young and the younger intragration?????????

[deerchooper]

hello we have 8 bantams mille fluer chicks, at the 5-6 week range. we just picked up 2 RIR and 2 buff orp week going on 2 old chicks. I have the bantams in the coop now and the chicks in the house. I have a small 2'x5' cage I put in the yard till we move so they can hang outside for a little bit during the day.

I have put them all together in the yard for a hour or so with no problems to introduce them to each other. as I pulled the chicks out and put them in the brooder to return them inside, the bantams all flocked to the side of the pen where the chicks were at. I thought that was good and maybe they liked there new buddies.

im just worried as the chicks get bigger and start to pass the bantams there might be issues. ive read here where its not good to allow chicks to be in the yard/ grass. I would like to keep allowing them time together to get used to each other so its a flawless worry free intragration between them.

I was thinking since there young it might flow better, idk.

what can or should I do?

 

[Judy]

It's always a judgment call. If they did OK together I would certainly keep doing what you are doing. You could indeed have problems as the sizes change, but if they are already used to each other, this may not be a problem. Some people give up and house their bantams separately from their large fowl, and some have them all together with no major issues. Good luck with your group.

 

[deerchooper]

well that didn't work that well. the bantams want to pick/ peck on the younger ones. I took the rir and buff cage and put it in the coop with the bantams. the bantams would mess with them so much that the babies would allways be on the other side of the coop separated from them.

I hope a couple days in the coop they will get along and I could let them join the flock.

once I put the little ones (which are the same size now) into the boarder cage with food and water the bantams wanted in with them.

is there anything else I could do to help them to integrate together?

 

[Nicole01]

I use wire dog kennels to separate the younger ones.

I put the kennels in the coop once the little ones are feathered(4 weeks old). I don't have a photo since my ipod just died 2 days ago darn it. It takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks before i let them mingle. The youngest ones need to be about the sane size and I wait longer for the bantams(3-5 months) before integrating. I've never had an issue and I've integrated so many new chicks to our flock.

It takes time. I do free range the youngest ones right away since there are many places to hide outside.

 

[Nicole01]

I still have one kennel in the coop, but i need my husband to take it out. It's a horrible photo though.

2 large dog kennels fit nice. I have an Xl wire kennel i used in the past. This time i had 8 new ones. I put roosts inside the kennels to free space.

Just make sure they can see each other well through a barrier. They will get use to each other. The more you integrate, the easier it gets.

Good luck

That white brahma is 2 years old and the young ones are 2.5 months old. They are already fully integrated and foraging together. This is the quickest integration I've ever experienced.