Chick sneezing and running at throat

[Lucy4]

Last night was the first night my 10 week girls were integrated into the coop. I found them both hiding from the others in a minuscule space in the morning -- didn't go well. I have them separated again for the moment because my chantecler chick is sneezing and rubbing at her neck. A cold? What can I do for her, and should I move her back into the house?

Thanks for any help. My son will be heartbroken if something happens to her. Sometimes I think our hearts are too soft for chickens.

 

[Lucy4]

I let the older girls in because they were screaming to lay, and my queen bee beat the crap out of the chantecler. I couldn't even get her off. I threw her out in the yard to access the damage... She flew 6 feet over the pen fence to get back at the chick. Another beating.

I know pecking order has to be established, but is it always like this? I've only introduced fully grown birds before; I put them in at night on he roost and it was totally fine the next day. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. these chicks are too little maybe to introduce?

 

[Eggcessive]

Chicks have to be introduced gradually through fencing where they are protected from the older ones. Your old girls think they are being invaded by aliens and want to kill the chicks. I usually make a place in the back of my coop and fence it off with plastic netting or portable fencing of some kind. Put the the chicks in for a week or two, then after the two groups are seeing each other through fencing, I make openings that only the chicks can get through. They will always have some pecking order business when they are put together , but doing it gradually keeps you from having injuries or death. As far as the sneezing, I would bring them back in to watch for more symptoms while I was fencing off the coop.

 

[Eggcessive]

This is a picture of my latest chicks integration. This cage was upside down at first with the small fencing on the bottom with plastic chicken wire zip tied to it. Then I removed the chicken wire, turn ed the fencing over to make openings the chicks could run in and out of, but big girls could not get into. Eventually you remove it all. This type of fencing is available at Lowe's and Home Depot.

 

[KrazyChromatics]

have you tried fencing off a little area for the new chicks? i stapled some chicken wire to a corner of our main coop that included the perch, built a little door, and i stuff all new chicks in there, they get a protected spot on the roost and they get to know eachother, after a week or so i let them out.

I've found it works better introducing a large group of 10, and also splitting up a hatch, take all the bigger ones and intro them, meanwhile what has hatched before them is put in with the other half of the chicks and they get to know eachother, then i intro the other half of the first group the same way, but they only need to be locked up a few days as their buddies are already integrated, then after another week or so of them sorting everything out, i add the next group, leave them in for a week or so, then bring the other half of their hatch in and only leave em for a few days.... idk but the coop has been much quieter, they are so used to new chicks moving in that they dont attack them, pick a little, but NOTHING like last year where we would hear screaming coming from there...

so in short i guess split your group up if its large and then they will have buddies... but if its only a few just giving them a little piece of territory where the bigger birds can safely interact with them without being able to peck them..

for my ameraucauna group its always easier, i just throw the group in and within a few days they are fine, the hens will play "I'm the giant" with them and stomp around and growl and they run screaming, but very little pecking and when they do its more motherly and chiding then aggression, the babies will bunch up in the corner and a hen will go over and break em up and scatter em, it looks like they are doing it just to be evil lol, but not really mean... the bantams though, they do make integration more difficult, the hens tend to be bottom of the pole, so they are the ones that give them a hard time, and more roosters, fine together, but add in a new bird and they go right after em, i have to play ref for those intros....

 

[KrazyChromatics]

This is a picture of my latest chicks integration. This cage was upside down at first with the small fencing on the bottom with plastic chicken wire zip tied to it. Then I removed the chicken wire, turn ed the fencing over to make openings the chicks could run in and out of, but big girls could not get into. Eventually you remove it all. This type of fencing is available at Lowe's and Home Depot.

I like that idea it looks very neat and clean

 

[Lucy4]

Thank you so much.

I have a playhouse coop -- very small. I put the brooder on the floor of the run for a couple days, but I guess that wasn't enough. Really not enough space in the coop to section off, but I could in the run (predator proof.).

I have three big girls and two chicks.

That cage concoction looks great. I will rig something up today. Thanks again.