Am I making a mistake?? What is happening?

[Nona Urbiz]

I'm one of those heartless brutes too. My chicks go straight to the brooder in the coop from the incubator or post office. As long as they have a spot warm enough they do fine, even if there is ice in a far corner of that 3' x 6' brooder.

I've had chicks 5-1/2 weeks old go through nights in the mid 20's Fahrenheit. They had been acclimated by being in that big brooder and playing in the colder spots, then going back to the warm spot when they needed to warm up. They were protected from breezes hitting them but those temperatures in calm air were no problem. I'd expect your chicks to be able to handle 45/50 Fahrenheit with no problems but exposing them to cold temperatures if you can won't hurt. One big advantage may be that you can see for yourself that it isn't a problem, that could help your confidence.

Chickens often do not like change but can be quite adaptable. Going from always light to pitch dark is a change. If I do something like that they might fuss for 15 minutes or so, then go to sleep. The next time they might fuss for 5 minutes. After that they go to sleep. It is no longer strange. Or you can try gradual methods. In any case they will adjust.

I want mine to stay out of my house for a few reasons. I want to stay married. My wife would not appreciate the noise, possible smell, and the dust and dander from trying to raise them in the house. She is a city girl with a sensitive nose but I think she has a point. Also, I want my chicks exposed to the rest of the flock as early as possible. I want them to get to work on flock immunities as soon as possible while they are in the brooder and easy to observe. Plus, with them growing up with the flock they are usually a breeze to integrate. If you don't already have chickens out there you may lose some of these benefits but I've always brooded outside.

Your message is a God-send. I am going to try this immediately. Three questions: where in the hen house do you put the brooder? Extra nesting box? near the roost? in the open space? 2) at 4 weeks do they need a brooder/heater? It still freezes here in Michigan in April. 3) My hen house is a few feet above the ground, will they walk down the ramp - I'm worried they'll fall and be injured. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PROMPT RESPONSE! Blessings

 

[Ridgerunner]

where in the hen house do you put the brooder? Extra nesting box? near the roost? in the open space?

My hen house is 8' x 12'. The roosts are along the back 8' long wall. The brooder is under the roosts with the top of the brooder acting as a droppings board. I'm not sure what you mean by extra nest box.

2) at 4 weeks do they need a brooder/heater? It still freezes here in Michigan in April.

I would until they are at least 5 weeks old.

3) My hen house is a few feet above the ground, will they walk down the ramp - I'm worried they'll fall and be injured.

My main coop is at ground level. My grow-out coop is about 2 feet above the ground level. They don't go in there until they are about five weeks old. By then they fly more than they walk up and down.

By two weeks of age the chicks raised by a broody are flying up and down as often as they walk. Instead of a ramp I make steps out of pavers so they can get out of the coop and go outside with the broody. By the time they are two or three days old they can handle the steps.

I once saw a broody hen get her chicks out of a 10 feet high hay loft. She said jump and they did, then hopped up to run to her. My broody hens hatch in nests 2 feet and 4 feet above the coop floor. They have no problems getting the chicks to jump out of the nest when it is time. You can always have a freak accident but I've never had a chick get hurt jumping or falling down a height. As Rosemary said, they are not quite as delicate as they look.

 

[Nona Urbiz]

THANK YOU! Second night out there and they are still alive!!! The old hens are curious but otherwise ok with the new arrivals. I've had such a time introducing new chicks (obviously older than 5 weeks) in the past. I would spend hours in the hen house many, many nights making sure no blood was drawn. What a blessing! As they get older will they begin the PECKING order assaults, or does it go pretty smoothly?

 

[rosemarythyme]

As they get older will they begin the PECKING order assaults, or does it go pretty smoothly?

From my experience it goes fairly smoothly, the chicks will stay as a subflock until they get close to point of lay, and then that's usually where you'll see a bit of pecking order jostling as they merge more completely with the adult flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As they get older will they begin the PECKING order assaults, or does it go pretty smoothly?

They are living animals, anything can happen. What I typically see is that they remain a sub-flock until the pullets start laying. During the day they stay away from the adults. I have several feeding and watering stations so there is no competition when they eat or drink. Each group is different, sometimes they mingle quite a bit, but usually they stay apart.

At night they sleep separately. The hens sleep on the main roosts. When they are pretty young the young sleep on the coop floor, usually in a corner. After they reach a certain age (actual age can vary) they look for some pace to roost. It might be feeders, maybe nests, whatever they find. I do this so often I put up a juvenile roost to keep them out of my nests. It's lower than the main roost, physically separated horizontally by a few feet, and higher than the nests. Actually mine is over the nests, the tops of my nests are droppings boards. This gives them a place to go that is not in my nests or otherwise inconvenient.

They go on like this until they start sleeping on the main roosts with the adults. I see very little conflict when this happens, mainly squabbles over where the higher ranking hens want to sleep and normal pecking order issues but I see this with the original adults anyway. They often still stay in their sub-groups during the day because they want to, not that they will get beat up if they don't. They can and do eat with the older hens once they hit this phase. And they can move pretty high in the pecking order but sometimes that causes conflict.

I have a lot of room. I'm convinced this makes it a lot easier for me than for someone who has them tightly packed together. My coop can get fairly crowded at times but outside I have over 50 square feet per chicken when they are most crowded. At peak I can have over 50 chickens total of various ages and maturity levels.

I see very few vicious "pecking order assaults" where you see serious fighting. With mine it is mostly intimidation, some small pecking, and running away. If they dont have room to run away it can get really vicious.

 

[Mark Whatley]

This is a helpful thread. I have 2 four year old buffs and just bought 6 chicks (2 ea. buff Orpingtons, RI Reds, silver laced Wyandottes) that are around 4 weeks. Growing FAST and feathering in nicely. I’m towards the end of the second week of having the chicks in a separate pen next to the big run during the day and moving them back to the garage at sunset. The two adults have been beak to beak with the chicks and have shown no angst. Weather permitting, I may proceed this weekend with letting the chicks into the big run with the adults, supervised of course, to break the ice further. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is a helpful thread. I have 2 four year old buffs and just bought 6 chicks (2 ea. buff Orpingtons, RI Reds, silver laced Wyandottes) that are around 4 weeks. Weather permitting, I may proceed this weekend with letting the chicks into the big run with the adults, supervised of course, to break the ice further. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Clutter up the run and/or move around existing clutter, and make sure no hiding spots form dead ends that chicks could get trapped in. Having multiple feeders available helps too as food is another resource that can get guarded.

I'm currently integrating my 3rd batch of chicks on a brood-along thread here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...egrate-along-from-feed-store-to-coop.1617102/

My original brooding/integration article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/