When to start introducing new chicks to the adult girls???

[Leha]

I'm new to raising chicks, but what I was told by multiple people, is to wait until they are fully feathered. Then around 10pm, take the pullets out to the hen house and drop them in. When they all wake up in the morning, it should be like they were always there.

Good luck with your girls!

 

[troy4]

I'm new to raising chicks, but what I was told by multiple people, is to wait until they are fully feathered. Then around 10pm, take the pullets out to the hen house and drop them in. When they all wake up in the morning, it should be like they were always there.

Good luck with your girls!

Go to my Tips About CHICKENS!iT HAS THINGS about introducing chickens.

 

[blucoondawg]

I'm new to raising chicks, but what I was told by multiple people, is to wait until they are fully feathered. Then around 10pm, take the pullets out to the hen house and drop them in. When they all wake up in the morning, it should be like they were always there.

Good luck with your girls!

I wouldn't do that, could be bad results, chicks are fully feather while still quite young, that doesn't protect them. Of course it does vary with every situation, maybe for someone introducing a few chicks into a small coop with only 2 or 3 chickens it wouldn't always go bad but in my experience with having a larger amount of birds there are always some who don't tolerate the chicks. Last time mine were fine for 2 days then the third day I came home from work and there was a massacre underway.

 

[blucoondawg]

2 or 3 week old chicks still need supplemental heat, make sure your climate is warm enough or they have a place to go get warm if it gets chilly outside.

 

[Leha]

I wouldn't do that, could be bad results, chicks are fully feather while still quite young, that doesn't protect them. Of course it does vary with every situation, maybe for someone introducing a few chicks into a small coop with only 2 or 3 chickens it wouldn't always go bad but in my experience with having a larger amount of birds there are always some who don't tolerate the chicks. Last time mine were fine for 2 days then the third day I came home from work and there was a massacre underway.

What would you suggest? I recently started trying to do this, as was suggested to me (I have three adult hens and the pullets are 14weeks) and the alpha is picking and pecking at the pullets in the morning. The other two girls are fine with the pullets, but the head of the pecking order just doesn't seem to get that they are fully aware that she's the top girl and she just won't let them be.

 

[Olive Oil]

I think it totally depends on what breeds you have and how aggressive they are. Maybe coop size too. I don't keep any chickens that show excessive aggression, my coop is large so that the chicks can get away and hide, and I have no problems introducing my new chicks. Even my young roosters (about 5 months) don't harm them. I have 2 coops, so sometimes I mix up the adults in the coops too when adding chicks, just to throw them off so the chicks are not the only "new" ones.

 

[cafarmgirl]

What would you suggest? I recently started trying to do this, as was suggested to me (I have three adult hens and the pullets are 14weeks) and the alpha is picking and pecking at the pullets in the morning. The other two girls are fine with the pullets, but the head of the pecking order just doesn't seem to get that they are fully aware that she's the top girl and she just won't let them be.

What works best and is safest and least stressful for the youngsters is to have them in their own fenced off area next to the older birds for a couple of weeks. This gives everybody time to get used to each other but without actual contact. They often work out a lot of pecking order issues through the fence. That is how we raise/integrate chicks. They go in the grow-out pen at 5 weeks and they don't actually mingle with the older birds until they are the same size, about 10 to 12 weeks. By that time pecking order scuffles are very minor and things usually go off without a hitch.

Putting young birds in with older birds when fully feathered is too young, many youngsters are fully feather by 4 or 5 weeks, they can still get beaten up badly. A better time frame is when they are the same size, at 10-12 weeks, they are better able to get away and to defend themselves. As far as popping new birds into the coop at night? That has never, ever worked for me. Especially in a small flock. The older birds are smart enough to know when they wake up that there are strange, new birds in the coop with them. It can go very badly for the youngsters if you are not right there to supervise before they get off the roost. It might work better in a large flock.