Need advice on mixing younger chicks with hens and rooster

[TonyaS]

I need some advice on how to mix my juvenile hens and roosters with my existing flock. I currently have 14 laying hens and a rooster living in one coop with a run, they are all around a year and a half. I also have 8 "juveniles" that are 19 weeks living in a separate coop with run next to the adults. During the day everyone is let out on our property to free range. I have been letting the juveniles out to free range with the adults for the last week or so and we haven't had any issues although I've noticed the juveniles keep their distance, they pretty much stay on the back side of our property while the adults venture to the front. In the evenings when I call everyone into their run/coop for the night (I also have a flock of guineas) the juveniles go right back into the coop they have been in, avoiding going into the adult's coop. How can I force them to stay together, should I just pick each one up and put them into the big coop? I'm nervous because two of the juveniles are roosters and my adult rooster (Charlie) is very aggressive when protecting his hens. I pretty much expect there to be issues between the roosters until I can find homes for two of them but I haven't seen any signs of it yet.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to be a good chicken mama and avoid anything horrible happening. I would really like to get all of them mixed together because I have 16 more chicks that are 9 weeks old that need to move out of their little coop into the bigger one. Raising chickens is a lot of work!
Thank you!!

 

[aart]

I would get rid of the cockerels before attempting to get them all into one coop,
it will just complicate things.
If you don't need those 'extra' males, now's the time for them to be gone.

How big is the 'big' coop, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics would help.
Having separate roosts for the youngsters will help.

Raising chickens is a lot of work!

It can be...especially when you collect so many birds of different ages in one season. 3rd group may have tipped your setup.

 

[Mrs. K]

You are talking quite a few birds. Hope you have a lot of space.

I would suggest, instead of letting the newbies out to free range, lock them in the coop/run set up of the old birds, locking the old flock out. This will let the newbies the ability to explore the new place without being pursued and chased. Then I would let the old ones in just before dark. You should have hide outs, and multiple feeder and water.

You need to have a coop that is about 9 feet x 10 feet, and bigger than that if you are eventually adding the baby chicks to the flock without culling some birds.

If you don't have that much space, it makes getting them all in a single coop, rather hard.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

15 adults including a rooster and 6 pullets and 2 cockerels at 19 weeks. Are those pullets laying yet? That can change the dynamics. I'll assume at least some of your older hens are still laying, you don't want to do anything that will cause them to stop laying in the nests. When the pullets start laying you'd probably prefer them to lay in the real nests. They can free range together but keep their distance. That's normal but there could be two different things causing that. You are trying to get rid of the two cockerels, I strongly approve.

How big your main coop is and how it is laid out is important, the larger the better. Since they have been housed next to the bigs and can free range together without incident I'd move the pullets into the main coop now so they are more likely to lay in the real nests. They may lay in those nests anyway, often pullets look to the older hens for guidance as to where to lay, but the odds of that increase a lot of they are sleeping in there.

The way I'd approach it would be to wait until dark and move the pullets to the main coop and lock them in. In the dark they are pretty easy to pick off the roosts. I just put them on the floor of the new coop in the dark and let then work out where to sleep. They always manage. Then I'd lock that old coop so they cannot go back to sleep there the next night. One of two things should happen. They may go to the main coop the next night or they may try to sleep near their old coop. You may have to move them into the main coop again the next night or for several nights until they get the message. Eventually they will. A lot of the time it only takes me once and it is done, but sometimes it takes a week or more.

The cockerels complicate it. I move my cockerels and pullets in at the same time but that is before the cockerels hit puberty, normally around 12 weeks of age. You can try moving those cockerels in with your pullets, it might work out. If you cant get rid of them I would but whether you move the cockerels or not, I'd be down there at the crack of dawn to open the pop door and see if there are any issues. What I normally see is the adults on the coop floor and the juveniles on the roosts avoiding the adults. It has always been peaceful for me but depending on your set-up and personalities of the individuals it can be risky. The ages of your cockerels is a bit worrying. Your rooster may go after them, I just don't know.

There could be two different reasons the two flocks are avoiding each other when they free range. Until chicks reach an age that they can force their way into the pecking order they usually avoid the adults. If they invade the personal space of a hen they are likely to get pecked. It doesn't take them long to learn to stay away. My pullets normally mature enough to merge when they start to lay. It's not an age or size thing, it's when they mature enough.

In the wild it is normal for the mature rooster to run the immature males out of his flock when they hit puberty and start harassing his hens. Normally they form a bachelor flock until one matures enough to create his own territory and start attracting females, but since yours were raised as a separate flock the pullets may just be hanging with the cockerels instead of merging with the main flock even if they have started to lay. There could be a combination of the two going on.

When I move my immature chickens into the main coop they are not going to sleep on the main roosts with the adults. If you think they stay apart during the day wait until they sort out where they sleep. Mine are most brutal toward each other on the roosts and that's with those that get along during the day. Expect your younger ones to find a safe but separate place to sleep until they mature. With a lot of people that can be the nests. Not always but it can be. It happened often enough with mine that I put in a juvenile roost, lower than the main roosts, separated horizontally a few feet, and higher than the nests. Hopefully your coop is big enough you can do something like that if you need to.

That's enough typing this morning, I've rambled enough. Let us know what you try and how it works out. Often these things go a lot smoother than we anticipate. Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would suggest, instead of letting the newbies out to free range, lock them in the coop/run set up of the old birds, locking the old flock out.
Mrs K

I've seen you suggest this several times. Can you please explain how this does not teach the older hens to stop laying in the nests and start hiding nests?