Getting my baby chicks used to my big babies..

[chiliconholly]

Hello everyone, my name is Holly..I am the proud owner of 7 chickens, and 2 ducks. I just joined BYC, and now I have a place to go to talk about my babies without getting a bunch of weird stares

Anyways, I have a question for you all, first ill introduce everyone: My 2 ducks are Donald and Diego (Donald is a female, Ego is not) my chickens (all female) are Donovan, Nugget, Colonel, and Sammy..and then I adopted 3 babies this year (Foster, Impostor, and biscuit) . So currently, its getting warmer, and the 3 babies (not so little anymore!)

The young ones are getting ready to go outside, big problem: The chickens do not approve.....Biscuit is an instigator, the first day I put them outside, Colonel (my big instigator) stuck his (Her) chicken-face in the dog crate, and biscuit took a peck...needless to say, Colonel hasnt much cared for the babies ever since...
So I let them out of the dog crate (supervised) and they pretty much avoid the regular sized chickens at all cost, my big chickens love to chase the babies, and they do not like it so much...So my question is: what is the best way too..help them all get along? or get them to like eachother so i can safely move the babies outside?

Impostor is very sweet, and yet the big birds pick on him as well, and Foster is a bit wild..also gets picked on like the other 2.... they like to run up to the big chickens and do their little feather-flapping wild dance, and they get them all wild, and then run back to safety...its a mini funny farm....help!

 

[chickensRcute]

Welcome to BYC! I agree that I can come on here and talk about my babies and not get funny looks! I just went through putting my babies out with my older girls! I put a cage in the corner of the coop where everyone could see each other and put the babies in there for about two weeks. I then let my older girls free rang and gave lots of treats to keep them busy, then I put my little girls and boy out with them. There was a little bit of pecking going on but nothing too bad. It was so hard not to interfere on the babies part but it is all okay now so I guess that it worked!

If you want to you can wait the couple of weeks with them seeing each other and then put the babies out on the roost after the older ones have been asleep a couple of hours. When they wake up they are confused like "did I miss you before?" That could work better for you. I didn't do it because I want to be there and watch to make sure no one gets hurt. Good luck with this!

 

[chiliconholly]

Quote:
Thank you for the welcome

I can't put them out there when they are sleeping for the night, id be too afraid too! they'd wake up and feel violated, LOL! Thanks tho, and thats a good idea..I should get some treats! its like right now, the babies keep to their own happy corner, and then meander over to the big chicks, and the big chicks, they are like a chicken-Mafia, and will not let them near them at all. and back to their safe corner they go! lol. How do I get them out of their corner and sharing their food in happy harmony? at this point, lol

 

[equinelyn]

Welcome! I'm new too. What I did was during the day I put the younger ones in a pen right next to the big girls so they could see them but not touch them. I did this for a few days and the first time I put them together it was at night(because they sleep all night and won't pick on them). There was a LOT of noise from the big girls when I put them in, they all did their long squawk. But they woke up together and were ok. They picked on the little ones if they got too close but didn't chase them down and beat them up. Now they cohabitate great!

 

[chiliconholly]

Quote:
Ohh, so did you keep them in seperate dog crates? and when you introduced them, did you leave them there all night?? also

its a fun group so far

not much squawking!

:cd lol

 

[Helen29]

Hi all,
I recently mixed mine too. I was really worried about it, but needlessly so. As equinelyn did I let them see each over for a few days while still separated, then I just slipped them in at night (this is what most people recommend, as when they wake up together they just seem to presume it has always been that way). There was no pecking, bickering or fighting, maybe they wait till my backs turned?!
Good luck!

 

[equinelyn]

I used a pet-excercise pen like this...
http://www.petedge.com/product/Grooming/Grooming-Equipment/Cages-Crates/ProSelect-Everlasting-Black-Exercise-Pen-wDoor/pc/190/c/191/sc/223/44590.uts

and I clipped the edges of the pen to the chicken wire of my big girl’s pen so it was like a run along the side of it. I put netting on top to keep things out. We leave them out all day, and bring the babies(2-3 months old) in at night where they stay in a large guinea pig type cage, until they are big enough to be put in with the other hens. I just introduced my 2 Ameraucanas a month ago because they were 4 months old. The younger ones are now about 6 weeks old, so they aren't quite big enough yet.

I've heard that you want to also introduce them in even numbers. If you have 2 hens then introduce 2 others so they won't be ganged up on.

 

[cmom]

Maybe you could fix up a safe place for the younger chicks that the older birds can't get at. I did that with a cage. I put a piece of wire over the door so the chicks could escape into the cage but the older birds couldn't fit through. Eventually the younger chicks came out more and the older ones quit picking on them so much. I finally took the cage out and everyone is doing fine.

 

[crateandpen]

I'm in the same boat, but mine is more like horror story. I am trying to intoduce four 14wk old ee's to four 32 wk old isa browns. I've been trying for six weeks all ready and thigs are going well. The isa browns chase them down. Today I went out to let the babies out and realized that the big chickens had pulled down the board that seperates them and it was awful. All but one of the babies have no tail feathers just bare bloddy chicken rumps. I am heartbroken. I sprayed them with this blue spray (sorry forgot the name - it's for livestock) they seem to be okay they are walking around drinking, eating etc. Do you think the problem may be that I have had them hidden behind a wood board. During the day I let the babies out into a seperate pen so they do get to see eachother, and I let them back in at night when the big chickens have already gone upstairs to roost. The babies almost always go right up the stairs and roost of the floor (not the poles) but they don't go hide in their make shift cage either. I am at a loss at this point. The baby that has no damage is definately a fiesty one, and he is the smallest so I am a wondering if the other babies are protecting her. Will the feathers grown back? Should I get some kind of see through cage for inside the coop? Is it possible that the big chickens are jealous of the extra attention that the babies get ?(I sometimes let the babies wander the yard) Sorry for all the questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Countrypunk92]