What’s the best way to introduce young chicks to existing flock

[adrienne banks]

I have two 6 week old chicks that I want to introduce at some point to my existing flock of 3 chickens (and 2 ducks). What is the best way to do this (and at what age)? Also, once they start commingling, what do I do about food (layer feed vs. grower feed)?

 

[NatJ]

For food, it should be safe to feed grower feed to all of them, young and old. Just make sure there is a dish of oyster shell so the laying hens can get the calcium they need. (The hens will usually eat the right amount, and the chicks will usually take a taste and then ignore it until they are old enough to need it.)

For integrating them, you can probably start now, by arranging for the chicks to live near the adult birds, separated only by some wire mesh.

That way they can all start to get to know each other, and no-one will get hurt.

After a while, you can start letting them spend time together (supervised). When you actually combine them, it helps to have lots of space in the pen, more than one feeder & waterer, and some places for them to hide or get out of sight of each other. Bales of straw, or boards leaned against the fence, are possibilities for "hiding" places. You want the chicks to be able to run behind something or into a space, but they need to be able to run out the other end so the big birds cannot trap them in a corner.


Some people set up a brooder in the coop, so the chicks and adults are getting used to each other from the very first day.

Here is an article about how one person does it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/

Since your chicks are already 6 weeks old, they may be too big for the idea of chick-sized doors that large chickens cannot go through (in that article), but it's something to keep in mind for future years.

 

[Vacman]

I have 8 chicks, 2 of them being bantams. I fenced off a section of the orchard and the chicks are on their half of the fence while the hens are in the original section. Sever of the chicks have gotten over or around the chickenwire fence somehow and I have returned them to their own side. They are too young to survive a pecking attack. When they Gert large enough, I will take them at night, one by one and move them into the chicken coop with the hens.My understanding is that by morning when the coop door rises, they will be accepted as part of the flock and will know where the water and food is. We'll see.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since your chicks are already 6 weeks old, they may be too big for the idea of chick-sized doors that large chickens cannot go through (in that article), but it's something to keep in mind for future years.

At 6 weeks they probably can still use chick doors, however by the time the see-but-not-touch period is done they'll be close to 8 weeks, and in my experience that's about the cut off where the doors don't really work, because a small or slim hen can squeeze into the size of opening a 8 week old can.

My version of early integration is very similar to the one posted earlier but I do it out in the run instead of the coop (more space to work with): https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/ . Same rules apply - see but not touch period, clutter for hiding spots, multiple feeders.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Our current batch of chicks went into an outdoor brooder at three weeks. It is in a pen adjacent to the big girls' run, so we have already started the see-don't-touch method. In about three more weeks we will simply open the gate that separates them and they will become an integrated flock without even realizing it. We have used this method with excellent results in the past. The littles will soon start exploring the big coop, and when they are comfortable with it, we will close the doors to their brooder. At that point they will have to start sleeping in the big coop. That's a bit of an adjustment, but they work it out.

 

[TOR]

I put small chicks with the main flock at about 3 to 5 weeks age. Depends how warm it is is outside etc.
My chickens live in the front of my barn, so I put the chicks in a stall with food water leave them there for a day (24 hours) then open door.
The chicks figure it out eventually, the big chickens go out to free range the chicks eventually go out to explore. Also there is hiding places for the chicks when the big chickens go back into the barn which is important.
Eventually the chicks will find the door to outside and away they go just like the rest of the chickens.
ALso they eventually as get older get their pecking order and fit in with the flock or sometimes stay in a different flock. Flock within a flock
Also when I have mixed birds of different ages I use small feed, or small feed mixed with larger size feed, more than 1 feeder, 2 or 3 feeders, 2 waterers inside, then couple more waterers outside till freeze up. I use grower feed with calcium on the side.

 

[Vacman]

I took the young hens after dark and put them in the chicken coop with the rest of the flock. In the morning, they were one flock.

 

[any_breed_tn]

I took the young hens after dark and put them in the chicken coop with the rest of the flock. In the morning, they were one flock.

I too have great success over the years with this overnight method. I get new pullets during the day of course, wait and see if they are healthy, and then wait until overnight to combine the flock. They wake up on their perches next to each other like they've known each other their whole lives. They do then make a new pecking order but it has always settled out okay. THis year I was given 6 week old chicks and I haven't ever integrated such young outsider birds into an older aged established flock so I have been wondering how many weeks old these chicks should be before they can be integrated.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I too have great success over the years with this overnight method. I get new pullets during the day of course, wait and see if they are healthy, and then wait until overnight to combine the flock. They wake up on their perches next to each other like they've known each other their whole lives. They do then make a new pecking order but it has always settled out okay. THis year I was given 6 week old chicks and I haven't ever integrated such young outsider birds into an older aged established flock so I have been wondering how many weeks old these chicks should be before they can be integrated.

I have also had good results with this method but the thought of doing it now gives me the willies! I now keep a closed flock, only adding new chicks straight from the hatchery because of fears of introducing diseases or lice or mites into my flock. I lucked out in the past, just adding new adult birds straight in to my flock. I know now I should have quarantined for 30 days, and I don't have facilities for that.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

But I would say age is not a factor nearly so much as exposure. I'd put them in an adjacent pen for two to three weeks where they can see each other but not touch, then open up a gate between them so they can mingle naturally. With plenty of feeding stations and extra waterers, there should be no problems. That's how I do it. Good luck!