Wire flooring ok for chicks?

[Mother of Chaos]

i heard you need to wait till they are the same size as the older birds no? they are only half the size of them. they have a small run outside i put them in and i have started letting them out with the older ones when im there.

It's good that you're letting them out with the older hens!

But it's definitely time to integrate them with the older ones.

Are you at home during the day? If not, are you around Friday afternoons through Sundays, or something similar?

Have they been in sight of the older girls?

There are several ways to start integrating new birds:
(1) Divide the run (not the coop where they sleep, but the protected area where they sometimes hang out during the day) and put the Littles on one side, leaving the Bigs on the other. This is sometimes called the "see-no-touch" method.
(2) Let the Bigs out (does this mean outside the run, as in your backyard? If not, please ignore) and let the Littles have free rein of the run and coop, so that they can explore what will be their new territory and get comfortable with it.

After several days when the Bigs can check out the Littles through whatever barrier you're using, it will be time to take a deep breath and let them meet. You may already be here if they are "let out" with the older ones.

Place multiple feeding stations in your run, and block any line-of-sight from one to another. In other words, if a Big is at one feeder, and a Little at another, the Big can't see the Little. Put lots of visual clutter and hiding places in the run.

Once you're ready, and you'll be around during the day for the next several days (as in Friday afternoon through Sunday), let them mingle. You should absolutely expect such things as quick pecks and squawks by the Bigs when they think that the Littles are getting in their space or jumping the line for food. This is completely ok, part of instinctive chicken socialization, and is not harming the Littles. Where you intervene is if the Bigs are chasing down the Littles more than a couple of feet, trying to pin them in a corner, repeatedly attacking and drawing blood, etc.

The metaphor I use a lot is high school seniors defending their turf in the locker hall when the freshmen try to walk through. There may be some verbal harassment and shoulder bumping (still on the HS seniors here, not the chickens), but there aren't physical beatings.

Your younger girls will be a slightly separate mini-flock for a while, but over time, you will see more mingling between the two groups. Once the Little start laying, they are generally accepted as full members of the flock.

In the meantime, try not to intervene. Chickens are hierarchical. This is the natural way that younger birds learn their ranking in the flock, and this ranking can and does change over time. If you do have one or more Bigs truly harassing (chasing, trapping, drawing blood) the Littles, a squirt gun can be surprisingly effective. You can also remove any over-the-top bullies and put them in jail - a small section of the run where they can watch everyone else have fun while they're stuck there. Several days of this can reset the pecking order. But it doesn't usually happen overnight, so grit your teeth and let time do its magic.

 

[Anon112]

As someone who paid a LOT of money to fix the foot of a rooster who got messed up by metal flooring (I'd installed half-inch hardware cloth buried in my run floor to try and deter rats and the natural freezing cycle of the ground pushed it to the surface), I'd really recommend NOT having them walking on metal wire. It's hard on their feet and if a foot or toe slips, they can really mess up a tendon in their foot/leg.

I agree with others that they are well past the age where you can start integrating. The post above lays out a very good plan.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Here's a pic of my mini-flock during their afternoon dust bathing, three older pullets (now 9 months) and the two Littles (not so little anymore), 19 and 17 weeks. The Littles are in the foreground. They don't usually hang out right next to one another (sometimes they do, though), but other than the occasional "out of my way, chump!" and feeder territoriality, they get along. The Littles aren't laying yet, but they're getting close:

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Trudy, the Barred Rock (partly visible above behind the Buff Orpington ), was the bully among the Bigs. This was remarkably effective. If you've ever used one to train cats not to jump on the kitchen counter, you'll know. We call it the Trudinator: