Early integration help

[rosemarythyme]

Is it all the adults? Some chasing and harassing is normal and allowable. Are the adults actually hurting the chicks?

Any photos of your run? Mainly looking for amount of clutter and placement.

 

[JAR26]

Is it all the adults? Some chasing and harassing is normal and allowable. Are the adults actually hurting the chicks?

Any photos of your run? Mainly looking for amount of clutter and placement.

Hi, all 3 are gagning on them and today it was just one chick that went out in the run alone and they all ganged up and the only reason they didnt injure it was because the chicks found a small spot to hide but its butt was sticking out and it got plucked a bit before I could get there (the poor thing was screaming bloody murder). The run is huge and so it the coop (built at 10 to 13 chickens and we have 3 adults and the 6 chicks). The run is dirt and there is nothing else as I have the water and feed in the coop. I can get a pic tomorrow however.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The run is dirt and there is nothing else as I have the water and feed in the coop. I can get a pic tomorrow however.

Looking forward to it. If it really is bare, clutter will be key in helping these chicks integrate, as they really benefit to the extra safety provided.

 

[aart]

the chicks found a small spot to hide but its butt was sticking out

Need bigger hiding places.

Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[JAR26]

Looking forward to it. If it really is bare, clutter will be key in helping these chicks integrate, as they really benefit to the extra safety provided.

Hi! Here are pictures of the run from the front and the back.

 

[JAR26]

Need bigger hiding places.

Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

Thank you for the link!!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hi! Here are pictures of the run from the front and the back.

Yeah it's pretty bare. Give that "cluttered run" link a good read through, lots of ideas in there, including some ideas for smaller areas that can't fit some of the bigger pieces some of us use.

 

[JAR26]

Yeah it's pretty bare. Give that "cluttered run" link a good read through, lots of ideas in there, including some ideas for smaller areas that can't fit some of the bigger pieces some of us use.

Thanks! I will give that a try!

 

[JAR26]

Hi! So i put some clutter and and tried today to let them out together. It always surprises me that the young still try to mingle even tho they get a beating. Now they did have spots to hide but it was just mayhem again in the run. Even when hiding, the adults still would peck, pull and pluck any feather they could get their mouth on. It's quite upsetting to see and I had to go rescue two of them again (within 3 minutes of them mingling). Should I isolate my adults and risk stressing them out and stop laying and let the babies have the run fo the coop and outdoor run to see if the adults will cool down....or would that just make them angrier once they get out? The babies currently have an enclosed space within the coop. I could swapped them with the 3 adults and see how that goes? I knew integration would take time....but this is 4 weeks in and still no success