We moved into our home at the end of January. We waited approximately 3 months before we decided to jump into the world of chickens. I think we showed great restraint by making sure all of the boxes were unpacked before taking on even more responsibility.
We went to our local Tractor Supply store, purchased ten chicks and so began our feathered adventures. I went from being afraid of all birds to carrying one around in an attempt to help her live (she didn't).
A few weeks into this new venture we realized that we had a long time to wait before these chicks started laying eggs so we did what any reasonable person would do. We got six hens of laying age. This all made perfect sense in our minds until it came to the point where we had to integrate the "little girls" with the big "ladies". As it turns out, its every woman for herself in the chicken world so introducing the littles to the bigs requires some planning.
After a lot of research, we decided that the introduction had to be gradual.
Before moving our chicks out of the brooder and in with the older chickens, we considered these factors:
+ Chicks should be fully feathered before they are put outside. We waited until they were at least 6 weeks old and our temperatures were going to be above 65 degrees.
+ Introductions need to be slow and monitored. It's important that both the older and the younger chickens have their own space. You want them to be able to see each other yet still get away if they feel threatened.
We started taking our chicks over to our big "free range area" every day for about an hour. These were supervised visits. As the chickens started to get used to each other, we let them all free-range together during the day. At night, the hens go to the coop and the chicks stay in a dog kennel that we put near the main coop. Again, they can see each other but still have their own space.
This introductory period seems to be going well and they all seem to be co-existing happily. We will wait a couple more weeks before we take away the kennel and have them all in the same coop.
Stay tuned!