Too young to integrate?

[stayathomedad]

I have 23, 9 week olds that I have had in the coop for about a month now and I have 16, 5 week olds that are still in the brooder that I want to put to the coop. Is it too early to integrate the younger with the older? I have a corner of the coop separated with walls of osb, so it's 4' tall. I was thinking it would be fine until I found some of the older ones perching on top of the wall, and the other day there were a few inside of the corner area. Do you think the older ones would leave them alone for awhile?

 

[jossanne]

Are the 5 week olds fully feathered? Do they need the draft shield from the wooden corner? If they do, I'd put poultry wire over the top for a while. If they don't need the draft shield, I'd put them in a wire cage, so they can get used to each other through a fence first.

 

[cmom]

I would keep them separated for a while longer. You can give them a comon fence to separate them but yet they can see each other, and if you free range, range them together. They will pick on each other to establish their pecking order. Just watch them more closely at first and make sure none of the older ones get too overly agressive with the younger ones