If you have the space, and can overcome accommodation problems, and want rescues anyway, then this is probably as good a time as any to do it. At this time of year hens tend not to be so territorial as in Spring when they come into the breeding season, so the risk of your exbatts getting bullied and pecked by the existing four would be less. You’d have to provide them with somewhere to sleep and to lay whilst they were being separated from the others, - a waterproof, sheltered area with a temporary ground-level shelter such as a big box with a door cut in it would be OK, it won’t need a perch. Enquire from the rescue about what they’re eating. Exbatts have often been fed on layers mash all their previous lives and this may cause difficulties if your own girls eat pellets and the exbatts aren’t weaned on to pellets.
Biosecurity - The quarantine is a good idea because coming from an uncertain background, and with a history of stress and possible poor management over the summer, they may be bringing infections with them that could affect your flock. They would definitely need worming with Flubenvet as soon as you can, as they may be bringing worm eggs from their previous home into your run. (If you haven’t yet wormed your other young birds, they should be done now anyway.)
Do you know their previous history? How long have they been at the rescue? How well-feathered are they? Could this be one of those only-too-common cases where people took them on in lockdown and then found they didn’t want them or couldn’t provide what they needed?
I can understand why you are attracted to the idea of helping these hens, and it’s evident that you’re thinking it through carefully and weighing your kind impulses with the effect on the flock you already have. I’m sure you’re prepared for them to have a shorter life than your pullets, and to be more prone to the medical problems that most hybrids suffer when they reach their later years, and of course for egg production to become less reliable - all that is why they were being disposed of in the first place. However, they will be very placid and friendly birds, and once settled safely in your flock, will give you a lot of pleasure and happiness. Do let us know what you decide and post pics if you do adopt them. They will be very lucky girls to have found such a good home at last!
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