chkva
Songster
- Mar 20, 2015
- 617
- 1,422
- 247
We successfully integrated our whole flock! We have a wide range of ages in our flock. There's 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 5 months, and 6 months for age ranges... We've had our chicks outside since day 1 with the See but Not Touch Method, they were in a 600 SQ FT run with a coop of their own for about a week before we started to introduce them (we had to keep them in for a few more weeks because the BJG were fitting through the dog kennel that's connected to the hens run and on the other side is woods then the neighbors. The neighbors have large not chicken friendly dogs). The 3 hens have a 1500 SQ FT fenced in area with their coop that's connected to our dog kennel or dog park (that's what our friend's call it, it's about 20 ft x 30 ft). The dogs keep predators away, but it's been so hot they really haven't been out for long periods of time, they would rather have the central air.
We have 3 different feeding areas and waterers for them so there is not much fighting over food. When we give treats, we spread them in a wide area so that they all can get some. Sometimes we place treats in two areas far from each other so the hens don't try to hog all of the treats.
We didn't want to jinx ourselves so we kept the integration process to ourselves for the first few weeks until we were sure our hens were going to be alright with the entire process.
We are in the process of building a coop that'll accommodate all the large breeds we have plus all the other chickens. It's a 8x10 thats 7 feet in height, it'll be a complete walk in with the nesting boxes on the inside. We have to have wide roosts for the BJG, Cochins, and Brahma. Hopefully it'll be done the first week of June!
We are also extending the fenced in area to 4000 SQ FT which will give them plenty of room to forage. We are fencing in some of the wooded area as well so that they'll have plenty of shaded area during these hot summer months. We have logs, roosts, and all sorts of stuff for them to use to keep them occupied.
In our flock...
Eve- Olive Egger 6 months
Dolly- Red Sex Link 5 months
Ginger- Red Sex Link 5 months
Sophia- Brahma 3 weeks
Rose- White Cochin 4 weeks
Dorothy- Black Cochin 4 weeks
Betty- Black Jersey Giant 5 weeks
Nebula- Black Jersey Giant 5 weeks
Penelope- Delaware 6 weeks
Ophelia- Barred Rock 6 weeks
We have 3 different feeding areas and waterers for them so there is not much fighting over food. When we give treats, we spread them in a wide area so that they all can get some. Sometimes we place treats in two areas far from each other so the hens don't try to hog all of the treats.
We didn't want to jinx ourselves so we kept the integration process to ourselves for the first few weeks until we were sure our hens were going to be alright with the entire process.
We are in the process of building a coop that'll accommodate all the large breeds we have plus all the other chickens. It's a 8x10 thats 7 feet in height, it'll be a complete walk in with the nesting boxes on the inside. We have to have wide roosts for the BJG, Cochins, and Brahma. Hopefully it'll be done the first week of June!
We are also extending the fenced in area to 4000 SQ FT which will give them plenty of room to forage. We are fencing in some of the wooded area as well so that they'll have plenty of shaded area during these hot summer months. We have logs, roosts, and all sorts of stuff for them to use to keep them occupied.
In our flock...
Eve- Olive Egger 6 months
Dolly- Red Sex Link 5 months
Ginger- Red Sex Link 5 months
Sophia- Brahma 3 weeks
Rose- White Cochin 4 weeks
Dorothy- Black Cochin 4 weeks
Betty- Black Jersey Giant 5 weeks
Nebula- Black Jersey Giant 5 weeks
Penelope- Delaware 6 weeks
Ophelia- Barred Rock 6 weeks
