Moving new pullets with hens

[Pekinlover90]

I have 6 laying girls that are now a year old, we received 9 new little ladies that we will be transitioning with them. I have never mixed young with old hens and would like to see what you all think of my plan. Along with my 9 youngsters we also have 75 broilers that they are mixed in with. We are hoping by week 4 (once they have their feathers) that we can just put everyone out in the big girl run together and that since there will be so many that nobody will get singled out and bullied by the big hens. I would like to recieve some input on this idea or what you would change. PS here is a shot of a few of them, with my cutest one getting in a good wing stretch!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Are they currently being housed where the hens can see them, even if it is just a small part of the day?

How big, in feet or meters, is your big girl run? Where do you expect them to sleep once they go together? How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? What do you expect the high and low temperatures to be when you let them out? It can help us to know what you have to work with.

Sometimes just throwing them together can work, especially if you have a lot of room. Sometimes it leads to a disaster. We all integrate using different methods. What we have to work with determines some of that. I house mine in the main coop until they are 5 weeks old, then let them out. They have an 8 feet x 12 feet coop, two 4 feet by 8 feet shelters if I need them for sleeping, and over 2,000 square feet in grass available outside. With that much room I have it easy. Others with less room struggle more.

I don't know what to suggest to you without knowing what you have to work with.

 

[Pekinlover90]

Are they currently being housed where the hens can see them, even if it is just a small part of the day?

How big, in feet or meters, is your big girl run? Where do you expect them to sleep once they go together? How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? What do you expect the high and low temperatures to be when you let them out? It can help us to know what you have to work with.

Sometimes just throwing them together can work, especially if you have a lot of room. Sometimes it leads to a disaster. We all integrate using different methods. What we have to work with determines some of that. I house mine in the main coop until they are 5 weeks old, then let them out. They have an 8 feet x 12 feet coop, two 4 feet by 8 feet shelters if I need them for sleeping, and over 2,000 square feet in grass available outside. With that much room I have it easy. Others with less room struggle more.

I don't know what to suggest to you without knowing what you have to work with.

Thanks, so currently everyone is in a coop together with the babies in brooder boxes 3.5-4' off the ground and the 6 gals I have to roam under them. The big gals will be moving to a new coop that we built that is 8'x7' I believe. I feel like there should be enough room as during the day I anticipate everyone being in a large run (about the size of a one car garage) and then at night the big girls and layers would go on the roosting bars and the broilers would stay on the floor. I also have a couple 3 sided plywood shelters in the outdoor run if needed. By the time I am needing to integrate them (they should be 4/5 weeks old) that our temps are in the high 30's and low 40's at night and 60's during the day but we live where it isn't uncommon (like this morning) to wake up to 3" of snow and 16 degrees... plus our spring rainy nights make it really chilly also. The new coop also has an automatic door that will open around 6:30am and close around dark. And with so many I am unable to keep them separated due to the amount (75) broilers.

 

[Pekinlover90]

Thanks, so currently everyone is in a coop together with the babies in brooder boxes 3.5-4' off the ground and the 6 gals I have to roam under them. The big gals will be moving to a new coop that we built that is 8'x7' I believe. I feel like there should be enough room as during the day I anticipate everyone being in a large run (about the size of a one car garage) and then at night the big girls and layers would go on the roosting bars and the broilers would stay on the floor. I also have a couple 3 sided plywood shelters in the outdoor run if needed. By the time I am needing to integrate them (they should be 4/5 weeks old) that our temps are in the high 30's and low 40's at night and 60's during the day but we live where it isn't uncommon (like this morning) to wake up to 3" of snow and 16 degrees... plus our spring rainy nights make it really chilly also. The new coop also has an automatic door that will open around 6:30am and close around dark. And with so many I am unable to keep them separated due to the amount (75) broilers.

Are they currently being housed where the hens can see them, even if it is just a small part of the day?

How big, in feet or meters, is your big girl run? Where do you expect them to sleep once they go together? How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? What do you expect the high and low temperatures to be when you let them out? It can help us to know what you have to work with.

Sometimes just throwing them together can work, especially if you have a lot of room. Sometimes it leads to a disaster. We all integrate using different methods. What we have to work with determines some of that. I house mine in the main coop until they are 5 weeks old, then let them out. They have an 8 feet x 12 feet coop, two 4 feet by 8 feet shelters if I need them for sleeping, and over 2,000 square feet in grass available outside. With that much room I have it easy. Others with less room struggle more.

I don't know what to suggest to you without knowing what you have to work with.

Here is what the old coop kinda looks like. The brooder boxes are on the far right and go along that wall and the big girls can go underneath.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Those temperatures make me nervous. At five weeks they could probably manage the high 30's F but 16 F might be bad. I'd want them to still be on heat for that. At 6 weeks they could probably handle 16 F.

So that run is roughly 12' x 20'? And you are going to have 75 broiler chicks in it along with the others? Or will you keep the broilers separate? The coop is 7' x 8'.

If your broilers are kept separate it could work. I'd still watch them closely to make sure the adults are not attacking the chicks. Some of that depends on the personality of the individual hens.

 

[Pekinlover90]

Those temperatures make me nervous. At five weeks they could probably manage the high 30's F but 16 F might be bad. I'd want them to still be on heat for that. At 6 weeks they could probably handle 16 F.

So that run is roughly 12' x 20'? And you are going to have 75 broiler chicks in it along with the others? Or will you keep the broilers separate? The coop is 7' x 8'.

If your broilers are kept separate it could work. I'd still watch them closely to make sure the adults are not attacking the chicks. Some of that depends on the personality of the individual hens.

Okay. Yes I am thinking of moving just the new layers out there. I want to say that they are nice lol they dont really get after eachother. I had one that got "attacked" by a turkey we raised for butchering and I didn't have to separate her at all. She healed just fine and the other hens left her alone. So not sure if that means they have good temperments or if it was cuz the 6 of them had been together since day 1.