Any hen of mine that goes broody gets fertile eggs and raises her chicks with the flock, but usually two to three times a year I hatch about 15 to 20 chicks in an incubator. I raise them in a brooder until they are maybe 4 to 5 weeks old, depending on weather, then move them to a grow-out coop which has a small 8' x 12' fenced-in run.
Usually around 8 weeks of age I just open up the gate and let them range with the flock. That used to be totally free range but too many people drop dogs off here in my part of the country so I had to go to electric netting. That gives them an extra area maybe 30' x 65' to range in.
The brooder raised chicks continue to sleep in the grow-out coop. Usually at 12 weeks age I move them to the adult coop if there is room. Sometimes there is not enough room and I let them sleep in the grow-out coop for a couple of extra months until I reduce the numbers and make room.
I have never lost any chicks due to a hen attacking them doing it this way. Mature hens will peck immature chickens if they are within her “personal space”. That’s the way chicken society works. It does not mean they are trying to kill them, just maintaining the pecking order. Immature chickens will run away from more mature chickens if they can. I give them room so they can.
I feed in the main coop, in the run, and in the grow-out coop when I have chickens in there. Sometimes a mature hen goes in the grow-out coop to eat. If there are any young chickens in there, they clear out fast.
I did lose a one week old chick once, being raised by a broody. That chick found its way into the grow-out coop where I had some 8-week-olds. It was trapped against the fence, the broody could not get in to protect it, and it did not know to go back out the way it came in. I fixed the gate to the grow-out coop run so that should not happen again. If I’d had that gate open where the 8-week-olds could roam with the flock like I planned to do the next day since it was time, the broody would have been able to protect her chick. That chick died because I tried to keep them separated.
Usually around 8 weeks of age I just open up the gate and let them range with the flock. That used to be totally free range but too many people drop dogs off here in my part of the country so I had to go to electric netting. That gives them an extra area maybe 30' x 65' to range in.
The brooder raised chicks continue to sleep in the grow-out coop. Usually at 12 weeks age I move them to the adult coop if there is room. Sometimes there is not enough room and I let them sleep in the grow-out coop for a couple of extra months until I reduce the numbers and make room.
I have never lost any chicks due to a hen attacking them doing it this way. Mature hens will peck immature chickens if they are within her “personal space”. That’s the way chicken society works. It does not mean they are trying to kill them, just maintaining the pecking order. Immature chickens will run away from more mature chickens if they can. I give them room so they can.
I feed in the main coop, in the run, and in the grow-out coop when I have chickens in there. Sometimes a mature hen goes in the grow-out coop to eat. If there are any young chickens in there, they clear out fast.
I did lose a one week old chick once, being raised by a broody. That chick found its way into the grow-out coop where I had some 8-week-olds. It was trapped against the fence, the broody could not get in to protect it, and it did not know to go back out the way it came in. I fixed the gate to the grow-out coop run so that should not happen again. If I’d had that gate open where the 8-week-olds could roam with the flock like I planned to do the next day since it was time, the broody would have been able to protect her chick. That chick died because I tried to keep them separated.
