Need help with integration!

[Suburban Sprouts]

I have a flock of 9 chickens (6 standard, 3 silkies) that are 10.5 weeks old. I also have 3 "babies" that are about a month old. I really want to move them outside because it's very warm now and I thought the sooner the better - as far as integration goes.

However, last night I snuck the babies in the coop to sleep and all ways well... but this morning when I let them out the older hens started going after the littles, especially the baby boy whose comb makes an easy pecking target. So, I brought the littles back inside. Anyone have any other tips for integration? Should I just keep putting them in the coop at night and supervising some combo-time during the day? At what point can I trust they'll be okay??

 

[RL]

What I did was build a small cage inside my main coop and I keep the young chicks in there until they are big enough to deal with the older ones. This also lets every one see, hear and get to know eachother. Here is a pic of it.

I have added a small run to the side of the coop and a pop door to the baby coop so the little ones can go outside whenever they want. I don't have a pic of that I can post yet. I will also let them run in the coop a little each evening - maybe 20 mins or so - just to let them get to know the coop. When they are about 3 weeks old I will start letting them meet and mingle with the older ones. There is always a bit of chaseing and pecking, but that is normal. This has always worked for me and I have never had a problem with intergration. The one thing I need to do is add a small door that only the little ones can can go through so that they can run back into the safe house when needed.

I know not everyone has a large coop, but this can be done on a smaller scale as well.

 

[nanawendy]

I put an extension on the run with a dog house inside. This has a shared chicken wire wall. Tweens and teens go in the smaller area and @ night I put them in the big coop. In the AM if all goes well, I leave them... If not, I put them back in the teen area. It depends how aggressive the older hens are and how large the teens are. My point is your gonna have to keep a close eye on the @ first, to make sure all are safe.