Topic of the Week - Integrating Chicks into an Adult Flock

[cukuriku]

Each chicken has its own personality. Each integration is different. I had a chick kill a hatchmate, they were hatched at the same time by a broody hen. That chick also attacked and injured a different hatchmate. No integration involved at all and they were the same age. The chicks were about 1-1/2 to 2 weeks old when the attacks started. I isolated that chick for the day and let him back with the broody and other chicks at the end of that day. He was OK after that, but he was still the first out of that brood that went into the freezer.

I had a 1-1/2 old chick get in a run where I had several 8-week-old chicks isolated. They killed it. I quickly fixed that gate so others could not get in. The irony is that I was planning on letting the 8-week-olds loose the next day. The broody would have been able to protect her chick then, but the broody could not get through that gate.

You are dealing with living animals, you cannot expect the results to be identical for each and every integration around the world. We all have different set-ups and use different techniques. We have different chickens. Sometimes these things go so smoothly you wonder what all the fuss was about. Sometimes chickens die. We can give information on techniques and situations that usually work or greatly improve your odds, but we cannot give guarantees.

When I mix strange chicks I try to keep them about the same age, I don’t know that I’ve ever put chicks more than a week apart into the brooder together. But by 5 weeks of age mine are not in the brooder any more, they might be in the grow-out coop and run or they might be running with the main flock.

Cukuriku, if you are uncomfortable about how they were received by the older chicks, use the standard tricks for integration even with chicks. House them side by side for a week or so. Provide separate feeding and watering areas when you mix them. Provide as much room as you can. A safety haven should be possible with that difference in size.

To me looking across the internet I can’t tell by your description what is going on. I don’t know what “not accepting them nicely” means. Are they viciously trying to kill them? If the young chicks invade their personal space do the older peck them to try to send them away? You have a month or more age difference. Sometimes the older chicks will fully accept the younger and may even try to mother them to an extent. Sometimes the older won’t allow the younger to invade their personal space so they become two separate flocks, peacefully coexisting but keeping their distance from each other. It usually doesn’t take the younger long to learn to keep their distance or they will get pecked. This is what I’d expect to see. Sometimes one is a brute and will actively try to kill the younger. This last is rare as long as you have room but it can happen.

Good luck!

Definitely well explained, thanks! There's really no vicious fights, just they all of a sudden pounce near the area where the lil ones are and start pecking them, but one is a few days old and is totally helpless. I tried part of the day today to have them all out loose near each other, with the water out of the coop for them to both get a chance to drink from it, and they managed pretty fine the second time (the fights happened in the morning, we're now afternoon time here). In between these times, I had the chicks in a cage outside the run of the older ones, so they could get used to the idea that the area isn't just for them, but for all that I bring to the yard, and could be that's what helped them later on. We're trying to slowly break them in, and it's looking better now. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Folly's place]

Additional feeders and waterers always help, and lots of space. Mary

 

[lmsw0422]

My main question is what if you have 13 chickens eating layer feed and 4 young ones eating chick starter going into grower?

 

[lazy gardener]

My main question is what if you have 13 chickens eating layer feed and 4 young ones eating chick starter going into grower?

Are you saying that the 4 young ones are graduating from starter to grower feed? How old are the chicks? The purist would say: feed the layers layer, and feed the chicks grower. I would say: give the entire flock grower. Or if that's not practical due to the fact that you just bought a bag of layer... do what makes the best use of your current feed supply. If the chicks are old enough that you would be switching them to grower anyways, it won't hurt them to finish up that bag of layer. Then you could switch them all to grower until the chicks are closer to POL. I do like to get my chicks on layer BEFORE that first egg appears. Just be sure to offer oyster shell on the side to your layers if they are not eating layer feed. I like to keep oyster shell available, no matter what my layers are eating.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I"m in a unique situation where I basically get layer feed for free but have to pay for any feed beside the layer feed.

So even when I have a broody raise the clutch, I keep her in a separate but attached run. That way I can feed the momma and her chicks with expensive(for me) chick feed and keep the flock in the free layer. Once the broody has stopped watching out for her chicks, she goes back into the flock and the chicks get moved into the coop in another separated area still eating the chick feed. At about 5wks old I start to open the Panic room doors so the chicks can get out into the main area of the coop but the adults can't get into the chick area. At this point I still have layer feed out in the run and chick feed separated in the coop.
It normally takes a 1-2 weeks till the chicks get up the nerve to venture out of the coop into the run, at which time I have to switch the whole flock to chick feed until the chicks reach laying age.
So the longer I can delay the integration the more $$$ I save on feed. Next year I may delay them coming into the coop for a few more weeks just for the $$$ savings.

The "Panic room" idea seems to work well for me, it allows the chicks to have their own feed/water so they can access them unmolested.

 

[linzloveschiks]

I have a blind chicken how can I introduce babies to her so they think that she's normal?

 

[lmsw0422]

My main question is what if you have 13 chickens eating layer feed and 4 young ones eating chick starter going into grower?

Are you saying that the 4 young ones are graduating from starter to grower feed?  How old are the chicks?  The purist would say:  feed the layers layer, and feed the chicks grower.  I would say:  give the entire flock grower.  Or if that's not practical due to the fact that you just bought a bag of layer... do what makes the best use of your current feed supply.  If the chicks are old enough that you would be switching them to grower anyways, it won't hurt them to finish up that bag of layer.  Then you could switch them all to grower until the chicks are closer to POL.  I do like to get my chicks on layer BEFORE that first egg appears.  Just be sure to offer oyster shell on the side to your layers if they are not eating layer feed.  I like to keep oyster shell available, no matter what my layers are eating.  

Thanks so much for the information. I've have chickens for almost three years but this is the first time I've had several different ages.

 

[lmsw0422]

Also I have my young one, they will be ten weeks Thursday in a wire cage inside the coop with the other 13 do you think they will be ok or do I need to watch for fighting?

 

[Jay SA]

Hey everyone i found adding them at night with no lights on work as they all wake up together and the adult hen sometimes pecks at the younger hen but once I added her when it was dark I don't have a problem

 

[sjturner79]

I have a blind chicken how can I introduce babies to her so they think that she's normal?

I

I have a blind chicken how can I introduce babies to her so they think that she's normal?

I had a blind hen and gave her a couple of chicks that were a couple of days old. I put them in a cardboard box together for a few hours to see what would happen. She went straight into mother mode and it all worked well.
It would depend on how independent the hen is and how maternal she is.