This is my first year raising chickens. This spring I got a batch of four, day old chicks. They are now between 17 and 20 weeks (no one is laying yet). Then I have another batch of five. These guys are now 10 weeks old. They all run around the yard but the two groups stay apart, most of the time, because the bigger girls peck the littler ones and run them off…big meanies!! Every night the big girls put themselves to bed in the proper coop but I am still putting the littler one in a separate coop in the house. When and how can I get the little ones into the same coop??? Will the big ones beat them up inside the coop and hurt them? HELP!
Create a partition in your coop where the bigger chickens can look but not touch your younger birds. Keep them in this partition for at least a week so they can establish the pecking order without the bloodshed.
I am new to chickens as well so not much advice to offer you but I did see a post in this same forum (Raising Baby Chicks) titled "Topic of the Week-Integrating Chicks in to an Adult Flock". There are around 90 replies so I'm sure we'll find some great information there
Time to stop babying the babies. Yes, there will be some minor skirmishes. That's expected. The sooner you let these 2 groups of birds settle their pecking order, the sooner you will have a unified flock. As long as your coop and run are big enough 4 s.f./10 s.f.per bird, and the youngsters have opportunity to get out of line of sight, and you have several feed and water stations, just stand back and let it happen unless there is blood shed.
