Are they to young?

[Teamsmitty]

We have two separate groups of chicks. The first are about 11 weeks old. The second group is about 6 1/2 weeks now. On Friday morning we put the younger chicks in a dog crate in the chicken coop. Sunday evening we let them out with the older chicks. They have been chased and pecked constantly! I showed them how to get up in the coop to get away from the older chicks but now they will not come down. They all huddle in a nesting box if one of the older chicks comes in. They won't come down for food or water. Is it ok to feed and water them separately? Or should I remove them from coop til they are bigger?

 

[Jilliho]

I would definitely set out a second set of feed and water. Although you aren't really supposed to mix birds till they are roughly the same size, they are all really babies, so I bet they will settle in given access to food and water and a bit of time. Watch closely and if you see blood remove the bloody. Chickens will just keep going after a bloody bird with sometimes disastrous results. If you have a big bully, put just that bird in the dog crate, or separate entirely for a day and they will fall down the pecking order. Distract them all with treats and visits. Most importantly observe the situation. The birds all MUST have access to food and water.

 

[Teamsmitty]

Thank you so much

yes there is a bully I will put her in the crate and see what happens.

 

[rainbowhatchery]

We have this happen all the time. Just put some 3-4 month old marans in the adult coop and they all dog pile and huddle together and were picked on for a while but they adjusted. We pulled the main roo out for a few days and then put him back in just to throw him off a bit so he wouldnt pick on them and it usually works out fine, especially if you put a group in there. Its worse if your only adding a couple then they really get picked on.

 

[Teamsmitty]

After a another stressful day for the chicks we decided their just not ready to join the others. We put the bully in the dog crate. However as soon as we did that the other hens took over with the bullying. By the end of the day we had 2 bully's in the crate and we're going too add a third when we just decided it wasn't going to work yet. Hopefully in a week or two they will be bigger and will defend themselves.

 

[Spartan22]

After a another stressful day for the chicks we decided their just not ready to join the others. We put the bully in the dog crate. However as soon as we did that the other hens took over with the bullying. By the end of the day we had 2 bully's in the crate and we're going too add a third when we just decided it wasn't going to work yet. Hopefully in a week or two they will be bigger and will defend themselves.

I guess wait out a bit, I will be going thru the same thing in few weeks. I got (4) 5 week olds, ( 10)almost 3 week olds and 10 - 1 year old layers. It will be interesting to mixed them up. Right now I can't even mixed the chicks together. Their in the same big brooder separated by chicken wire, whenever the young ones get to close to older ones they've get pecked.

 

[Teamsmitty]

I guess wait out a bit, I will be going thru the same thing in few weeks. I got (4) 5 week olds, ( 10)almost 3 week olds and 10 - 1 year old layers. It will be interesting to mixed them up. Right now I can't even mixed the chicks together. Their in the same big brooder separated by chicken wire, whenever the young ones get to close to older ones they've get pecked.

yes thank you! It's amazing how the chicks that are just a few weeks older can be so mean! Good luck to you combining your flock

let us know how it goes and if you have any helpful hints on the process.

 

[rainbowhatchery]

we put new birds in a dog kennel in the coop for a few days, seems to work well

 

[Teamsmitty]

we put new birds in a dog kennel in the coop for a few days, seems to work well

thank you

We tried that but I guess ours are still to little. Will try again when they are bigger. Do you know how long it takes to establish their pecking order?

 

[rainbowhatchery]

We usually introduce new grow outs to a coop at about 3-4 months old. The pecking order is always changing and with new young birds they are always at the bottom but will change again once they hit maturity because they will then be old enough to want to move up the pecking order.