what age do you put the young hens in with the older ones

[DeesHens]

I just integrated my six young ones in to the pen and had a wire fence between them. Somehow 1 got out of their enclosure and was killed....I do not know how it happened but I am dismayed. I have 18 2 year olds and 6 4 month olds....they are about the same size as the older ones. I have a 25x50 foot pen.....

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear that news.
Sure makes ya wonder what the circumstances were with those ages. Maybe ratio played into it since it was 18 against 1 invader mentality? I dunno, just pondering.
So sad!
~Dee~

 

[DeesHens]

I am trying to peacefully mingle my two 12 week olds pullets with my 3 year old hen. I may add she is very spoiled as when her hen pal was killed by a raccoon last year I had to work diligently at her recovery as she almost died from shock. I have a divided paddock and a divided coop for them. The only time there is not a net between them is when I am around until yesterday.

They had been doing great with the net dividers it seemed. Peacefully hung out together frequently next to the net. I thought they should be good so left the gate opened yesterday so they could come and go into one another's spaces.

Well, I had to separate them again as the hen took over their feed station so the kids hung out hiding in the coop run. I gave them some goodies as there is no food or water there for them. So when the 3 yr. old figured it out she came bombing over to kick them out and so began the chase. I realized then what was going on as she would not allow the kids in either feeding areas.

The kids became very distraught and hid behind a carrier in their food station so I had to close the gate and assure them before they would come out. They are afraid of her and stay away from her for the most part. So not sure what to do next. Any thoughts? This is becoming harder than I thought. LOL

~Dee~

UPDATE:
While watering the paddock I left the gate opened today to see how things would go. I challenged Betsy a few times and she backed off from chasing the youngsters. I was with them for over an hour and things were going pretty good. I think Betsy will always challenge them when it come to food as she did it to her former hen mate too. But the pullets are learning that if they keep a safe distance they won't get pecked. So hopefully we are making progress. I am sure it will take more time though as their fear is evident.
~Dee~

 

[theoldguy]

I divide off part of my coop with chicken wire for say a week put the the new birds in the smaller part .The older chicken see them daily . if it looks good after a few day i take the divider out one night,it usually works pretty well but there will still be some hen pecking

 

[MoodyBroody622]

I just put some almost two month old banties in with the rest of my bantie flock They were all nice except for one, I kicked her out... she is now in with my RIR's

 

[Delight30]

We have the brooder in the coop (the coop is a giant walk in space with plenty of room) then when they no longer need the lamp, we put the young ones in a fenced off area in the coop until they are big enough to fly over the fencing. Then we crack the door to the fenced area open so little ones can get in and out but big ones can't--that way they can get away if they need to, eventually we just removed the fencing. When we integrated they were half the size of the big ones, but did just fine. The key was making sure they had an area to escape to if needed.

Did the big girls ever fly into the enclosed area? Should there be a cover on it? I have 8 4wk olds in a grow area and was wondering when and how to put them in the big chicken house... it is divided into a run and coop, all covered. It is 16x16 but I have not put in nest boxes yet and was wondering how to set up an area for the younger ones. The grow pen is fine for now, but the other girls don't get to see them and get used to them. I have 11 in the big chicken house 5 are 18wks and 6 are 12wks. That group was combined into the big house once it was finished so it was neutral ground. Although the big girls run the roost. They only let the younger girls eat when they are done and will only allow them into the run if they feel like it.

 

[Aaron Dunn]

We have 10 pullets that are 14 weeks old and 4 that are 9 weeks old, I put them together on the night of July 4th and have provided the young ones a "hiddy hole". Some nights they join the older birds on the roost, but most nights they sleep in their hole. When should I remove the safe box and force them to stay with the older birds?

 

[cortner1195]

My grow out pen is adjacent to my main chicken run. My three hens have seen the nine chicks for the last month. They free range together in the evenings. They usually stay away from each other. Except the occasional planned attack by one of the big hens. Two nights ago my white rock lost a few feathers from a premeditated attack. I figure I have 4-5 more weeks before I absolutely need to get them together before laying starts. I am not sure what to do from here. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Maemujwok]

The big girls never flew into the fenced off area--but it was only about 2-3 foot wide so I think they could tell they'd get stuck in there. They roost on the top sometimes which meant occasionally one of the chicks got an unpleasant surprise from above. (chickens poop ALL THE TIME). In our situation we did not need a top--but I think a little bit we were lucky. I could see where an overly aggressive chicken might really want to get in there and make some havoc. For the most part they just kind of ignored them until they came out into the coop area, then they chased them around.

 

[CinnamonQueen]

My grow out pen is adjacent to my main chicken run. My three hens have seen the nine chicks for the last month. They free range together in the evenings. They usually stay away from each other. Except the occasional planned attack by one of the big hens. Two nights ago my white rock lost a few feathers from a premeditated attack. I figure I have 4-5 more weeks before I absolutely need to get them together before laying starts. I am not sure what to do from here. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Try seeing if the babies will go in the coop and sleep with the hens at dusk. I've heard of some instances where in the evenings, some of the babies go "missing" and sleep with the hens instead. As far as I know, the hens didn't bother the babies. The bullying shouldn't be too bad since you have more pullets than hens- they can't chase all of them down easily.

 

[Aaron Dunn]

I placed our younger pullets and roo in the coop/run with the older birds on July 4 late at night. There has been pecking and chasing but for the most part there has been no injurys as the younger birds have a hidey hole. It will be 3 weeks on Thursday and I will then remove the barrier. I plan on watching for excessive pecking and will report back on the results.
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