When to intoduce more chicks to the coop

[chick_newbie]

I have 6 ladies about 16 weeks old in the main coop now and I have 2 more ladies and a roo in a temp pen that are about 8 weeks old. Then to add to it I have 2 more chicks, about 2 wks old, that I want to add to the coop. When is a good time to add them all together. My main concern is that the barred rock is obviously the ruler of the coop and didn't like the EE when we tried to put them in there temporarily to work on the pen. Does anyone have any suggestions???

Winter will be coming soon here and would like everyone to be together by then.

 

[fatguyaz]

I've got a similair situation, too. I just got two new 2 week old buff orps yesterday and i already have 4 hens that are just starting to lay and when i tried to introduce them to each other, the Barred took a REALLY hard peck at one of the chicks... so much for a smooth introduction. The guy at the feed store said i might be able to just put a chick under one of the hens when she is sitting and she'll take over motherly duties... anyone ever done this? As of right now, i plan on keeping the brooder in the run with the other ladies during the days so they can all get aquainted without anyone getting pecked too bad.

 

[chick_newbie]

I am glad that someone else is having the same problem. I even thought about taking the barred rock out and putting her into the temp pen and then putting the others in the coop and seeing how that would go. Any thoughts on that?