need advice re. when to move my younger pullets into the big girl coop

[cackilacky]

We have 3 layers in the big coop (2 about 6 months and one hen). In a small pen, we have two 3 month old chickens. I would like to move the little ones in with the big ones, mostly b/c it's starting to get cold at night and the little pen doesn't offer much shelter (though I did put an old cat carrier filled with a layer of pine shavings in it.) I have 2 concerns: one is that the younger girls will get picked on and the other is that they aren't on the layer feed yet and I can't think of how to manage them being on a different food yet in the same coop. All 5 chickens range at the same time, and although the little ones mostly stay off on their own, the big ones are used to seeing them and don't bother them much. Any advice? Should I just wait another month when I can switch them to the layer feed before I move them? Thanks!

 

[houndit]

About the feed I do not know. I would say that they would probably be O.K. with the older hens. I usually put birds together when they are pretty small. The younger ones learn to stay out of the way of the big ones. Just watch and make sure there is no big fight.

 

[Sassah001]

Your younger pullets stay on grower until they start laying. In my experience its better for chickens to have too much protien in comparison to too little. I feed all my chickens grower when I have younger birds in the house just to make sure everyone is getting taken care of. The layers still lay good eggs for me and the babies are happy. Its a win win for everyone. Depending on the size though, if you have really young pullets and full grown chickens you can just put the layer feed higher up than the grower.

With putting them together though it has more to do with what your chickens are willing to accept. First lock the new chickens into the coop for the day and the other ones out. That way they hear the new chickens but can't do anything about it. Let the other chickens in when it gets dark and that normally works. Another idea is to wait till the dead of night when everyone is asleep. Put your pullets in the middle of the chicken dog pile and don't use flashlights! That way they wake up together.

 

[cackilacky]

Thank you both. I think I will go ahead and move them and offer both types of feed for the next month or so.