15 week old chickens

[tamsteve143]

I have 15 week old pullets that have been running with the adult hens all day for over 2 weeks now, not to much drama but the ordinary chasing and plucking that they do and the adult ones stay to themselves and the young ones to themselves but the babies have been in a transition coop, they have done great going in by themselves but it's getting tight in there and i really want them in the main coop with the older hens, every night the babies do look up at the older ones ramp and even will jump up there like they are going to go in but then one of the bigger hens jumps off her roost and they get scared and run to their coop, how do i go about getting them to come in to the big coop? Do I have to shut off the transition coop? Will we have to put them in there ourselves or just lock up the other coop so they will go in the main one? I'm also scared of all the horror stories I've heard of the adult hens hurting them bad once they are locked up in the coop, so yeah i am nervous lol but I know it has to be done, they are getting big and this transition coop isn't meant for 6 older birds. Any advice???? Thanks

 

[azygous]

Shut down the transition coop. It's the only way to break their habit of using it.

But at the same time, you will need to do some refereeing at roosting time to help the pullets make the change without being bullied out of moving in,

It helps to segregate the pullets on one end of the coop or roosting perch. You need to enforce it. Unless the pullets feel they have their own safe space, they will refuse to use the coop and will rebel and try to stay in the run when night comes.

What I do is hang a divider on the perch to demarcate the pullets space from the big chickens. This will give them the baseline of a sense of safety if they know they have their own space reserved for them. But you have to enforce it by stopping any big chicken from moving in on that space.

This is where a spacious coop comes in real handy. If you can choose a little used space, it will be easier. It's a chicken rule that they resist change at all costs, but once they have adjusted to the change, it will become habit from that time on.

Your pullets may have already been exploring the main coop, and if they have, closing down their transition coop may be all you need to do to get them to go into the main coop. I also have a transition coop, and when I moved my current pullets in, I simply shut it up which prevented the single current tenant from using it, and she had no choice but to bunk with the adults. I didn't need to show her how to go in. She had already been spending time there so she was okay with the change inside of two nights.

 

[aart]

Best to have a separate roost for the youngsters that's a tad lower than the main roost.
Pics of your coop interior may help us help you finger it out.

 

[rosemarythyme]

First, close off access to their current mini coop.

What I do after that is cage the younger birds inside the adult coop, at dusk, and then repeat it each evening until the younger ones voluntarily go in (and roost). My chicks have always shared a roost with the adults but they'll sit themselves further away so they don't get pecked at.

These 4 week olds voluntarily followed the adults in and roosted only 2 nights after I began caging them inside the coop.