Hi there,
I have some questions on how to help my latest chicks .
a little background.
I have a 20X30 coop, and my flock free range daily. As soon as the auto door opens in the morning the flock is out and about.
I am having issues Integrating my latest batch of chicks. They did get off to a late start as far as integration goes. I had them separated for awhile due to them having fowl pox.
They are approx 13 weeks old now, and have been inside the coop for approx 3 weeks. They have their own area in the back of the coop that has openings for them to get in and out to mingle with the flock, yet get back to safety in their own little safe place.
what I am having issues with is this batch of chicks just doesn’t seem to be getting the whole thing. They are staying in the area only and not really daring to come out. All the while the chicks are getting bigger and bigger and the space it getting way to tight for all 30 of them. I have had to make the openings a bit larger, because of their age, and now some of my slimmer hens manage to get in there and gorge on the chick food.
I have used this same setup for other chicks and never had them just stay in there the whole time. However I will say that for every other batch I had in there they started much younger(4-5weeks Vs 10 weeks).
Any advice on how to move them along without rebuilding the entire setup?
I have some questions on how to help my latest chicks .
a little background.
I have a 20X30 coop, and my flock free range daily. As soon as the auto door opens in the morning the flock is out and about.
I am having issues Integrating my latest batch of chicks. They did get off to a late start as far as integration goes. I had them separated for awhile due to them having fowl pox.
They are approx 13 weeks old now, and have been inside the coop for approx 3 weeks. They have their own area in the back of the coop that has openings for them to get in and out to mingle with the flock, yet get back to safety in their own little safe place.
what I am having issues with is this batch of chicks just doesn’t seem to be getting the whole thing. They are staying in the area only and not really daring to come out. All the while the chicks are getting bigger and bigger and the space it getting way to tight for all 30 of them. I have had to make the openings a bit larger, because of their age, and now some of my slimmer hens manage to get in there and gorge on the chick food.
I have used this same setup for other chicks and never had them just stay in there the whole time. However I will say that for every other batch I had in there they started much younger(4-5weeks Vs 10 weeks).
Any advice on how to move them along without rebuilding the entire setup?