Integrating new chickens into your flock can be a stressful event for everyone. Chickens establish a hierarchy or "pecking order" among their flock and when new members are brought in, this hierarchy is tested again.
These barred rock and buff orpington pullets are around 3-4 months old now and fully feathered out, which is a good time to take them outside. I kept them in a crate within the chicken run for a while for the adults to start getting used to them. The adults had also been curious to check in on them when they were being raised in the garage and would sneak in from time to time.
When I let the pullets out of the crate, I made sure to supervise for a while. Setting some downed tree branches around the pen will give the younger hens a place to run and hide if the older birds start getting aggressive.
You really have to watch out for aggressive roosters. A rooster can do serious harm to young chickens. Thankfully only one of our rooters has been aggressive, the other two have been pretty docile which is good. If you see a chicken being particularly abusive, you can segregate them for a while to cool down.
I usually let my adults free range, but to have the new flock bond together I will keep them penned up for a few weeks. The young ones will get used to their new home, going up into the coop at night, and hopefully bond with the adults. If the young ones wander off by themselves when free ranging they will be an easy meal for the hawks. The chickens have to work together to keep an eye out on potential predators.
