Chickens are mean to baby chicks?

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Josh and hen

Josh and hen

In the Brooder
5 Years
Sep 4, 2014
12
0
24
Marana, AZ
I have 5 baby chicks that i got 3 weeks ago and i raised them inside and i take them outside now every day and bring them back inside when it gets dark (May be too cold for them) but the problem is, is that when i take the chicks outside my adult chickens (2 hens 1 rooster) are mean to them, they peck and BITE them a lot so i always separate them (Chicken wire) however how long will this last? or how can i stop it
 
Josh and hen said:
I have 5 baby chicks that i got 3 weeks ago and i raised them inside and i take them outside now every day and bring them back inside when it gets dark (May be too cold for them) but the problem is, is that when i take the chicks outside my adult chickens (2 hens 1 rooster) are mean to them, they peck and BITE them a lot so i always separate them (Chicken wire) however how long will this last? or how can i stop it
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The chicks are too young to mix in with the adult birds. Keep them separate but where they can see tee others, when they get older you can introduce.
 
Your birds aren't being mean, they are being chickens. The chicks are interlopers/invaders into your adult birds space (this is from their perspective) - and instinct tells them to drive them away, so they peck at and act aggressively to the chicks. Adult birds are capable of doing significant damage to young birds.
Integration will be best done at 16 weeks of age for your chicks. You need to change the way you are doing things so that the older birds are not able to reach the chicks at all - you can do this by putting an extra "buffer" zone around the area you have the chicks by putting another round of chicken wire about 6 inches outside of an enclosed area they are in so the adults can see but NOT TOUCH the younger birds. Think of it as a fence within a fence.
 
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I kept my chicks in a small dog crate in the coop but I never let them free with the hens untill they we're at the growers stage even then it was a long slow progress as the whole pecking order is reastablished once they are in the flock
you have to make sure there's area's that they can get to for food and to escape being bullied untill they are excepted and the flock is settled again
young chicks without a mother hen to defend them would have no chance
i don't think short intervals of introductions work the flock will need to see them all the time but not be able to get to them
I hate watching chickens beating each other up it looks so brutal x
 

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