Help! Care suggestions for young pullets needed!

[hihuckleberry]

I am unable to find detailed information about how to take care of pullets. Do you treat them like chicks? or like adults? I just had 3 young pullets delivered yesterday, about 6-8weeks old. They are fully feathered and "coop" ready. I am not integrating them with my other two adult hens yet, since they are MUCH smaller. I have them in a separate coop. I will not let them near each other for now. Does anyone have suggestions for care? Can they have treats? Can they be free to range around the yard? Do they take dust baths? The last 2 days they have been mostly huddled next to each other in the back, but roaming a little in the coop, eating and drinking. They seem very scared so am giving them space to get settled for now. Any thoughts on when it's safe to introduce them? Any advice is appreciated! Thank you!

 

[rosemarythyme]

They're more like adults than chicks, in that they don't require any special care such as heat.

Yes they can have treats, just keep in mind that because they're smaller, so are their crops, so treat sparingly.

Yes they can dust bathe (even babies dust bathe, this isn't an adult only thing).

I would not recommend free ranging but that's not because of their age, it's because they're brand new to you and your house and aren't reliably homed to their coop yet.

I assume you're skipping quarantine. Is the pullets coop/run next to the adults so they can see but not touch each other for a few weeks? That would be the start of integration.

 

[hihuckleberry]

They're more like adults than chicks, in that they don't require any special care such as heat.

Yes they can have treats, just keep in mind that because they're smaller, so are their crops, so treat sparingly.

Yes they can dust bathe (even babies dust bathe, this isn't an adult only thing).

I would not recommend free ranging but that's not because of their age, it's because they're brand new to you and your house and aren't reliably homed to their coop yet.

I assume you're skipping quarantine. Is the pullets coop/run next to the adults so they can see but not touch each other for a few weeks? That would be the start of integration.

Thank you! They are quarantined for now, so I can keep them apart if that's best. The main run and the new pullet temporary coop are about 10 feet away from each other. I can move the structure so it's next to the big girls if that's best. The new girls are probably 1/4 the size of my current ones. How long do you suggest waiting to integrate?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you! They are quarantined for now, so I can keep them apart if that's best. The main run and the new pullet temporary coop are about 10 feet away from each other. I can move the structure so it's next to the big girls if that's best. The new girls are probably 1/4 the size of my current ones. How long do you suggest waiting to integrate?

So proper quarantine for biosecurity is like 30 days, flocks kept a few hundred yards away, changing clothing/shoes, etc. Since you're not doing a strict quarantine you might as well go straight to working on the beginning stages of integration, so I'd move the two runs as close as possible (leave enough space as needed for you to get in between there, if you have need for that)

Start with about 10-14 days of see but don't touch and then go by the behavior of the older birds. Ideally they'll be somewhat disinterested or neutral with the younger ones. At that point you can try letting the younger ones in to mingle, or open up the two runs to each other so they can use both spaces (really depends on how you have it set up) - all with supervision, and see how things go. Expect some pecking and chasing, but if it doesn't escalate to full blown fights or pullets being chased away from all food, that'd be a pretty good start.

Would help to either get photos of your "big girls" set up (I assume the pullets will be moving into there?) or a detailed description of coop and run sizes, as well as anything extra available, like multiple feeders, clutter you have/are going to add, etc. in order to assess if any changes should be made before birds are allowed to mingle.

 

[hihuckleberry]

So proper quarantine for biosecurity is like 30 days, flocks kept a few hundred yards away, changing clothing/shoes, etc. Since you're not doing a strict quarantine you might as well go straight to working on the beginning stages of integration, so I'd move the two runs as close as possible (leave enough space as needed for you to get in between there, if you have need for that)

Start with about 10-14 days of see but don't touch and then go by the behavior of the older birds. Ideally they'll be somewhat disinterested or neutral with the younger ones. At that point you can try letting the younger ones in to mingle, or open up the two runs to each other so they can use both spaces (really depends on how you have it set up) - all with supervision, and see how things go. Expect some pecking and chasing, but if it doesn't escalate to full blown fights or pullets being chased away from all food, that'd be a pretty good start.

Would help to either get photos of your "big girls" set up (I assume the pullets will be moving into there?) or a detailed description of coop and run sizes, as well as anything extra available, like multiple feeders, clutter you have/are going to add, etc. in order to assess if any changes should be made before birds are allowed to mingle.

Thank you!! wow so helpful. I'll go out tomorrow and take some photos to share.

 

[Mrs. K]

Yeah, quarantine is pretty difficult to do in a back yard. And you really can't half way do it. Check them well for lice or mites. Then I would get them in with the big birds ASAP. I would section off an area, see no touch for a couple of days, 2-3. Then lift the separation a couple of inches, and that lets them retreat and go forth on their terms. If the big world gets too tough, they can escape.