I have 2 14 month old laying girls and 3 10 week old babies. I plan on mixing them together soon. 1 of the older girls is very aggressive so I think shell be a problem but i am interested to see what happens cause 1 of my babies is super aggressive! They all have been able to see each other during the last 6 weeks, basically right next door, always talking and such. Ive read diff views on TIME of day to do the introductions. Its hot here during the day and they are slow and calm so to me that seems like it would be the best time, plus ill be able to watch them. I just want some opinions i suppose. i feel like since they've been so close that it should be easy going, but im also really optimistic about everything Oh and 1 of the babies is a bantam silkie, will she make this especially difficult? Thanks for any responses.
I integrate my birds gradually. I let them live near each other and see each other until the babies are 12 weeks old. Then at 12 weeks old, I begin to let the two groups have limited access to each other -- the first day, only about 15 minutes before bedtime. Then if it goes OK the first afternoon, then I give them about an hour the next day, again right before bedtime. The first few days, I sit outside the chicken run and monitor the process. I spend several weeks increasing their time together gradually before I allow full and unsupervised integration.
Introducing chickens is a time consuming process, just so you know. I agree with Barry. Very sound advice. I have a large covered area for my chickens, so I fence off a section just for the newcomers to live in for a month before intergrating them into the flock. This gets them used to seeing each other & really helps keep the fighting to a minimum. I do realize not everyone has the room to do this, though. Good link: http://blog.mcmurrayhatchery.com/2011/05/26/how-to-introduce-new-chickens-into-your-flock-part-1/
