Do I really have to keep chicks in brooder for 6 weeks?

[Blooie]

You could skip the garage brooding altogether since you plan to put a divider in the coop anyway. That’s what I do so they are all familiar with each other from day one.

 

[MINDANAO DAVE]

Simple terms just make sure they stay warmer especially during the nighttime Other than that your just fine. Error on safety side.

 

[Blooie]

I can see that. We all do what we’re comfortable with and there isn’t a doggone thing wrong with that.

I raise them outdoors from the start. Their wire brooder pen is in the run, which is covered, and the adults see the chicks, eat and have access to their water with them because their containers are side by side, with just the protective wire of the brooder between them. They can see but can’t peck. In just hours they barely notice the chicks anymore. Our springtime “chick season” temperatures here are in the 20s, dropping into the teens at times. One year we didn’t get our last snowfall until June 6th. By the 4th week they are off any heat, and by the end of that week I have full and peaceful integration and the brooder pen is taken out completely. It’s worked flawlessly for me over the last years and 8 batches of chicks, but again it’s well within my personal comfort zone.

I realize that it isn’t that way for everyone and I’m okay with that.

 

[GardenJen77]

Ah see I've been getting most my of chick raising knowledge from the 2018 newbie board. We are from Texas & we've been getting highs up in the 90s already! My best friend was telling me they brood their chicks indoors as well (also here in our area). So I really thought it was the norm regardless of your area. That's why I really enjoy this forum, we get all different experiences and information from knowledgeable owners.

My chickens are inside. I have a coop with an existing flock, but there is no way to integrate them safely right now, especially after the flock tried killing some adult birds this spring that I had tried all winter to integrate. I am also in the north and our temps drop below freezing at night still. My babies are only 1 week old, so I know they aren't going out for another 4 weeks, or so, then we will work on getting them into their own run for the day, while the adults free range. I think it's all about preference, housing accommodations and temperature zone, as to where you keep your little ones.

 

[usmcpilot06]

its been in the 30's and 40's here in Indiana, mine have been in the garage from day, but that is because I just bought my new farm 5 weeks ago. The barn needed a lot of work. There was no place to put them. It was a horse farm before I bought it and the barn is over a foot deep in old bedding. Had to use a bob cat to clean it out. I still need to finish the coop area, which is built on to the back of the barn. The other owners used it to put there old bedding in, it is four feet deep in there. I'll have plenty of cpompost for the garden.

 

[ScottKelly1974]

I have chicks hatching each week. If you introduce the chicks when they hatch, the adults will be more accepting. Try keeping them in a cage where the adults can see and hear them everyday. I have mine outside, but at night, I bring them in. But then put them out during the day. As the nights get warmer, I plan on keeping them outside all night. I have allowed the mothers to encounter the chicks. So far they have not been aggressive, except the RIR hen. The other hens have been passive. Only when the chicks come in to get the food the hen is eating does the hen snap at them.

 

[bruceha2000]

I have a coop with an existing flock, but there is no way to integrate them safely right now, especially after the flock tried killing some adult birds this spring that I had tried all winter to integrate.

Don't mean to be rude but trying to integrate adults is much harder than integrating chicks into a flock. Any adult is seen as an interloper, a threat to the pecking order and a competitor for food. As such they must be put in their place and of course they often think otherwise. Chicks are little things that won't fight back and are not seen as a big threat to society. Clearly they need a safe space in the coop that the older birds can't get to but being seen by them is good. As they grow, they figure out flock dynamics and can slowly integrate over time.

 

[GardenJen77]

Don't mean to be rude but trying to integrate adults is much harder than integrating chicks into a flock. Any adult is seen as an interloper, a threat to the pecking order and a competitor for food. As such they must be put in their place and of course they often think otherwise. Chicks are little things that won't fight back and are not seen as a big threat to society. Clearly they need a safe space in the coop that the older birds can't get to but being seen by them is good. As they grow, they figure out flock dynamics and can slowly integrate over time.

Your not seen as being rude at all. Just a clarification though. I do know that the adults are harder to integrate. That being said, the ones I was trying to integrate were very submissive, and never tried to assert themselves, they always backed off or ran away. The other chickens would corner them and gang peck them to a pulp. The one hen was pecked so bad that I swore they were actually pecking her brains out. It was horrid and gruesome. After separating them again, and nursing them back to health, I was able to rehome them. So, as you can see, this type of behavior is what is worrisome. Little chicks have no chance against these types of gang-ups.

 

[bobbi-j]

Your not seen as being rude at all. Just a clarification though. I do know that the adults are harder to integrate. That being said, the ones I was trying to integrate were very submissive, and never tried to assert themselves, they always backed off or ran away. The other chickens would corner them and gang peck them to a pulp. The one hen was pecked so bad that I swore they were actually pecking her brains out. It was horrid and gruesome. After separating them again, and nursing them back to health, I was able to rehome them. So, as you can see, this type of behavior is what is worrisome. Little chicks have no chance against these types of gang-ups.

Sounds like you need some more room before you try integrating anything again. It appears that the submissive ones weren't able to get away from the others. It will help if you can also put some hiding places in the run for the others. Pallets or plywood against the fence (but open on both ends so a bird can't get trapped), more roosts in the run so the others can get up out of the way.

 

[bruceha2000]

Unfortunately that seems to be the way it works. It isn't good enough to know they are higher in the order, some feel the need to reinforce that notion even when there has been no challenge.

@bobbi-j has a good point regarding space. Was there enough for the existing hens and the ones you were trying to integrate? Did they have access to "safe places"? If not, you will have the same problem with the ISAs. Did you have multiple food and water "stations"? Also, was it ALL the existing chickens that were attacking or only specific ones?

I really would try to get the young ones out there while they are still small and much less likely to be seen as a threat. If you make a brooder space with portals that the littles can go through but the bigs can not, the littles can get used to the coop and run area when the bigs are not about and can escape back to safety.