Hi there!

[TamingMaster]

Hello and welcome to BYC! :yiipchick

 

[sunflour]

Day 2 went well for my feathered friends.

I had already decided this morning to give the chicks some personal space so I set up a wall across the middle of the enclosure with a door in the middle big enough for a chick but not an adult. After a few head on collisions with the netting the chicks learnt how it worked! Today they spent the whole day more or less unsupervised, with the chicks going in convoys out to get water and food which was ignored for the most part by the brown hens.

Funny anecdote for you: I was worried that they would not get on well in the coop last night so while it was going dark I went out with some timber and climbed in the chicken house (Yes I made it that BIG!!) and set up a wall to partition off the nesting boxes for the chicks to relax. I didn't realise the chicks saw me go in and stealthily started darting past the adults to come see me. When I was done I looked in the pen through the vent to see the chickens and couldn't see any chicks! I was panicked! I turned round to jump out and find them when i heard a "tweet tweet". As I was perched on the ground all the chicks had gone UNDER ME! and made a nest like they did with the mother hen we got them from! By this point the brown hens where at the door staring at me like I was a giant rooster about to clobber them. Today the adults have been far more docile with the chicks (especially when I am near which is funny) and they seem to be tolerating them when they come out into the same area.

Im worried for the rooster as he is still young but at the rate they are growing they will be the same size as the brown hens in 6 weeks and by god can the sussex move fast and furious when they need to! I saw one today get a full throttle charge from a brown hen, the chick flew backwards over a second hen, ducked under the coop ramp, flew over another hen and got straight in the chick area with no contact from the adult at all! I have to admit I was proud of the little chick!

You are officially the Mother Hen

 

[LIChickens]

Welcome to BYC!

You will find a lot of good information here. Keep on asking questions and you will get many good answers.

You may also want to read the FAQ below.