Moving 5 week olds out with the big girls

[madcitypeeps]

I know this has been asked many times! But our 5 week old silkies need to move out with our year old hens. We have non bantum sized hens that are sweet but our polish is molting currently and tends to be the "rooster" of the flock. She can be fiesty to say the least.

I am concerned how to introduce our new 5 week old silkies to the big girls. They are out growing their current house which resides in our 4th bedroom. They have had a heat lamp on most of the time. What is the best way to introduce the little girls to the big girls. Our coop will be difficult to seperate. How long should we keep them seperated? At what point will the little girls be "safe" in the big girl coop?

Any suggestions would be great appreciated.

 

[joedie]

I built a small brooder out of old 2x4's and chicken wire with a hinged lid. It's 3 sided and I put it in the coop up against a wall. My little ones are 5,6, &7 wks. They can see the big girls and get used to each other. When the big girls are out in the run, I just pull the brooder away from the wall and they can come out and run around all they want. Mine have been in there for 3 weeks now. I have had a few big girls in with them for a little while and they do get picked on so I'll gradually introduce them. I don't think I'd even consider leaving them alone with the big ones until they are a little older and I will keep the brooder pulled away from the wall enough so they can run back in if they need to and the big girls can't follow them. Hope this helps1

 

[JennsPeeps]

The youngsters need to be able to get away from the adults and don't leave them unsupervised. My adults pick on my buff orp something fierce, so we're keeping the younger ones apart from the older ones until they're all about the same size. It makes for some complicated logistics at times but it's all we can do for now until the youngsters are big enough to fend for themselves.

 

[Mahonri]

I wouldn't put them with the big girls until they are at least 16 weeks. But that's me.