Chick noise, when does it stop?

[CKfarm22]

I’m wondering at what age do chicks stop making the cute little chirps? I have a 10 week old BO that needs to start being integrated with the old girls and i read that if the chick is still making chick noises to not try to integrate them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It’s just what i read that she waits until they are either the size of the rest of her chickens or when the chick stops the chick chirping

Everyone handles integration differently, but I set up for and do early integration. It takes advantage of the fact that hens aren't threatened by small chicks, and small chicks can get away from adults easier than older chicks/teens. My last batch of human-raised chicks had full coop and run access alongside the adults at 2 weeks old.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They start transitioning in their teens, mixing chick sounds with very weird noises like honks or approximation of adult noises, but won't fully stop with chick noises until they get closer to point of lay.

Chicks can be integrated as chicks, that has nothing to do with integration.

 

[3KillerBs]

In imitation of one of the long-term experts here, I created a juvenile roost for my younger and lower-status birds.

It's very simple, just concrete blocks and scrap wood.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Coop door into the run is always open so she can go in if she wants but she won’t. They have about 5 feet of roost space too

Hence why I cage the chicks inside the coop, they don't get a choice once I kick them out of the brooder. From there, it's up to them to decide when they want to voluntarily go into the coop at night - if they don't go in, they get manually picked up and caged each night until they do.

 

[3KillerBs]

I’m thinking she will be one of the lower status birds right now because she’s “new”, so i will definitely try a concrete block

I find blocks, bricks, pavers, and chunks of wood cut-offs invaluable in my coop. They give me all sorts of flexibility for rearranging things and setting them up in either a temporary or permanent fashion.

 

[CKfarm22]

Everyone handles integration differently, but I set up for and do early integration. It takes advantage of the fact that hens aren't threatened by small chicks, and small chicks can get away from adults easier than older chicks/teens. My last batch of human-raised chicks had full coop and run access alongside the adults at 2 weeks old.

Lucky! I was scared to put small chicks in because this is my first time doing this.. so i’m not really sure what i’m doing

 

[Romster]

this is my first batch of chicks, fertile eggs placed under a broody as we are not allowed roosters in suburbia. They are now five weeks old. We put them in a run with mum for the first couple of weeks; until mum seemed to be going stir crazy so we left the run door open for them to free range with the other 3 adults, closing them up at night. We are an island state with no foxes.
Now at 5 weeks they are not using the run at all and seem to be handling being with the grownups quite well. As someone said, they are fast. They are getting tapped a bit by the dominant hen but it seems to be more like discipline than harassment.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If she's been in the run/yard with them for 6 weeks now she should probably be ok, as long as you have plenty of roost space so she doesn't have to roost right up against an adult. As a precaution I also open up the coop early the first week or so after chicks move into the coop, in case they need to escape the adults.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Lucky! I was scared to put small chicks in because this is my first time doing this.. so i’m not really sure what i’m doing

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/24204253
This is what I did with the help of some of the folks on BYC and it worked wonderfully!