Hello All! I have 8 young (born in December) chickens out in the coop and run. Yesterday I bought 6 chicks, supposedly all pullets but we'll see. At what age should I introduce them to the rest of the flock outside? Any tips on how to introduce them? Outside I definitely have 1 cockerel and 6 pullets. The other 2 are still under question! None or yet laying eggs. I only have 1 coop. When they go out, do I have have to keep them separated? Will the others hurt them? I never introduced other chickens into established flocks before so I need advice. Thanks!
Pollo, here is a bit from the Learning Center on adding chickens to an existing flock. I hope it helps. Click here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock
I just put my 12 week old delawares out with the rest of the flock. You just have to keep an eye on them and make sure you are not crowding them. When they went out to graze that morning I made sure I cleaned out the coop well and scrubbed the water and feeder. Then I put them in and kept an eye on them. They are going to fight a bit until they establish their "pecking order" but after that they are going to be fine. Just make sure no one is getting picked on to the point of getting hurt. Good luck.
I have the brooder in my house, so I wait until the young ones are fully feathered, and then put them out in the coop in a wire dog crate for a week or two before letting them loose to free range. Then I let them loose for a while during the day, and put them back in the crate at night for a while so they don't get picked on while roosting. The worst time for mine is when they wake up before I let them out in the morning - they are all stuck in the house and are more likely to pick at the youngsters. You just kind of go by what you see happening - your flock may accept them more easily as they are all so young.
I just put my 9 week old pullets out in the coop last night. They probably could have gone out a couple of weeks ago but I like to make sure they are fully feathered first. I just take the whole brooder and all out there and let them stay for a couple of weeks so everyone gets to know each other. Then I slowly start letting them out and watch them carefully because I don't want any of the grown ups picking on them.
