When to put with big hens

[JessicaPoff]

I need some help please. I made a big mistake and got to many chicks for the area they are in. I guess my eyes got bigger than my brain and since last year we could not lay hands on chicks, I made sure this year we got our fair share. But I just didn't think about the brooder size.

We have 14 chicks of different varieties. They are going on 10 weeks old, give or take a week.

When can we just put them outside in the coop with the bigger hens? They have separate outside space, but they have completely outgrown their pen inside, and the outside space we have them in, they cannot stay safely out at night. We are bringing them back in. But we might not have any choice at this point to put them in the coop at night with our bigger hens, no roosters.
We do not have an option to separate them in the coop either. Can we safely do this or will it be just too much.

 

[JessicaPoff]

I want to add too, I can’t put their brooder inside the coop. The man who built our coop made the door very narrow. Nothing is fitting inside there.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is there outside area where the adults can see them at least occasionally? That would be a huge help. Is that outside pen where you can put a gate between it and the main flock? How big is you main coop? Can you post photos of it inside showing what it looks like? An outside photo of the run could help. Do your adults free range? Do you plan to keep all 14 or will you need to get rid of some?
14 chicks at 10 weeks take up a lot of room. I wish you had asked a month and a half ago, it could have been easier. Without further information about what you have to work with I'll not make any suggestions.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Without seeing your set up the first thing I'd do is put them out in the separate space during the day and bring them in at night. You're going to need to do that for a few weeks to get the see-but-don't touch period of integration going.