*emergency* Older Chick Atacking The Smaller Newer Chick

[countrygirl911]

if i keep them inside for a few more weeks till they get bigger tehn put them inside the coop with the other in the dog cate for a few days to a week so they can see each other but not hurt each other then incorporate them only for a few min at a time should it go more smoothly. My first chickens to own and i have 3 small children and if anything happens to them my kids will be real upset and i hate to see that. Now the chicken that seems to be the meanest i am not sure of his or her gender yet till it gets older and lays an egg or crows. Sorry for any confussion but we treat all our animals like they are apart of our family and i just do not want any of them to get hurt. I appreciate all the answers that everyone has given me on this subject. I have brought the little ones back inside the house till they get bigger and older. again thanks for all the help

 

[speckledhen]

Best of luck!

 

[sassychickengirl]

Quote:
I'd say if it is only the one bird causing problems, then maybe he/she should be segregated. I would keep the little ones in the cage for a time longer, but then I would separate the mean one and see if that makes a difference. Just watch them and be prepared to rescue if necessary.

 

[countrygirl911]

ty for the hel i have one last question when i decide to try to incorporate them again how can i shoo off the older bird without hurting him/her earlier i took my hand and lightly pushed her away so i could get the little one out from under him/her and after that him/her started making this loud clucking noise that i have never heard before the other 4 this age does not make this sound it almost sounded like it was growling. I did not push her hard just enough to move her off of the little one but the rest of the time i watched them while the little ones were still in the cage and experiencing the grass i just kept hearing him/her make this noise him/her looked like it was prancing around struting their stuff and i was afraid i hurt her but i checked on her every 30 min and seemed fine but still making that lound clucking/growling noise. he/she would come up to me for me to pet them but still made that noise is that a sign of him/her trying to mark their teritory. Do you think that the red chicken in the pic is a roo or hen? i am just confused and want to make sure i do everything right.

 

[pkw]

I am in agreement with Speckledhen.

I have different age groups myself. I have babies that are 6 days old, I have 3 week olds, 4 week olds and 7 week olds plus I have some in the incubator due to hatch next weekend.

Now I have the 7 week olds by themselves (they are very rambunctous at times). They peck at each other and I am suspecting that I have 6 cockerels and 6 pullets. I could be wrong on the amount of cockerels but I know of one for absolute sure (he tries to mate with the pullets but he doesn't crow and his comb is very red while the other suspected cockerels has pink combs) These are new hampshire chicks. They are way more bigger than the other chicks

My 3 week olds and 4 week olds lives together. I put the 3 week old chicks in with the 4 week old chicks straight from the box they came in from the hatchery (so it was day olds with one week olds). They got along fine but there wasn't much of a size difference.

I have the 6 day old babies by themselves but any of the chicks that hatch next weekend I will put with the 6 day old babies because there won't be too much of a size difference (this after the new chicks are strong and able to walk, eat and drink).

Now the point I am trying to get to is this ...

If there is a significant size difference, wait until they have caught up in size before you let them be together.

 

[SkyWarrior]

I've kept younger chicks with older chicks and haven't had a problem BUT the chicks that I put together had all been raised with different ages, so it wasn't a problem. You need to move the babies in a dog crate and put them in the coop so they can get used to each other.

I know this is going to sound bad, but occasionally chicks do die. It's sad, but that's part of life. If you don't want your little ones to see that, you might want to reconsider how much they see the chicks. What will happen if a fox or raccoon gets into the coop? What happens if your birds suddenly get sick and die? There's always a chance at death with this.

 

[elmo]

I have adults and six and seven week old chicks that I let free range together, but I split them up into separate pens when I have to confine them, and I have different coops for them at night, too.

Getting chased is less of a problem when you can escape. That's probably why nature made chicks such fast runners! But if you're in a pen, and get backed up into a corner, then you're in big trouble in chicken world.

I watch as I free range, and none of my birds will chase another one more than a few feet. The little ones figure out pretty quickly to stay away from the hens (even though only as little as a week ago, those hens were their moms).