[Taylor40]

Hi all, new to the forum and to keeping hens. I'll no doubt have loads of "stupid" questions so might as well start now.....
Was wondering how old chicks should be before they can be put with older hens?

Ian

[ANHBUC]

Hi Taylor40 and welcome to the site.  It would depend if they have a broody to protect them if you have she will decide when the time is right.  If not it is best that they are all in sight of each other and possibly freerange together so that you can assess how your adult hens will react. 

[Taylor40]

We have 2 laying hens at the moment. We plan to have another 4 hens. We'd like to have a couple of them to be as young as possible. We have quite a big run and could (if necessary) put the young chicks in a separate area within the main run (large dog crate) so that they can get to know eachother in their own time. The young ones would need a different feed (I assume) so my main query is regarding food. Would the older hens eat the chicks food and vice versa?

Ian

[ANHBUC]

Yes they love pinching each others food.  Young birds are either on chick crumb to about 8 weeks old then growers pellets until about 18 weeks or others keep them on these until they start laying.

The birds will need around 2 meters square each when mature excluding where their food and water is kept so it would have to be a very large dog crate.

[Taylor40]

Plenty of room in the run... it's very big. I meant the dog crate as a means to keep the young chicks separate from the hens if indeed this is necessary. Probably should have been more clear with my question but I guess what I'm asking is "is it realistic to keep very young chicks alongside older laying hens"?

[ANHBUC]

That would depend on their age and size.  You can't second guess how chickens are going to react when you introduce new ones to the flock.