Need advice on integrating 2 6-wk olds chicks with 2 1-yr old chickens

[telehillco]

So I've been collecting advice on moving our two chicks (Barred Rock & Buff Orpington) out with our two year-old chickens (RIR's), but still have a bunch of questions.
Here's what we've done and thought about so far:
The past few days we've put the little girls outside in an enclosed pen with their food and water during the day so that the big girls, who are free ranging, can check out their roommates-to-be. We also expanded the run and have a plastic bin with a small entrance that we can put in there as an escape for them that the big girls can't get into. We've also read that adding them to the coop at night is a good idea.

So, here are my lingering questions...
1-How do we deal with the fact that the big girls are used to free-ranging during the day and need to get into the coop to lay their eggs, yet we don't want the little girls free-ranging yet, since they're likely to be hawk or cat bait? Should we lock the big girls up in the run with the little ones? Should we try to create a divider so the little ones spend all day in the run with their plastic box (see above), food and water, but can't access the coop?

2-How do we separate the food? We've had the little girls on a medicated starter and the big girls get layer crumbles. I'm worried about either getting into the other's food.

3-With our RIR's last year we were able to shut them in the coop for a couple of days so that they would know it was home and where to come to to roost. Is there any way to do this with our little ones?

Our coop is 3x4' and our run is 6x6'.

Thanks for any advice on the above questions or anything I haven't thought of yet!
Hillary

 

[chicmom]

Wow! Hello! Lots of questions.....

First, I wouldn't put them together until they were the same size. The adults can kill a young chick like that in a quick minute. Also, for your chicks, usually people only feed the medicated chick starter for the first two weeks. After that, they just get the non medicated chick starter or a starter/grower mix.

Your idea of having a hiding place is excellent, but I wouldn't put the little ones in until they were roughly the same size as the adults......it is just too dangerous.

Now, in regards to the new layers......once my hens got close to 20 weeks of age, I didn't let them out to free range until about 4 or 5pm. Usually egg laying is done by then. Once they get into the habit of laying those eggs, you can let them out earlier if you want to.

Hawks are a big problem in my area too.....they will eat an adult chicken too.....so beware! I always keep an eye out, and I've noticed we see the hawks circling around noon.....after that things seem to be clear, but you never know.

I hope you're able to keep them separated until they're bigger....they will have an easy transition that way.

Sharon

 

[telehillco]

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely switch to a starter/grower for the chicks. I was thinking of switching my layers to a pellet vs. the crumbles they've been eating. Along with raising their food higher, I hope that will discourage the chicks who I know can't have the calcium.

However, I really don't see a way to let the little ones grow to the same size as the year-olds inside the house--they're starting to drive us crazy. So far, under out supervised "introductions" the big girls haven't made any attempts to peck at the little girls; they just stare at them. Aren't little chicks around big chickens all the time if they're raised by their mamas?

Thanks again! Any more ideas are welcome.