Topic of the Week - Integrating Chicks into an Adult Flock

[Merry5]

We are keeping 2 roosters because when spring comes my daughter is taking hers back to her house and in a chicken tractor. We want the other one on the farm come spring. Yes they will have access to both pens during the day and when the weather is nice enough during the day we may let them outside too. Last year we just had Rhode Island red and had trouble with frost bite on the combs on the coldest nights. That is one of the reasons we'd like to put both groups in the warmer more secure room at night...we can put a heat lamp in there.

 

[Beekissed]

One of the most commonly discussed topics about raising chicks is the best way to transition chicks into an adult flock. So, we’re compiling frequently asked questions and answers into one thread for reference and discussion. Everyone, please tell us your thoughts and practices when it comes this week’s topic, integrating chicks into an adult flock!

• How old should chicks be when they are integrated into an adult flock?
• Are they too small to be integrated? Do they need to be a similar size to the older chickens?
• What is the best way to introduce chicks to the rest of the flock?
• What / how do you feed a flock of mixed ages after integration?

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

1. With a broody mama, they go out on range and with the flock at 1 week. The broody then decides when she will introduce them to the coop and how....but the whole flock are fed once per day and if she wants any of that feed, she will bring her family to it. Sometimes I'll throw the new family some feed outside the coop for a few days just for funzies, but most of their food is from out on forage anyway. With chicks that don't have a broody mama, they are brooded right in the coop and let out to integrate, range and eat with the rest of the flock at 2-3 wks of age.

2. I find that the younger the chick, the easier the integration...the older birds don't see them as a threat of any kind and will often move aside to let them eat in the feeder. I've only had one bird give me any trouble with chicks and that was a rooster I didn't raise here....he would try to step on the little chicks at feeding time, so I separated him in a pen on his own and left an opening for juvenile chicks to be able to enter and eat with him. Since they outnumbered him greatly, he was too busy trying to get food to try and step on any of them. He was culled soon after he produced an acceptable replacement stud and his son is excellent with little chicks. Still...even with that one rooster's attempts to squash chicks, none were injured.

3. Brood them right in the coop where they can see and hear one another from day one, then just open up that brooder and let the chicks out when the adult flock are out on range....by feeding time that evening, they are all eating together and it's fine from there on.

4. I use up the chick starter by mixing it in with layer mash until that's all gone and then it's just straight layer from then on. Free ranged forage is the bulk of their diet and the layer is merely supplemental feed.

 

[scotc]

We are looking to expand our flock this spring by adding some chicks. Currently have 3 one year old chickens (2 barred rocks, 1 golden comet). Based on a lot of the posts here, we are looking to add a panic room in our existing coop under the poop board and brood them there. The coop has power and we are in Texas; so should be easy enough to keep the chicks warm.


Poop board is only 13" of the ground, but is structurally the easiest place for me to build a barrier between the new chicks and the existing hens. Is 13" of height enough room to let the grow until they are large enough to be introduced?




Our other options are to include the back left corner to provide some additional height but smaller square footage and harder to clean/access.

Or place them in a dog crate in the run. My concern there is the task of coop training them. Guess the old hens can deal with being locked up for a couple days?

 

[azygous]

Your coop looks pretty small. What is the square footage? That poop board would work, sort of, as a frame for a panic room, but I wouldn't choose it myself.

If you're open to suggestions, you could maximize your coop space better by cleaning out the substrate of what appears to be deep litter or wood shavings and installing sand. You could then eliminate the poop board and scoop the poop each morning as you would cat litter. I recently did this in my coops, and it has made life soooo much easier! And the chickens like the sand, too.

Then you wouldn't be so cramped in space. A chick safe pen in the far corner would then be easier to access. Raising the chicks in the coop, or even out in your run if the run is covered, makes integration a breeze. We who brood outdoors start letting the chicks mingle at age two weeks if they've been brooded in proximity to the adult flock. All you need to do is open portals from the chick pen into the main area, and the chicks take care of their own integration from that point, scooting back inside their panic room as needed. You're in for a lot of entertainment as you watch the squirts evade the adults.

Read my article on outdoor brooding and give it some thought. You have the ideal climate for it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...rooder-and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors Also, if you haven't considered it, look into brooding under the heating pad system. It's as natural as you can get without a real broody hen, and it's much safer than a heat lamp, and you'll save on your electric bill, too.

