to block one, that are big enough for the chicks but too small for the big chickens. 5x7inches works very well. Or you can leave a gap at the bottom of the fencing just large enough for chicks to slip under. Either way, as long as you provide a safety escape for the chicks, merging them with the adults at any age is fairly simple and safe. I do advise letting everyone get accustomed to each other for a week or so before letting them mingle.

 

[whirlydogsuppli]

i have two hens that are 14 weeks old. they are about full grown now... both barred rocks. i had three but one turned out to be a rooster and he was adopted by a nice family.
now i have two more babies that are 3 weeks old and are almost feathered... easter eggers.
i have a house/coop with 4x8 run that i built. it's starting to get really warm here already and i'm wondering at what time i can add them with the other girls. i figured because the older two are still young, i might be able to do it in a couple of weeks. i have a large flight cage from when i had parakeets years ago that the easter eggers are in now, i though to put that cage in the run with the older girls for a few hours so they get used to one another and then letting them join in, because they are all juveniles just different ages. a friend told me it would be okay if i had some big branches and stuff leaning on the side (inside) of the run so the babies had a place to run and hide (out of site out of mind). it all sounds good to me, but i was thinking of the evening when it's time to go in the hen house, there might be a problem.
i wanted to get all of your opinions??!!!
thanks so much!!!

 

[azygous]

Go ahead and make the move! They're ready.

My chicks are three weeks old and are already merged with the rest of the flock, exploring the entire run at ease, even eating out of the older girls' feed troughs. They have their own pen with portals that make it impossible for the big ones to follow them, but there's been almost no bullying. The bigs ignore the littles for the most part.

They are also not spending any time at all under their heating pad, which is inside their coop now. They do got inside once in a while, but just to mess around, not hunker under the heating pad.