New chicks & free range help needed.

[4MyFun]

OK so here is some background.

We started with 20 girls five years ago of various breeds and have five left. We are on 5 acres in a semi country setting and our girls free range from seven in the morning until they come home at dusk. We keep food and water in the coop and they wander back to lay their eggs in the nest's 90% of the time.

We have two homes on the 5 acres and my daughter with her two children moved in to the second home and excitedly bought 30 baby chicks on a whim LOL. Thank goodness they were sexed already. We do not have any roosters as we had one that was supposed to be very docile and he attacked two of my ladies so he went away. So, we expanded our coop and added a temporary run for the baby chicks which are now about two months old. We partitioned the coop with hardwire so they could see each other but not comingle with the older ladies. They have their own food and water and their own roosting area. So far there doesn't seem to be any fuss between the young and old they see each other through the wire but cannot get into each others area.

So with that information here's my question.

At what age should I allow the new chicks freedom to free range? How will I know when they're ready and how should I introduce them to the older ladies.

We realize that by going free range that we will lose some ladies but we would preferred to have our gals enjoy quality of life and they absolutely love free range! We routinely use diatomaceous earth to keep our girls parasite free and their nesting area clean, it has been a Great way to keep our ladies healthy!

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

 

[centrarchid]

First I am ignoring predator issues.

By three weeks of age they can handle temperatures down into 50's F if dry. By 5 weeks they can handle wet and down to about freezing without issue. If extreme wet, then pen them in the dry. By the time they are 10 weeks they can handle extreme wet and cold.

Younger chicks let out only when sunny and dry.


Predators, another dimension.

 

[4MyFun]

We live in Oregon and we have a nice coop for all the gals. We lock them up tight at night and during the winter we don't let them out as much.

 

[pauleberly]

As soon as they start getting the juvenile feathers, I let them out on nice sunny days. Remember, with mama hens they are free ranging on day (with her protecting them of course)

When you integrate them, just keep a mindful eye on them. No one should be getting harassed to badly, but there will be some sort of pecking order to establish dominance.