 

[scotc]

Thanks for the input. Coop is 16 square feet. Enough room for 6? Central Texas is never very cold so they spend all waking hours except when laying running around the yard.

We do have a covered, secured run that is about 4' x 12' that would could close up. I assumed that placing them in the coop would increase the likelihood of them grasping that is their home for the night, but perhaps they will just learn by example? Based on your very helpful article and my chickens' routine, they'd learn more sitting in the run. And it'd be much easier if I only had to place them in a dog kennel in the run and open panic doors after a couple weeks.

Substrate is wood shavings, but I am open to sand especially if it allows a little more room to grow the flock. Figured at a minimum I would need to change it in the panic room with a slide out tray of sorts to aid in cleaning.

I was looking in to something like the ecoGlow, but my pocket book would clearly prefer a heating pad.

 

[azygous]

Great! Glad you're open to other options. Sometimes we get locked into just keeping on with the same old thing when there are better alternatives. Continue to think about these options. You may be able to come up with some elegant solutions to improve your setup and make it all the more enjoyable when you get your new chicks.

By the way, it's roosting space in the coop that really determines how many chickens the coop can support. If you can squeeze out eighteen inches of roost space per chicken, at the very minimum twelve inches, that will tell you how many chickens you will be limited to. If all you have is a four foot roosting perch, ideally it would only serve three chickens or four at the most. I have two small coops and a large run, so I have squeezed more perches into the coops by building portable, low perches I can remove as needed for cleaning. A little imagination will allow you to come up with ways to utilize your coop space to better effect.

 

[scotc]

I guess I've underestimated the roost length needs. Probably a bit because my hens like to cuddle right up against each other. The roost was previously supported with a bracket coming off the wall that was about 16 inches long and all 3 of them insisted on roosting on it instead of the actual roost.

I should be able to get three 40" or two 55" roosts in there pretty easily if I get a new substrate.

 

[azygous]

The problem incurred with perches that are too short, especially when coop space is minimal, is in the accessing. Chickens flap their wings to lift their bodies up onto a perch, and when there are others there already, the flapping wings can knock them off, resulting in short tempers and unnecessary conflict.

Sounds like your mental gears are turning. You'll have a good plan, I'm very certain.

 

[jessg84]

I am considering adding 2 new chicks to my 4 one year old hens (2 barred rocks, 1 BO, 1 GLW), my biggest concern is if I have enough space for the integration process. I have 80 square feet of run space and a 4x4 coop with external nest boxes. I was going to brood the chicks inside but as soon as it is warm enough move them into the run in a dog crate and fence off a small area for them (I do not have electric in my coop). I do let my chickens into my yard in the evenings when I am home and more on the weekends, so I was thinking when I first introduce them with no fencing I could do it in the yard so there would be more space to run and hide. I am also confused on quarantine. If I get chicks that are less than a week old do they need to be quarenteened for a month or can I start bringing them into a secure area in the run so the other girls can get used to seeing them? I plan to get my chicks from a local farm. I'd appreciate any advice as I am trying to make a decision on if this is a good idea for me to get the chicks.

 

[missy1971]

Great! Glad you're open to other options. Sometimes we get locked into just keeping on with the same old thing when there are better alternatives. Continue to think about these options. You may be able to come up with some elegant solutions to improve your setup and make it all the more enjoyable when you get your new chicks.

By the way, it's roosting space in the coop that really determines how many chickens the coop can support. If you can squeeze out eighteen inches of roost space per chicken, at the very minimum twelve inches, that will tell you how many chickens you will be limited to. If all you have is a four foot roosting perch, ideally it would only serve three chickens or four at the most. I have two small coops and a large run, so I have squeezed more perches into the coops by building portable, low perches I can remove as needed for cleaning. A little imagination will allow you to come up with ways to utilize your coop space to better effect.

I love all these ideas, Im trying to get my coop done, taking out this, adding that. I have 10 hens ranging in age from 3 weeks to 1 year. my coop is approx 10x10,their enclosed yard is 10x6, but they forage in the yard most of the time. i have a table that is in there now, im thinking of taking it out to make more room, i have one roost at this time, but need to add more. only 3 chickens are roosting. my 1yr old is not a broody hen, sure wish she was, then i could get the brooder pen out and they could all get along.
Thoughts? suggestions?
so happy i found this thread, my 1yr old has been eating all the starter feed, and wanted to make sure that was ok...