nervous mother: should i let them try it with the big girls??

[sixxchixx]

I need your advise, I am a new chicken mom and I adopted 2 hens and 4 chicks. well those "babies" are now 11 weeks old and this mom is soooooo ready for them to join the big girls.
I am worried though. the head hen (a RR) is a very sweet girl and had no problem what-so-ever when i introduced her to our adult buff orp.... the buffie, however, is a different story. SHE IS MEAN. to everyone!! she barely tolerates me and when she does its only because i am the only one who brings them treats.

what do y'all think? can i start to integrate them this early? they are right now "separate but together" and have been for one week. and i am so sick of it. so they have seen and kind of lived with eachother for a little bit. the mamas are in their 8X8 coop at night and free range on their side of the yard all day. the little ones are in a 3X3X6 pen inside the big coop. i cant separate the yard for them so they have to be locked up all day.

are they still too little?

 

[BeccaB00]

let them out for about 15 minutes a day with each other. but watch them CLOSELY do NOT take your eye off them. eventually you

should be able to let them be together all the time. Just be sure that all the bigger chickens can see the 11 week olds at all times! If

you take them out of eyesight and then put them back in then they will basically not even remember each other and will attack. This is

why I recommend putting them in a see through crate and then putting the crate in the same pen as all the other bigger

chickens.

good luck!

-Becca

 

[bundick]

I have 6 Black astrolope Hens, one Red hen and a black astrolope Rooster. They have been together for two years.
I just put two White leghorns in there with them. The Leghorns are about six or seven weeks old.
I put them in when I threw the Scratch so they all got kinda busy with that. I walked around in the pen to keep them occupied while they became used to each other.
Soon, the white ones were by themselves, the Blacks were by themselves with the little red hen, and all is OK now.
The Whites roost on the ground, the blacks up on the Roost poles.

I'd bet if you kept them busy for awhile, they'd be OK, but as stated, you better be there to watch because at the first peck, if you don't rescue the victim the older hens will kill them one by one.

 

[sixxchixx]

thanks you for the info... would the adult hens really peck them to death??? goodness gracious!! ill go out there now and let them all out of the coop and watch what happens.