Completely new to chickens - High Desert south above Palm Springs, CA

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mikebarry

mikebarry

Hatching
8 Years
May 9, 2011
5
0
7
Pinon Pines (high desert above Palm Desert, CA in
New to having a chick coop. I've posted my coop and run photos under the "Coop" thread.

Originally had 8 chicks in June 2009, and now down to 4 in June 2012. The first died before evening its first molt, then two died a few months apart apparently of natural causes. The fourth died after two different episodes of, what can only be described as, a prolapsed rectum. The area under her tail was swollen, inflamed red tissue, covered in bird droppings, etc. The first time lasted for about a week and then suddenly went away (or back in). It then happened a few weeks later and after 4 days of that, we discovered her dead in the chicken run. I searched the internet and this site, but couldn't find any info about a "prolapsed rectum" situation or what might have caused it.

The remaining four chickens are extremely healthy and produce eggs every night. We'd like to bring in 3 or 4 chicks to bring the flock back up, but I'm not sure how the adults will react. Has anyone had experience introducing chicks to adult chickens?
 
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Hey howdy and welcome to BYC!!

I brood chicks in the house for a while (it varies by the season, as I have a ginormous brooder in the coop but I like some "in house" brooding time to ensure I see them a whole lot during their first couple of weeks. Then I move them outside into a "grow-out" coop, or into the Poultry Kindergarten pen built inside the coop just for this purpose. The chicks hear and see the rest of the flock through the chicken wire pen, and the rest of the flock sees the chicks. They stay there until they are around 10-12 weeks old, then I open the pen door and let them all mingle.

This segregation "in plain sight" tactic works very well, as the chicks are not "strangers" (strangers equal danger) to the flock members AND they are at least as large as the bantam breeds in the flock once I let them all mingle. I still watch for pecking order issues - however, when using this integration/segregation model, the chicks only suffer the occasional "get out of my way" pecks.

Good luck!
 
Hi and :welcome

Introducing adults to younger chicks can be a bit of a pain, but if they're given time to get used to each other first it shouldn't be too bad. (Maybe a few weeks in separated pens where they can see each other.) We've always also had two feed and water stations at opposite ends of the garden so no fighting goes on during feeding, and for the first few days were on standby to separate anyone that got too enthusiastic about defending their food tray. :p
Good luck!

Don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have, and enjoy the site. :D
 
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Hello and
welcome-byc.gif
 

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