I am at my wit's end. I hatched out a replacement flock of crossbred chicks (19 in all) out of Black Sex Link, Red Comet and EE hens crossed with a Black Australorp roo on June 11. (I lost the parent flock to coyotes in May but had their fertile eggs.) The parent hens were hand-me-downs from my MIL that came with picking problems that cleared up after moult.
Of the 19 chicks, I adopted out 5 at 5-weeks old and had the remaining 14 in a 7'x6' coop with an attached 6'x16' run. (The run was two adjacent and I cut a large opening in the wire between them to combine them into one.) At about 6-weeks old they started feather picking and killed two EEx pullets (I think from shock). I grabbed four other bloodied chicks and moved them to a brooder in the garage. The four garage babies in the garage were crowded, I admit, and last week I lost a pullet to vent picking (they are 9-weeks old now).
I moved the three remaining garage babies back to the main coop a few days ago and immediately also took four extra roos and a mean giant pullet out into separate housing. I was left with three garage babies (a roo, a runt pullet and another pullet) and three other pullets who were never moved. The two groups don't mix well.
I want more than 5 pullets, so yesterday I introduced three BLRW pullet chicks (about 2 weeks younger than mine). Now I have 3 groups living in one coop...the garage babies mostly stay in the coop, the three BLRW chicks stick together and the other three gang up and pick on the BLRW.
I'm feeding layer developer (crumbles right now) and have fresh water, and they get produce out of the garden frequently. (I gave them some grass, too, and they couldn't figure out what to do with it and let it dry up.) There is small gravel in the run and I throw out extra from time to time. Do they need oyster shell? What else do they need? I can't imagine they need more space (do they??). Did I screw up by separating and reintroducing, and is there any hope for me expanding my flock?
HELP!!!
(SIDENOTE: the 4 extra roos and 1 mean pullet, now living together (and listed for sale) get along fine and haven't fought at all! Figures! GRRR.)
Of the 19 chicks, I adopted out 5 at 5-weeks old and had the remaining 14 in a 7'x6' coop with an attached 6'x16' run. (The run was two adjacent and I cut a large opening in the wire between them to combine them into one.) At about 6-weeks old they started feather picking and killed two EEx pullets (I think from shock). I grabbed four other bloodied chicks and moved them to a brooder in the garage. The four garage babies in the garage were crowded, I admit, and last week I lost a pullet to vent picking (they are 9-weeks old now).
I moved the three remaining garage babies back to the main coop a few days ago and immediately also took four extra roos and a mean giant pullet out into separate housing. I was left with three garage babies (a roo, a runt pullet and another pullet) and three other pullets who were never moved. The two groups don't mix well.
I want more than 5 pullets, so yesterday I introduced three BLRW pullet chicks (about 2 weeks younger than mine). Now I have 3 groups living in one coop...the garage babies mostly stay in the coop, the three BLRW chicks stick together and the other three gang up and pick on the BLRW.
I'm feeding layer developer (crumbles right now) and have fresh water, and they get produce out of the garden frequently. (I gave them some grass, too, and they couldn't figure out what to do with it and let it dry up.) There is small gravel in the run and I throw out extra from time to time. Do they need oyster shell? What else do they need? I can't imagine they need more space (do they??). Did I screw up by separating and reintroducing, and is there any hope for me expanding my flock?
HELP!!!
(SIDENOTE: the 4 extra roos and 1 mean pullet, now living together (and listed for sale) get along fine and haven't fought at all! Figures! GRRR.)
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