NEED HELP! Introducing new 12 week olds not going well!

[HalfMadMommy]

I have 3 pullets (2 jersey giants, 1 maren) and 1 roo (bantam mixed breed) that are all approx 12 weeks old. I'm trying to introduce them into the main chicken house where there are 4 fully-grown chickens (1 EE roo, 1 bantam cochin, 1 RI red, 1 sexlink), I had them in the hen house separated by some chicken wire with their own food for 3 days, and this morning, I found 2 of the big chickens in the enclosure (they flew up to the rafters and then in). so I removed the enclosure, but the new little guys are cowering in the corner and won't come out.

I don't really have any other place to put them at this point. Any ideas/suggestions?

The JJ's and Maren are almost as big as the bantam cochin, I don't think they're too small. But I'm not sure how to keep them separated if the big chickens just fly over the top of the fencing.

HELP!

 

[Keltara]

Do you free range your chickens? If so, that is the most humane way to integrate biggies and babies. This is what I did. I kept the babies separate while they slept. My husband sectioned off a portion of our chicken run for the babies. For a few days, I kept the big girls and the babies confined to the run (with the babies safely separate) so they could see each other and the big girls could come to understand that they would be there each day. The babies were 6 weeks old at this time. Next, for a few days, I'd let the big girls and the babies take turns free ranging. After this, I would let them all free range at the same time. This was how they were first able to physically interact with one another. The babies were easily able to run away if the biggies tried to get them. For many weeks, I had 3 biggies and 3 babies all free ranging together, but with the babies ALWAYS keeping a safe distance away (and always sleeping separated at night). Eventually over time, they began to free range together and integrate themselves into a unified flock. When that began to happen, I started to allow the babies to sleep with the big girls, but I wouldn't put them into the coop with the big girls until after dark, and let them out first thing in the morning so the biggies didn't have a chance to beat up on the babies. By using this method, my hens were able to teach the babies their place on the pecking order in a very stress free environment. The babies NEVER got bullied or beaten up. They were all able to do it in their own way, and in their own time. Now your girls are 12 weeks old, so they are even bigger than mine were which is good. Just give the girls time. It's not going to happen peaceable in 3 days, one week or even 2 weeks. Just be patient and give them the opportunity to do it their way. It is the BEST way to go in my humble opinion. The best part of all, was that "I" was not stressed out over seeing the babies suffer as many people allow to happen.

Good Luck!​

Kelly

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Our Country Chronicles

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[Turnbullmusic]

I have four hens and a rooster, then I bought six chicks. (This is my first time with all of this, too. My chickens are free range, so they are only in the coop at night, pretty much.) I kept the new chicks in the house until they started flying out of the large bin I was keeping them in...they were about 5 weeks old by then. I put them in the coop in an area by themselves with chicken wire surrounding them, their own water and food with a heat lamp. To make things even more interesting, I had just had one of my hens hatch 2 eggs, which was our first hatching. Wasn't quite sure what to do with everyone. I read quite a bit on here about separating the broody hen when the chicks hatch, so the area where I put the 5-wk-old chicks was actually where I had kept my hen and her 2 chicks during the previous week. She was itching to get out of there, so when I put the 5-wk old chicks in the coop, my broody hen and her chicks were already outside with the older hens free-ranging. Her babies were only one week old! I was pretty shocked and unsure if things would work, because I live in WV and it's still pretty cold here...40-50 during the day and only 20-30 at night, but she and her tiny babies have done great! She hangs out around the coop most of the day and they follow her around everywhere, then she plops down on top of them every once in a while. She keeps everyone away from her babies. As for my 5-wk old chicks, they stayed in the separate part of the coop for about a week, then I removed the wire and they are now free-ranging too. They go back in the coop once in a while, but mostly hang out under some bushes just outside of the coop. They stay away from the older hens, and when everyone's in there at night, the older hens sleep on the roost, the chicks sleep together in a corner by the heat lamp, and the broody hen and her chicks stay in another corner. Everyone seems pretty happy and healthy.