When to place everyone in the same coop

[LoSmith]

I have a single black sexlink hen that is around 1 year old (she was the sole survivor, and top of the pecking order, of our flock of 4 after a fox and hawk took the other three) and we recently purchased a rooster ~ 1 year old, two black sexlinks ~ 14 weeks old, and two brahmas ~ 10 weeks old (gender to be determined). After quarantining everyone for health we introduced the rooster to our oldest hen and they get a long wonderfully. He is surprisingly gentle with her and after a week of close supervision they are allowed 24 hour access to each other in the main coop, though he chooses to sleep on the “outdoor” roost while she in the “indoor” portion of the coop. My question is when can I place the younger ones in the coop as well? They are currently in two separate kennels away from the main coop where they can see each other and allowed supervised free-range time (everyone together). It seems the older hen is ok with the sexlinks and doesn’t go beyond establishing the pecking order with her intimidation while everyone tries to excessively beat up on the brahmas. I can close off the rooster’s sleeping area at night so he does not have access to the girls. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[RojoMarz]

Can you put the kennels in the main run or section off an area for the newbies, so they can be closer, yet protected? I sectioned off part of the run, for a few weeks. Decided it was time to remove the divider when I keep finding the older girls on the wrong side of the divider.

 

[aart]

So the rooster was never with the younger pullets?
Have you ranged the youngers with the hen and cock?

though he chooses to sleep on the “outdoor” roost while she in the “indoor” portion of the coop.

Curious why this is, is coop big enough?
Dimensions and pics would help here.

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[Ridgerunner]

I can close off the rooster’s sleeping area at night so he does not have access to the girls.

It seems the older hen is ok with the sexlinks and doesn’t go beyond establishing the pecking order

How does that rooster behave around the younger ones when free ranging? This implies he is not the problem. I never have a problem with a mature rooster around young pullets. Each chicken is an individual and we all have different set-ups and management techniques so we can get different results. Roosters can cause some issues but in the kind of room that free ranging implies I just don't find them toward young pullets. Tight space can cause problems for any chickens.

everyone tries to excessively beat up on the brahmas

Can you post photos of the Brahmas, maybe we can tell you if they are boys or girls? A close-up of the head so we can see combs and wattles, if any, and a shot showing profile, posture and the legs can be helpful. 10 weeks is pretty young for the boys to be getting any special attention from the rooster or the hen and Brahmas are often pretty slow to mature anyway. What does that excessively beating up the Brahmas look like? When does it happen? With enough room I'd think it should not be happening so I'm curious as to what is going on.

My question is when can I place the younger ones in the coop as well?

A lot of this depends on what your coop looks like. How big is the coop in feet or meters, how are the roosts laid out, and how cluttered is it? Clutter means places to hide under, behind, or above. How long have they been free ranging together?

I practically always have juveniles in the flock, sometimes as many as three different aged juveniles with the adults. They tend to form sub-flocks, each age group staying together and avoiding the others. Well except the adults, they pretty much go wherever they please and it's up to the others to avoid them.

I have a big coop with clutter. After my chicks have free ranged with the adults and others without issues for a couple of weeks I put them in the main coop with the others after it is pretty dark so the others can't attack them. Then I'm down there at the first crack of light to see how it is going so I can open the pop door and let them escape if they need to. With mine and my coop that has never been an issue but I still check for a couple of mornings. I don't know how big your coop is or how it is set up, you may have issues. With your small numbers of chickens you may not have much room.

 

[LoSmith]

Thank you all so much for the info. I have attached a photo of our coop. It is 4’x8’ divided in the middle. Behind the double doors are the nesting boxes and 4’ roost and we have added a 4’ roost to the open side as well. We have also added additional latches to the screen door to make it safer for the flock. We are located in central Texas so weather usually isn’t a problem. We have plywood cut to fit against the welded wire to block the wind on the open side when it does get cold since that is where the rooster has chosen to sleep. We really don’t have any clutter for anyone to hide behind except maybe in a nesting box. Also, we open the coop first thing in the morning so they have access to it but are allowed to free-range all day.
Even though all of the new additions came from the same place they were all living separately from each other and the reason we have kept them separated without supervision (the kennels are placed next to each other so they can see but not touch for the pullets). The rooster did have to be corrected the first time free-ranging with the little ones as he grabbed one of the sexlinks to mate. Two weeks later he has no longer shown any interest in them unless they are upset because I am gathering them to go back into their kennels and he will fuss at me to leave them alone.
As for the excessive bullying of the Brahmas, all three sexlinks will continuously corner and peck the back of the brahmas if allowed to do so when free ranging. They will chase them across the yard to keep pecking on them if we didn’t step in.
Since all the sexlinks seem to be getting along well would it cause problems if I add them to the coop and waited to add the brahmas at a later date?
I made a post about the gender of the brahmas with photos, I will try to attach it. The strange thing is their combs were very red that day, and part of the reason I was second guessing their gender, but are no longer as bright per the new photo attached.

 

[LoSmith]

Brahma gender post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pullet-or-cockerel.1436514/#post-23769063

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's hard to tell sex with those photos for sure but the hackle feathers look pointed. That would mean boys.

Since all the sexlinks seem to be getting along well would it cause problems if I add them to the coop and waited to add the brahmas at a later date?

That's what I'd try. As small as that coop is you probably want to watch them carefully and not leave them locked in there very long until they are awake. If you can leave that pop door between the two sections open that might help a lot.

 

[LoSmith]

It's hard to tell sex with those photos for sure but the hackle feathers look pointed. That would mean boys.

Since all the sexlinks seem to be getting along well would it cause problems if I add them to the coop and waited to add the brahmas at a later date?

That's what I'd try. As small as that coop is you probably want to watch them carefully and not leave them locked in there very long until they are awake. If you can leave that pop door between the two sections open that might help a lot.

Thank you! We are very new at this and are learning so much! We plan to build a new much larger coop this spring to better accommodate new additions and fix all of our newbie mistakes. Until then we will work with what we have and try adding the new sexlinks with lots of checking in to make sure it is going well.