Advice on integrating chicks of different ages?

[mirandaleecon]

Hello! Just looking for some opinions on how I should handle integrating some chicks of different ages.
Right now, I have 2 three week old chicks in a brooder inside, 16 six-ish week olds in a 8x12 pen outside with a mother hen, and 3 ten-ish week old chicks in a segregated corner of that pen. The ages aren't terribly accurate, this was my first time hatching chicks and long story short, it didn't go as planned and everybody hatched at different times and I never wrote it down.

So, my first issue is, I would really like to integrate the three oldest chicks with the other 16 middle aged chicks to free up their corner for the youngest. Normally, I don't think this would be a problem, but the mother hen doesn't agree with that.
Should I try to remove the mother hen? They have not free ranged yet and I would like for her to show them the ropes but I'm not sure how long until I will feel comfortable letting them all out. 16 babies is a lot for one hen to look after. They had another mother hen but she decided she was done with all the chaos after about 4 weeks. Funny, she was the one stealing chicks in the beginning...

And my second dilemma, if I can't integrate the oldest chicks with the middle chicks, would the mother hen be more accepting of the youngest chicks? And if she is, will her chicks be? The smaller ones would be way outnumbered but they are growing out of their brooder!

And third, the oldest chicks are about the age I started letting my first chickens free range but I'm worried they will have a harder time because they have to contend with the older hens. Should I wait until they are about full size? They are definitely outgrowing their corner too...


Anyway, I would appreciate any suggestions or strategies!

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I would not advise trying to put any of the other babies in with the mother hen. I have found with all of the broody hens that I have had, that it is instinctual for them to attack/hurt/kill any babies that are not their own. If you are wanting to integrate all of the young chicks together, you are going to have to remove the mother. As hard as that is, it'll be much easier than trying to put other chicks in with her.

As for trying to free range your oldest chicks, the best thing would be to integrate them with your adult flock and get them all used to each other, and let the babies get used to their new coop, before you start letting them out into the yard. Unless you want to deal with trying to get the chicks to all go back to the coop at night, instead of trying to find other places to roost. What I have always done is close up all of my adult chickens, and then put the babies in with them. I monitor them for the first day or two to make sure nobody is getting hurt, and then let them be for a few days. Sometimes even a week or more, depending on how things are going. Once they are somewhat getting used to each other, then it should be okay to let them all out to free range. But no matter what, you may end up still having to track down the babies at night to bring them to the coop. It always takes my pullets FOREVER to figure out where they are supposed to sleep at night on their own.

Good luck! Hopefully everything goes well for you.

 

[Tuhmu]

I would not advise trying to put any of the other babies in with the mother hen. I have found with all of the broody hens that I have had, that it is instinctual for them to attack/hurt/kill any babies that are not their own. If you are wanting to integrate all of the young chicks together, you are going to have to remove the mother. As hard as that is, it'll be much easier than trying to put other chicks in with her.

As for trying to free range your oldest chicks, the best thing would be to integrate them with your adult flock and get them all used to each other, and let the babies get used to their new coop, before you start letting them out into the yard. Unless you want to deal with trying to get the chicks to all go back to the coop at night, instead of trying to find other places to roost. What I have always done is close up all of my adult chickens, and then put the babies in with them. I monitor them for the first day or two to make sure nobody is getting hurt, and then let them be for a few days. Sometimes even a week or more, depending on how things are going. Once they are somewhat getting used to each other, then it should be okay to let them all out to free range. But no matter what, you may end up still having to track down the babies at night to bring them to the coop. It always takes my pullets FOREVER to figure out where they are supposed to sleep at night on their own.

Good luck! Hopefully everything goes well for you.

This exactly.

One of the best things for integrating is having things for the little ones to hide behind, "out of sight, out of mind".

 

[mirandaleecon]

Thank you for the responses! Yea, I think I am going to remove the mother. She has been very attentive and protective and I think she may be sad for a bit but I imagine she will get over it quickly. The other mother hen sure did! Although, on a side note, whenever I feed the mother hen that left, she still sprinkles her food on the ground before she eats as if there are still chicks hanging around! She even makes the little clucking noise but if I give her the opportunity to go back in with her chicks she is like "hell no, don't put me back in there! I'm freee!"

As far as free ranging the older three, I don't really have the option to put them in the coop with the adults and leave them. It is really only designed for them to have room to sleep and there is no run. I am in the process of building a bigger coop that I could leave them in for short periods but that's not done yet. I think my plan is to start giving them supervised free range time to make sure the adults don't bully them and when the coop is done, I'll put the youngsters in the new coop so they don't have to be locked up with the adults. If I can integrate all of the chicks, I think they will have a better chance to stand up to the adults. There will be 21 chicks against 7 adults and hopefully they will protect each other...