Help - Am I making a mistake?

[goldies99]

how big is your run?.......if the area is big enough and the chicks have some hiding spots they will be fine...(just make sure they can get food and water)...i let mine free
range.....that worked out for big and small....they all had enough space to run if needed....and i did put them all in the coop together at night...and all were fine, again
with a box for a hide space if needed till i let them out in the morning

 

[crusting]

Thanks for all the comments. I went this morning and they were totally fine. One of the chicks was on the perch right next to the older hen. The other was down on the floor in the corner asleep. They all woke up when I checked on them. the older girls just looked at the chicks (for a long time) but didn't move or try anything. I shooed the little guys out the door and into their little cage in the run where they started eating. I have separate food and water for the chicks in their little cage inside the big run. I don't think I'm ready to open that up today because I don't have a lot of time to observe. But I might open it up about 30 mins before bed and see how they all do together. I'd love any more advice if anyone else has experienced this!

 

[Hollywood Hen]

Whenever I've done this, whichever hen was previously lowest in the pecking order starts picking on the babies. They seem to like to corner them and peck them on the top of the head, sometimes until it is a bloody mess. I like to let them free range together during the daytime for a couple of weeks at least before they're locked in together at night.

If you're willing to get up really early to let them out of the coop they'll probably be fine. All the problems seem to come from being locked up and bored while they wait for someone to get out of bed and spring them.

 

[SteveBaz]

Quote:
X2 very good advice.

 

[mallory2013]

I had a similar problem, only I have two groups of chicks that were just two weeks apart (there is a huge size difference!!). I put the younger chicks in a metal dog crate in the chicken coop with the older chickens so the older ones couldn't get at them to hurt them, but they could see them. I didn't let them out with the bigger chickens until they were big enough to defend themselves as someone else said, and even though that was three/four weeks later, they still got picked on a little bit but them were able to defend themselves. So, my advice would be to put them in the coop in whatever enclosure you have them in with the other chickens, provided that the older ones can't actually get to them. Good luck!