Tomorrow night is the night...help on integrating?

[JeninMN]

Hi!

Our "babies" will be 18 weeks old this coming Sunday. We have 2 1 1/2 year old roos that are being taken OUT of the coop tomorrow night and given to a lady that is going to keep them for pets...forever! So I am very happy about that.

What that leaves us with is:

1 year and half old Rooster
23 buff orps 1 1/2 year olds

9 18 week old girls (buff orps )
1 18 week old Roo ( buff orp)


So when we get home from dropping off the 2 roos we are hoping we'll be able to integrate the babies in with the big ones.

They have been in the same coop for over 2 months and have been only separated by chicken wire to keep them apart for feeding and to keep the babies safe.

If we wait until just about dark when the big girls come in will it be safe to try putting the little ones in the open part of the coop? Should we leave them on the ground or should we try putting them up on a roost??

ANY and ALL advise is so much appreciated! I want so badly to get them together and have noone get hurt!

Jen

 

[vnploveschickens]

When we integrated our girls, we waited until the birds were already roosting and was almost dark. Then we brought in the 5 pullets and put them in the corner floor of the coop under the nesting boxes.

Everything went well and over the following 2-3 weeks, they all went up on the roost themselves. They did sleep in the nesting boxes though and it was funny to see them all try to squeeze together in 1 box. I had to clean the boxes too every AM, but that was not a big deal.

Good Luck!

Val