Help! New chicks, can they go outside with hen?

[vaderschic]

I have 3 new banty chicks I got last wednesday. They are inside under a heat bulb. They don't like it to get 80 degrees they back up to the edge of the cage away from teh bulb, so I've been keeping it 72-75 degrees on the corner with the light. They don't seem to care to really want to get warm by the light. Two have all feathers, but one is still all fuzzy with no feathers. He may be younger, but he's the biggest of them all! They are still small. I have a hen outside. Just one hen, a banty frizzle. She lays everyday faithfully. ( last week a tornado came thru and pick the coupe up and threw it over. She came back, but my other hen we haven't seen.) So, i was wonderign if it's ok to put them outside with her? Will she take care of them and keep them warm at night? Do chickens naturally have a motherign instinct? I mean if she hatched them in the wild she would take care of them. So, I'm gonna try putting them together under supervision for a short while, right now, see how they do. Maybe they can start staying out thee during the day hours and in at night. Someoe please give me some advice! Thanks, Jennifer - Louisiana

 

[vaderschic]

Well, that didn't go good. I put the oldest chick out with hen, she fluffed up and pecked it twice. So I grabbed it up and put it back inside before she hurt it. Is this normal? For a hen to be mean to baby chick? They are both the same breed, frizzle white bantys.

 

[basicliving]

Hi Jennifer

!!!

You don't say how old these chicks are. You mentioned you got them last Wednesday - were they day old chicks when you got them? How old are they now?

I don't know how big your chicks are. You should probably keep them quarantined for a while to make sure they don't introduce any diseases to your existing hen. When you do introduce them, I would do it slowly and closely supervise. Some hens will easily accept baby chicks, and some will not.

Take care,
Penny

 

[basicliving]

I must have been typing as you were posting!

Like I said, some older chickens will accept chicks and some will not. It's really not unusual for them to be very unhappy with the intrusion. When you are ready to integrate them, cage off an area to separate the new chicks from the hen and let them get to know each other through the fence for a few days. That will make the transition a lot easier on everyone.

I'm not sure how old these chicks are. I would cage off an area in the coop and, if they are very young, make sure they have a heat lamp to get warm under. Basically make them a brooder in the coop. Leave them there for a couple of weeks before you try integrating them.

 

[birdlover]

Hi Jennifer,,
Hens have to be "broody" in order to accept chicks and, then, they have to be pretty new (younger than a week). Your hen acted like a normal hen would. If two of your birds are feathered, they sound like they are 4 or 5 weeks old. Maybe the fuzzy one is a standard sized bird and that's why it's bigger (but younger). As a previous poster said, you should keep these birds away from your other one(s)

for about a month to make sure they don't bring disease to current hen(s).

Then you will have to introduce them slowly and carefully. You need to fix up a fence divider so they can see each other but not get to each other until they're used to seeing each other (maybe a week or so). Then you can try letting them hang together but stay there to supervise. After they get along, you can start letting them "room" together. Good luck!

OOPS! LOL I guess I was typing while you were, basic living!

Oh well. It just shows great minds think alike! LOL

 

[vaderschic]

Thanks guys! I guess I'll have to set up a divider so when they get ready to go out they can see and smell each other for awhile. The sleepign arangements I'll have to figure out soemthign temp for them to use.