mixing 6 week old pullets with laying hens

[dsqard]

Since you are getting good advice about how to integrate, I will address the feed problem. You can keep the older chickens on grower food that way the youngsters won't be getting too much calcium. I feed mine Flock Raiser and just offer oyster shell free choice. I don't have a mixed flock yet (still waiting for my youngsters to get big enough to be in with the "big girls") but I wanted to increase the protien my flock was getting. The shells on my eggs are very hard. The youngsters won't eat the oyster shell until they need it. BTW I saw a couple "rules of thumb" about integrating younger with older. One was to wait until they are about the same size and the other was to wait until the "chicks" don't sound like chicks any more. I am waiting to fully integrate mine until they are at least about the same size.

 

[KIDDSBANTAMS]

I tried that once with 6 week old chicks and the hens were going to peck them alive and I mean they would have killed them. They need to be almost equal size or it can get ugly and bloody. And my laying hens are very calm and loving hens, but they did not like the babies at all. So I would seperate for the little ones sake.

 

[echosmaster]

Thanks for all of the help. Looks like it'd be best to keep them separated so I'll have to figure that out. The last thing I want is for the little ones to get beat to death.

 

[ikatiemay]

I spent alot of time awake last nite trying to figure out how to partition the coop and run!! My girls are on layer pellets now, 21%. I know this wont work for the chicks so I will have to do something different when I can finially put them all together. We have healthy hens and nice eggs with hard shells. I know I can figure this out, just wish I would have thought it through BEFORE i saw the baby chicks!

 

[Judy]

Quote:
It's really simple for me, feed grower or flock raiser and offer oyster shell on the side. I've been doing this for a while and probably won't go back to layer as grower is higher in protein and I think they look better since I started feeding it. I'm out there several times a day, watch chicken TV, and have never seen the little ones take any oyster shell. Egg shells are as hard as ever.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I totally absolutely agree with Ddawn's method. I do the same thing with grower and oyster shell. I have seem a young one take a bit of oyster shell, but not enough to do any harm. They were just figuring out what it was.

To me, integration is not cut and dried. Different things work fo different ones of us. Some people doing what works for me will have an absolute disaster. I think the keys are the personalities of your chickens and how much room you have.

Some flocks have chickens in them that will seek out and destroy weaker chickens. It may be a rooster that thinks they are a threat to his flock or more likely a hen that is just a pure bully. It does not have to be chicks. They can go after grown chickens. Immature chickens are really vulnerable because an older chicken will dominate a younger chicken until the younger chicken's personality has matured enough to stand up to the older chicken. I've seen 14 week olds stand up to older chickens. I've seen them twice that old not willing to stand up for themselves. It purely depends on the individual personality.

My flock does not have those bullies that seek out and destroy. It is considered bad manners for a chicken lower in the pecking order to invade the personal space of a chicken higher in the pecking order, especially around a food dish. Mine will enforce their pecking order rights over the young ones. If a young chicken tries to eat next to a mature hen, she will give that chick a pecking order peck and the young one will run away if it can. Where it could be in danger is if it is trapped in a corner or against a fence and cannot get away. Then it could get dangerous. That pecking order peck is not meant to kill, just to discipline. But it is a hard peck and especially with a young chick, it can do serious damage. I've never had one get hurt from that type of peck, but some people have.

The other key is space. The ones lower in the pecking order need room to get away from the older ones and need room to avoid them in the first place. Separate feeders and waterers and room to hang out away from the older ones is important.

I free range mine. In my case that means no fences at all. If I have a broody, she raises her chicks with the flock and takes care of any integration issues. Not the pecking order issues, but the integration issues. There is a difference. I've had 4 week old chicks weaned by their mother that stay with the flock. If I raise them in a brooder, then integration is harder. If you don't free range them, then you cannot do what I do, but maybe you can pick up something from what I do.

I raise them in a brooder that is kept in the coop. They see each other from day 1. I take them out of the brooder at 4 to 5 weeks age, but keep them penned up until they are about 8 weeks old. They can still see each other. At 8 weeks age, I figure they are big enough to not be such great hawk targets so I start letting them free range. For the first week, I let them alternate, adults free range one day and the young ones the next. At 9 weeks of age, I let them free range together. I have three widely separated feeding and watering stations and they sleep in separate coops for the next couple of weeks. By the time they are 12 weeks old, they are all sleeping in the same coop. They have a large coop and lots of roost space so the young can stay away from the older ones on the roosts. For the first week after they are sleeping in the same coop, I make it a point to get up early and open that pop door so they can get away if they need to. They do not hang out together during the day either. The young ones still keep a safe distance from the older ones or else they will get picked on.

I'll say it again. What works for me will not necessarily work for someone else. We all have different circumstances. And it is worrying for me, especially the first day I let them free range together and when they start sleeping in the same coop.

Good luck!

 

[MrMayo]

I just got chickens and all are buffs. One is 1 1/2 and the others are 11 weeks. Tonight was there first time together. The hen kept to herself as the kids played together.my run is 4 ft x 10 ft. The house is 3 by 4 with 1 roost. She didn't want them in her bed at all but rite at dark I showed them were to go and there all sleeping together now. I plan on helping them to the roost every night until they do it on there on. I will feed grower feed and off ouster on the side for her. Am I wrong? Gonna watch for the next few days and see what happens. I also have a roost outside if she runs them out to early. Been reading and wanting chickens for 4 years hope this works

 

[Padfoot22]

My coop isn't set up for two flocks but I just put a large dog crate inside the coop for the little ones to sleep in and during the day they went into a small place divided off by a panel. As they grew--each morning -I would open the crate door and they would walk at into the run and wait at the gate for me to open their stop.. My dd said they were smarter than my dogs... Think outside the box and it will work... It took a little more work from me but it was well worth the effort!

Do you quarantine?

I’m thinking of doing this with my 6 new chicks that are currently 3 weeks but don’t plan to integrate for a long time now based on this thread. My coop is not set up well to split up but the run would be. Did you put the dog crate in the coop or in the run? How did you get them to then change over to the coop after they were old enough to mix with the older chickens?

 

[Stitchaquilt3]

from Missouri!!!

I hate to be the party pooper, but mixing six week old chicks with mature hens is not really an option. I would bet money on it that one or all of the chicks would be killed by the hens within two days. Six week olds are just too small, they're still babies. Depending on where you're located, it may be too cold at night for the babies to go out side just yet too.

The soonest I myself mix them is when the young ones are four months old (almost full-grown), at which point they're old enough to eat the layer feed anyway.

I beg to differ but I have 6 week and 7 week old chicks running loose in the run and coop with 11 full grown hens and a rooster. I've slowly introduced them since the chicks were 3 weeks old. They now all happily live together. Next week I'll let the young ones out to free range with the grown ones.

 

[Mrs. K]

We all tend to give advice from the point of view of our own coop and run. I have for the last several years put my chicks in my coop/run at 3-4 weeks. I have escapes and hideouts all over my run and a safety zone that the tiny chicks can get into with ease and the big birds cannot follow.

I train my chicks to go into a small dog crate that I have insulated a box inside so that they cuddle under that much like under a hen.

It works for me.