Thanks guys! We're going to build an extension onto our roofed coop/run that has a closing hatch to allow us to separate babies or sick birds or broody hens and can otherwise be left open for even more space in the winter months when they get confined from the outdoor system. I feel much better...
If I turn them loose in the coop for nights with the adults after a few days of them in their box in the coop... in the mornings, I assume I have a couple hours to go check on them and separate them again before the pecking order starts? And then..during the day I have an idea to separate them...
Did your chicks have a safe place to squeeze into so the hens couldn't bother them? Would that help mitigate possible attacks? Did the kill happen all at once or over the four period a little at a time?
I'm sure this question is asked a lot. But I'm fretting! I've got four 7-8 week old chicks that have outgrown their "brooding box" in the house. We've been using decent weather days to let them in a round pen in the yard. But it's cold and rainy still and them living in this little brooding...
I have 4 2-week old chicks. I ran out of starter feed. Went to the pet store with plenty in their dish to sustain them today. Picked up a bag. And got home. Tonight they're out of food, so I got the bag out of my trunk and it's GROWER not STARTER. It's organic and it's like whole corn...
Will be interesting to see! With all the crappy hatchery identifications, I can't believe there are still purebred chickens left. :-P I have a "RIR" that looks just my production red chicken. That production red was sold as a buff check. Hah!
The brown one in the back is a hatchery partridge plymouth rock. I don't know if she is or isn't, but she sure looks like pictures of them I see in search results. Also 5 weeks. No comb showing on her yet. Why do you think she isn't a partridge?
I don't want to make any assumptions. Should the bully remain in isolation (dog crate) all the time, even for free ranging all day? Just feed her and water her in there and let the other chickens form a little group in the yard and coop?
Martha
If they have access to food and water and safety from predators, why can't you leave for several days or even indefinitely? Would you be able to have someone check on them once a day to make sure there's no problems or water shortages?
Martha
I'm in a similar predicament. I've got my two 4 month old babies living in the coop and the two 6 month old hens living in the run at night - separated but both totally secured. I like the idea of just "letting them work it out". But my one older chicken isn't just aggressive if the baby...
Would a large dog cage count as an isolation coop? I consider it very small... but I know lots of hens in world live in a milk crate and produce for years. So I guess a large dog crate wouldn't kill her for a week.
How do you guys predict the other Big hen will handle having her flock...
We are new to the chicken thing. We have (2) 20 week old chickens - a Production Red and a Americana mutt. And (2) 13 week old chickens (a Production Red and a Barred Rock).
The two Littles are just starting bawk and cluck.
I get that they need to work it out and we need to let them...
This red hen is a bully, too. We are trying to integrate two 12 week old chick's and this red hen won't leave the barred rock alone, she's pretty aggressive about it. We keep them separated except when free ranging.
We have a 12 week old Rhode Island red we raised from a chick, we are pretty confident she's a RIR, and this buff hen is colored almost exactly the same.... But the RIR is still immature and we don't really know what the nuances are in terms of shape and color.
We are new chicken folks and just learning about breeds and the ins and outs. One of our hens is about 18 weeks old from McMurray hatchery. She was overstock from a friend. :) this hen was sold as a chick labeled a buff orpington but I'm thinking she is something else? How do we identify...
We live on a suburban city lot in a town that allows for backyard chickens. We wanted to build a coop that would support 4 hens very comfortably and be attractive in our yard when people walk by next door. My daughter had a Step 2 Cottage playhouse that she no longer plays with - so we had the...