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New chicks

 
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I have a flock of 8 chickens  I have 6 pullets I need to introduce t them in a few weeks.  What is the best approach?
 
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How old are the pullets going to be in a few weeks?

Here's two approaches I've done in the past, both with success. If I raise the pullets to 16 weeks or so of age, they're plenty big enough that I just toss them in with the older chickens and they reestablish the pecking order. If my pullets are 6 or 8 weeks or so, they have their own little shelter containing a roosting bar, food and water, and the entrance to this shelter has an opening that only the little 6-8 weeks old ones can fit through. This gives them a safe place, and it also prevents my layers from eating broiler feed. Then every week or two weeks I enlarge the opening so they can still get through. In the past, one end of this little shelter that has the doorway in it has been a piece of hardware cloth, which I can easily trim to keep increasing the door size.
 
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Hi James,

They will be at least 8 weeks old.
 
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Howdy!
I tend to be a little more conservative about introducing birds, but my birds have the run of our land to chicken around in, so I try to establish the "home flock is home" feeling.
I wait until my chicks are fully feathered, then stick them in a carefully built pen, in the shade of one of the Live Oaks, permanently fixed to the outside fencing.
It's larger than their brooder (which is in the kitchen for easy checks), but off to the side, shaded, and right where they can get to know the flock.
I keep them there for a week or two, or until they annoy me. Then, at night, I will open the pen and carefully put each bird into the flock's chosen favorite roosting spot.
Effectively, I give the flock a fait accompli. Yes, they will fight in the morning, and there is some shuffling about, but they tend to settle things after a day or two.

I try to add new members about 6 or so at a time. That way I don't overload the adult birds with too many changes.  
I will be (hopefully) adding 6 chicks in this Spring/early Summer, and then another 15 in the Fall. My current flock is 24, but one of the roos is going into the freezer.
 
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Once my chicks are old enough to be outside I would put them in the coop and fence a section for them.  This year we added an addition to the coop that I can close up or open. This way they can see each other, and kind of get acquainted and still be safe.  Now that I have the larger space I waited until they were full size.  When I had to section off the coop as soon as the chicks got all there feathers I would watch, if there didn't seem to be any aggression I would  open the fence. I would watch for a bit.  I leave it that way for a week or so, at that point I remove the fence.  With my new setup I cut an opening between the original coop and the new addition.  I have read scary things about the pecking order, but I have never had any trouble adding chicks to my flock.  Good luck to you.

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