How to Introduce Your Chicks to Adult Chickens

It happens. You buy new chicks, and you buy MORE new chicks every spring. With all the new animals coming to your homestead, it takes a little time.

Everyone has their routine and space they call their own, and when a newcomer shows up, things can get a little crazy.

When we were new chicken owners, we made common mistakes, and one of them was the first year we moved to our farmhouse. When you come from a small lot in the city to actual acreage, the sky is the limit, right?!

I had no problem free ranging our birds at our house. When we got a few more hens to add to the flock, we just took those girls out and let them fend for themselves.

Big mistake. In fact, the one hen that is left STILL gets picked on. I’ve separated her and all that, and she still tends to be the outsider.

This time I was setting up our new chicks for success with our current flock.

This is how it worked for us, and I hope it will work for you too.

Add New Chicks to the Flock Slowly

We have six new chickens. A mix of breeds. Barred Rock, Easter Egger mix, and what I think maybe my next big mistake- Leghorns.

If you want to introduce your new chicks to your current flock, I’ve found using a crate the easiest way.

With our lovely new barn, I get to keep all my animals in a spot. Oh, this is convenient, and if it is ever possible for peace of mind, I recommend all animals in one barn. They all have separate stalls/coops.

Anyways we picked up the old rabbit hutch we found on the side of the road and used it for the new chicks. So far, this has been the best cage. In the past, we’ve brought home chicks and kept them in a five-gallon tote, a dog crate, etc. You can see all the frugal household items we use for our chickens here.

I put a few extra pieces of wood through the slats for the hens to roost on.

The old rabbit hutch has been the best. Setting up the heat lamp and the food, and cleaning it out, are all easier.

The other good part was this hutch was next to the chicken coop.

Once the chicks had full feathers, I put them in the dog crate. I set the dog crate inside the chicken coop. I left them in the coop for six days.

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The first time I opened up the crate to let the chickens out was at night. When the older hens and our rooster were already tucked in for bed.

The next morning, I woke up at 5:30 am worried about my little chickies. All was good. They were all huddled together, and our Rooster- Amelio, was hanging over them. I think he was laying down the layers and letting them know who’s boss.

That’s all fine and dandy, Ameilio, until I walk in and you remember who is boss.

There have been the occasional pecks, but nothing that is cause for concern. Chickens establish a pecking order for a reason.

The best part of introducing this flock had the six new ones together. In the past, we only had two at one time being introduced to the flock, and it didn’t go as well.

I took a video for this post, and one of my favorite things got caught on camera. If you don’t have a Rooster, you’ll get a kick out of his duty to the ladies.

Grab my favorite chicken planner here!

Wondering when your chickens can go outside?

As soon as your new chicks have their full feathers you can let them out into the chicken run. If you are free ranging or pasture raising your birds, be mindful that they are the perfect size for Hawks, Fox, and other predators.

My frugal tip for this is to keep an eye out for old dog crates/rabbit cages. Whether it’s on the side of the road, garage sale or Craigslist. It is so nice to have extra on hand. For chickens, it’s nice to use to keep a sick bird, a broody hen, the list goes on.

To recap: Put your chicks in a crate inside your chicken coop. Let them get acquainted safely to the new flock. We did six days. I would say no less than three since it seems to be three days for chickens to adjust to a new coop. Let them out at night and keep an eye on them the next day!

Our new flock of chickens still only go out of the coop a few hours a day. It’s so cute, but they are quite timid yet of the outdoors. In time they will be roaming around and trying to get into our gardens like the rest of the chickens.