Isn’t it interesting how if you put food out different from the normal place, the adults want to wipe that out first, even if it is the same feed as in the main feeder? I built a creep feeder that the chicks can get in but the adults can’t. One of those red feeders goes under this. The chicks get in on the ends. You can get the same results by building a section using fencing with holes big enough for the chicks to get in but not the adults.
I also feed them all the same thing, Starter or Grower, depending in the age of the chicks, and offer oyster shell on the side. By two weeks of age, the chicks are flying up to the adult feeder to eat out of it. Putting Layer up high does not work for me. The chicks will soon get to it.
What I’d suggest is to lock your hen and chicks in that broody coop for a couple of days. The chicks will get used to eating and drinking without interference from the adults and the hen will probably take the chicks in there to sleep at night so you can lock them up securely. After a couple of days leave the door or gate open so they can mix with the flock.
Most of the time my broodies keep their chicks on the coop floor at night, she just heads to a corner. But if the coop is getting crowded I’ll put them in a pen out in the run that I also use to isolate a chicken if I need to.
The broody might eventually move them into the main coop before she weans them or they might stay in that broody coop even after she has left them and rejoined her buddies on the roosts. The chicks might eventually move into the main coop on their own or I might move them at night. It usually only takes moving them to the main coop once for them to make that switch, even if they continue to sleep on the floor.
I also feed them all the same thing, Starter or Grower, depending in the age of the chicks, and offer oyster shell on the side. By two weeks of age, the chicks are flying up to the adult feeder to eat out of it. Putting Layer up high does not work for me. The chicks will soon get to it.
What I’d suggest is to lock your hen and chicks in that broody coop for a couple of days. The chicks will get used to eating and drinking without interference from the adults and the hen will probably take the chicks in there to sleep at night so you can lock them up securely. After a couple of days leave the door or gate open so they can mix with the flock.
Most of the time my broodies keep their chicks on the coop floor at night, she just heads to a corner. But if the coop is getting crowded I’ll put them in a pen out in the run that I also use to isolate a chicken if I need to.
The broody might eventually move them into the main coop before she weans them or they might stay in that broody coop even after she has left them and rejoined her buddies on the roosts. The chicks might eventually move into the main coop on their own or I might move them at night. It usually only takes moving them to the main coop once for them to make that switch, even if they continue to sleep on the floor.
I have one black astralorp crossed with a new hampshire red. (GREAT combination in a bird!!!) left. She is not even a year old, and has been laying since January. I recently got 6 more black astralorp chicks (approximately 2 weeks old now). They are all in my coop together separated by wire. They have been able to see each other for a week. When is it OK to take the divider out and let them mingle? Do I need to watch them closely? Or will the older chicken take to the younger ones like they are her "flock"? Any advice would be appreciated!
