Question on intergration age

[Cluckingtime]

I have 5 chick's 5-6 weeks old.. one is a bantam and no bigger then a 3 week old chick.. would it be ok to integrate them this young? The reason I'm considering it now is I have 14 chick's almost 2 weeks old in a different brooder and want to put them in the brooder the 5 are currently in.. a spacious upgrade for the sheer number of them.

Do you think they are too young? And if the bantam is too small, which I am afraid of, should I place the 14 in with her in the bigger brooder or also integrate her to the adults? I'm so scared she will get hurt, or worse, killed

 

[Mrs. K]

I get mine in the coop/run at 3-4 weeks.

BUT, I have a safety zone in my run for my chicks. A place where the hens cannot get to. I let my chicks choose when to explore out beyond the safety zone, and when to retreat.

I feed my chicks in the safety zone, until I see them standing and eating with the big girls.

A huge, HUGE, HUGE is how much space you have, and how the space is set up, and how many birds you have in that space.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I'm not a fan of early integrations and conflict. So it's too young in my process because they are too small. But I agree this is totally dependent on your setup. In mine, I basically have 2 coops and 2 runs altogether in one big unit. So they could be separate forever if needed. When I have chicks in line to move from brooder to brooder room like you're needing, I push the process by a few weeks but not that many. Planning is important if you don't have lot's of space for lot's of seperation. Are you able to watch closely or have a cam set up? If you're able to be there you can slowly let bigs and little's be together for short amounts of time to see how it goes, until it's clear no one is going to get murdered. If you're planning to just toss em in and see happen's however it could be a big fail.

 

[Cluckingtime]

My run was recently added onto in preparation of more birds.. my coop was already very large and have added more roosts as well as egg boxes.. I have integrated 3 previously that are now 12 weeks and have integrated well..

the run is still separated in the middle by the pre-existing cage wall and door. I have the 5 week Olds in the new extention every day so there is def a see but no touch.. when I give treats I like to give them at the separation mark so they eat close together to get used to eating with the littles.. been doing that now almost 2 weeks.. nightly the babies are put in there own cage/brooder.. in same room but not in coop.. I'll get pictures tomorrow to show my explanation.

 

[Cluckingtime]

These are some pictures I have.. if you need more visual I can get them. First is my coop area..

I currently have 8 egg boxes however I do need to adjust the roots so it has easier access for me..
The run as you can see is quite large

The red door is the separation mark between the previously existing run and the new addition. I keep the littles on this side of the red door. I do put the littles to bed a couple hours before sundown so the adults can run around the entire run. It looks kind of messy as I need to do more work in it but they have a lot of room and some hiding holes. This process worked well for the other 3 I integrated and they were integrated at around 8 weeks.. I can hold off another week I just wanted the very littles to have more space.

 

[Cluckingtime]

And an extra of the three I intergrated.. Walter, blackberry and shadow

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd clutter up both sides of the run and then open the door and see what happens. The bantam being smaller isn't an issue to me, it gives her more of an advantage in hiding if you provide a variety of obstacles as far as opening sizes, height, etc.

In full disclosure I'm an advocate of early integration and I start giving chicks full coop and run access around 2 weeks of age.

 

[Cluckingtime]

Oh wow 2 weeks! Ok well I figure something out temporarily I think.. I placed a medium size dog crate inside the coop to act as a coop for the 5.. the bantam, if it wanted to get out. Could fit between the bars, if it wanted..my plan is once I open the coop for the adults to go outside is shut them out for about an hour or two and let the 5 run around inside the coop area before putting them outside in the run extention..I figure in a qeek or two I cam integrate fully.. the bantam I worry about the most tho.. but man can she fly lol like a hummingbird haha

 

[rosemarythyme]

my plan is once I open the coop for the adults to go outside is shut them out for about an hour or two and let the 5 run around inside the coop area before putting them outside in the run extention.

Maybe try reversing that, lock in the adults for an extra hour and give the chicks the whole run for that time period, so they can explore the space and the clutter they have available. Because chicks are likely to spend their time outside just like the adults.

Mine just end up finding the coop on their own while exploring.