Coop Talk: Husband and Wife need to settle flock-mixing discussion

[Nashville Hen Mom]

Dear BYC Friends,

For 5 weeks, we have kept four pullets from between 8 to 10 weeks old separate from two much older hens that are of the same or similar heavy-breeds as the young birds. Our somewhat large city backyard is divided into “Henland”, “Foodland”, and “Dogland”. Currently, pullets are in “Foodland” eating way too much produce. Big birds are in “Henland” hanging out, laying, trying to get our attention, and seeming mostly disinterested in the smaller girls.

The photo attached is what it looks like at our afternoon cooling-session of watermelon treats. We are thinking of moving the little girls’ coop into “Henland”, but common advice is to wait until they are eating the same feed and being the same size at 16-weeks of age before the flocks are mixed. I know that we are luckier than most since we have two coops and adjacent, but separate areas in which they can free range. Additionally we have at least one family-member being home more than usual due to the pandemic. Today we thought we would open the gate between the not-so-distant lands and allow them to mingle. Husband thinks that it might be too soon based on what we have read, but is willing to push it sooner if we get some evidence that by taking precautions and carefully monitoring, we can minimize risks.

Please help us develop a good plan so that we can come to a good conclusion to this discussion and put the garden out of danger at the earliest date possible. All thoughts, experiences, and scientific evidence are welcomed. Thank you for your help and advice!

 

[Ridgerunner]

common advice is to wait until they are eating the same feed and being the same size at 16-weeks of age before the flocks are mixed.

Not when I'm the one making suggestions. I integrate mine with the adults when they are 5 weeks old. But my brooder is in the coop s the chicks are raised with the flock from Day 1.

My suggestion is to move that coop into henland for about a week. That's to get the chicks used to going to bed in that location. Then open it up, let the chicks roam with the hens during the day. The more room you can give them the better. Base what you do after that in what you see.

What I expect to happen is that the chicks quickly learn to avoid the adults. The hens are likely to peck them if the chicks invade their personal space so they soon start avoiding the hens. Let the chicks sleep in their own coop for a while. After they have roamed with the hens for a couple of weeks you can try moving them into that coop to sleep at night.

That coop looks fairly small for six chickens, it might cause some issues when you move them in. You may have to delay moving them in there to sleep but I see nothing to stop you from moving them into the same area and ranging during the day.

 

[NatJ]

Food: hens can eat chick starter, and have free-choice oyster shell, and do fine.
The only special thing about "layer" feed is the calcium content: good for laying hens, bad for young chicks.

If you leave both kinds of food available, all the birds will probably eat the chick starter

 

[Nashville Hen Mom]

common advice is to wait until they are eating the same feed and being the same size at 16-weeks of age before the flocks are mixed.

Not when I'm the one making suggestions. I integrate mine with the adults when they are 5 weeks old. But my brooder is in the coop s the chicks are raised with the flock from Day 1.

My suggestion is to move that coop into henland for about a week. That's to get the chicks used to going to bed in that location. Then open it up, let the chicks roam with the hens during the day. The more room you can give them the better. Base what you do after that in what you see.

What I expect to happen is that the chicks quickly learn to avoid the adults. The hens are likely to peck them if the chicks invade their personal space so they soon start avoiding the hens. Let the chicks sleep in their own coop for a while. After they have roamed with the hens for a couple of weeks you can try moving them into that coop to sleep at night.

That coop looks fairly small for six chickens, it might cause some issues when you move them in. You may have to delay moving them in there to sleep but I see nothing to stop you from t=moving them into the same area and ranging during the day.

That sounds like good advice. You are right about that little coop. It is generally only used if we need to isolate a sick bird or when we have small chicks. Luckily, there is plenty of room inside for the four small birds to sleep. They are free to roam the garden area during the daylight hours so being confined there hasn’t been an issue.

We let the big girls inside the garden area for about 5 minutes today. Just as you said: the little ones ran away and the big ones were just interested in snacking. We may try another supervised mixing session soon. Thanks so much for your thoughts!

 

[Nashville Hen Mom]

Food: hens can eat chick starter, and have free-choice oyster shell, and do fine.
The only special thing about "layer" feed is the calcium content: good for laying hens, bad for young chicks.

If you leave both kinds of food available, all the birds will probably eat the chick starter

Thanks pointing that out. The older birds are not really laying a whole lot at their age, but we still provide calcium. The feeder we have for layer feed is not really usable by small birds so that might help prevent them from eating it.

You are certainly right about hens eating the starter feed. It is like a dog with cat food...

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I mixed my most recent batch of chicks in at 10 weeks. I built a "creep" for them, a pen with bars that they could fit through but full sized hens couldn't. Then I just let them integrate themselves. Now they all act as one flock and it took about 2 weeks with the creep and 2 weeks without for that to happen. They had chick food on their side and the hens had hen food on their side.

 

[Nashville Hen Mom]

I mixed my most recent batch of chicks in at 10 weeks. I built a "creep" for them, a pen with bars that they could fit through but full sized hens couldn't. Then I just let them integrate themselves. Now they all act as one flock and it took about 2 weeks with the creep and 2 weeks without for that to happen. They had chick food on their side and the hens had hen food on their side.

An excellent idea! Do you remember how big the opening was? We could even try it with altering the garden gate somehow. Will keep you posted.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Well, the bar sizes are going to depend on the size of the chickens you integrate so my sizes might not help you. Honestly we just have an old piece of a wooden crib our neighbors set out on the curb once - so the "jail bars" of the crib - and we use it to partition off some of the coop. We know the hens can't get through it, but chicks can.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Problem with trying to do a panic door type set up (which is essentially what those openings are) is they favor much younger birds. I use something similar when integrating but we're talking 2 week old chicks. At 10 weeks, some of your "babies" may be starting to approach the size of smaller adults.

Adding a lot of obstacles in the area to provide hiding spots will help regardless of age of chicks.