Adding chickens

[momtofour]

Hi there,
I have chicks that are 16 weeks old and I have added them into a pen with 3 other laying hens, the 3 older laying hens are cranky and nasty with my new chicks.. I'm
New to this and I'm wondering if I've done something wrong, maybe I shouldn't have added the birds together?!? Or will
The 3 older ones get used to the younger ones with time?!? HELP please

 

[chick56]

observe for a while whether there is still space in the pen for all of them to behave normally after you put the chicks if not then hens will get nasty...........or sometimes the old ones needs time to get along with the new ones

once i was also in this situation i bought two chicks 3 weeks old and put them with my 2 current chicks 12 weeks old at start they started to fight but after 2 to 3 days they adjusted and now they can't live seperate from each other

but be careful that the hens do not injure them

 

[bobbi-j]

Cranky will pass, put some extra feeder and waters out, make sure there are hideouts, or different roosts..... keep an eye on them, let them work it out if at all possible, and wait......come winter, they will meld into one flock. Long before that they will get the pecking order down and the flocks will be mostly peaceful.

Mrs K

This. They'll all settle down soon.

 

[bobbi-j]

You did only 1 thing wrong adding chicks!that's a mistake.They can kill them.You need to wait until their about 15 weeks.Introduce threw fencing or something like that.This can cause stress to the babies and then hens surprisingly.The babies can die as well as the hens from stress.The hens would be in stress from worrying about the babies(In a bad way).How old are the HENS?


Chicks are fragile objects.Easily broken.They need their time to grow and spread.They need chick medicine Antibotics probiotics.These things prevent disease.Now your chicks can catch a sickness easily.

Um, did you read the original post? The "chicks" are actually juveniles - 16 weeks old. That makes them 4 months old, if I've done my math right. Plenty old enough to be put in with the hens. What the OP is describing is just the natural establishing of the pecking order. The "chicks" do not need antibiotics, probiotics, or any other biotics at this time. They won't be catching any diseases any more easily than any other chicken added to a flock.

 

[bobbi-j]

There is always some level of stress within the flock when other chickens are added or taken away. Yes, the feces of one group of birds could spread disease to the others if, say, parasites were present.But if you're going to merge two flocks these are chances you take. If both flocks are healthy, this is not a threat. Many people will quarantine new birds for up to a month from the other birds for this very reason. To look for and treat worms, lice, mites, etc. so they are not spread to their original birds. Not everyone does this - that's their choice. Even then - even after having the extra birds for however long you have them before integration, there will be stress for a while until they get their pecking order straightened out.

 

[Mrs. K]

Cranky will pass, put some extra feeder and waters out, make sure there are hideouts, or different roosts..... keep an eye on them, let them work it out if at all possible, and wait......come winter, they will meld into one flock. Long before that they will get the pecking order down and the flocks will be mostly peaceful.

Mrs K

 

[troy4]

Hi there,
I have chicks that are 16 weeks old and I have added them into a pen with 3 other laying hens, the 3 older laying hens are cranky and nasty with my new chicks.. I'm
New to this and I'm wondering if I've done something wrong, maybe I shouldn't have added the birds together?!? Or will
The 3 older ones get used to the younger ones with time?!? HELP please

You did only 1 thing wrong adding chicks!that's a mistake.They can kill them.You need to wait until their about 15 weeks.Introduce threw fencing or something like that.This can cause stress to the babies and then hens surprisingly.The babies can die as well as the hens from stress.The hens would be in stress from worrying about the babies(In a bad way).How old are the HENS?


Chicks are fragile objects.Easily broken.They need their time to grow and spread.They need chick medicine Antibotics probiotics.These things prevent disease.Now your chicks can catch a sickness easily.

 

[troy4]

Um, did you read the original post? The "chicks" are actually juveniles - 16 weeks old. That makes them 4 months old, if I've done my math right. Plenty old enough to be put in with the hens. What the OP is describing is just the natural establishing of the pecking order. The "chicks" do not need antibiotics, probiotics, or any other biotics at this time. They won't be catching any diseases any more easily than any other chicken added to a flock.

Oh.Well the youngsters can still be stressed as same with the hens.It is very possible for them to catch a disease no matter what age or anything.BUT of course the birds would need to have a sickness to past.But the other bird POOP can give them a disease.

 

[momtofour]

Thanks everyone, I guess only time
Will tell I sure hope they eventually will get along! Just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing or not doing something Wrong LOL