When to introduce the littles to the mediums?

[BrandyMom2AFew]

So my 6 that are outside are about 12/13 weeks old now and my 3 littles are 3 weeks old now. When and how do I go about introducing them?

They will be put in the temporary/small coop and run that the older's are in atm because the big coop and run should be finished by then.

 

[countrychick14]

I am in the same boat. I have 2 weeks olds, that I eventually have to introduce to 8 wk olds. I was told to let them see each other for at least a month, I assume so they will get used to the sight and smell of each other. I was also told to make sure the young batch is fully feathered before you introduce them. One more thing, I think you should probably do it at night. I hope we both have good luck with it!

 

[sweetpeachicks]

It has worked well for me to have the younger ones near or next to the older ones-in a way that the latter can get used to the former, as soon as possible. Maybe at least a week like this. Then, when they are around 4 weeks old, gradually let the youngers outof the cage for an hour or two one day, and longer each day after. It helps to be around to keep an eye on them. The olders seem to not be very interested in the little guys unless it's about food....All of mine spend the day foraging(all at least 6mos old up to 1 1/2 yrs old) while the littles are learning about clover and bugs and dirt. I do keep the youngers separate -in a small cage inside the biggers' coop- at night so they can eat and drink. They end up just sort of merging into the pecking order over a few months.
Good luck and have fun w/them!

 

[countrychick14]

Great advice sweetpeachicks! Thank you! Especially about introducing them during the day for awhile when you can babysit them, so they're not getting bullied.

 

[teeville5]

Quote:
Yes, thank you. I will be going through the intros soon, too, and that is very helpful.

 

[mcsfarms]

I am in the process of introducing our new 2 week old chick to the our existing four 4 week old chicks. A little pecking by 2 of them, but the other two seemed to come to here rescue. I kept the new one in the brooder separated by a screen of hardware cloth so they could see each other. They have had several supervised play dates the last few days, I think tomorrow I will remove the screen and let them be together - I think they would be happier with a little more space too.

 

[Suburban Simplicity]

Crossing our fingers, but I think we finally integrated our mixed age flock. Our 10 wk old Amerucana has been in the 4x8 coop for a few weeks. Our now 6wk Orpington & 7wk Barred Rock spent the afternoon in the coop & are now sleeping there too. (I've only peeked in the window with a flash light 3 times & maybe once more before bedtime

)

We introduced the littles 2 wks ago & it seemed like they were getting really picked on. We kept them in the U-haul brooder box one more week and tried again. The second time they got picked on, but not as much. They were not quite ready to be out full time, but were too stinky to be kept in the house any longer. Last week we kept them in their box, placed next to the coop so the bigger one would get used to their sounds. At night I placed the brooder box w/ heat lamp in the coop while the bigger one was in it's hen house. Lots of peeping at first while the littles got used to "camping" outdoors.

Flash forward to today.....there was some chasing & a few pecks. Mostly the littles tried to stay out of the older one's way. We made sure they were all eating & drinking and even added the brooder feeder to help facilitate that. I also cleaned out the coop, changing all the shavings to help keep the younger ones healthy since I didn't own them their 1st 4 weeks of life & not sure how strong their immune system is.

The 1st & 2nd time the littles were in the coop (and placed back in the brooder box), I noticed that their droppings were really "off" the next day. The chicks acted fine, but droppings were almost bloody looking. I worried about cocci and had meds on hand if things looked worse. I wasn't sure if it was all the grass they had access to in the coop or the stress or the grower mash we had out for the older chick. It lasted only 2-3 eliminations and was gone. I did give plain yogurt to see if it would help. Wonder if anyone else has seen this issue after real world exposure?

Best of luck everyone...I am going to peep in the window one last time...

 

[mcsfarms]

Our chicks are all together now. Our Buff Orpington did a little pecking of the new Brahma (but our Black Australorp and Ameraucana came to her rescue every time). Our Welsummer peck once or twice and then left her alone. Later when they were all sleeping our little Brahma was laying on top of the Buff Orpington. So cute I could hardly stand it. Wish I could have taken a picture, but the picture didn't come out through the hardware cloth on top of the brooder.

 

[CranberryCreekFarm]

I have many 1 year olds that had to be introduced to my 3 month old pullets, and I was nervous. So what we did was put a bigger covered pen in the bird barn once they outgrew the brooder. They lived together for about 3 weeks and we just now let them out into the yard together ( now that we finally have some good weather ). They did very well considering their size difference. Only a few territorial pecks. Big sigh of relief.....now to introduce the few day old chicks....