How to put 9 week old chicks with exisitng flock!

[yorklady]

Geesh I thought when my kids grew up I was finished with trying to control fighting. Now here I am trying to plan a way to keep my chicks from fighting!

 

[cooldale3]

Thanks so much for your suggestions. When you put your 8 week old in the outside pen is it attached to a coop? I want them to be sheltered. Hubby thinks we should put them in a dog pen and keep it in the coop and not let them go out into the run. I just don't want them to not be able to run and scratch, they can't do that if we keep them cooped up.

I have 5 older hens and 10, nine week old chicks, we have a dog pen that we actually bring into the run to section them off every day and bring them in at night, it's a lot of work but we tried putting them together and it wasn't quite time yet, I am still new at this myself so hoping for the best when they are a little older, I do love my babies, but me too need my basement not to smell like a barn, hope this helped for the day but I do need help on how to actually do it especially at night my 5 are brutal and push each other off the roosting bars, and the 10 babies in my basement just all jump on theirs and roost quietly all night

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote: The best time to integrate new chicks with adult chickens is 16 weeks from my experience. If you think you will have chickens permanently, it is really worth your while to build or buy a small growout coop/run (think doghouse-sized) as it is always handy to have a place to break broodies, or put a sick/injured one, or to raise a few replacement chicks from year to year.

It can be as simple as a plywood cube with a hardware cloth window and pop door.

 

[azygous]

You can safely integrate your nine-week olds immediately and you're already halfway there! It will just require a slight modification to that dog crate, and you're good to go.

Take some poulty mesh or hardware cloth and make an insert to go over the doorway to the dog crate. You can either remove the actual door to the crate or leave it on in case you want to confine the chicks. Cut a hole toward the bottom in the wire mesh just large enough for the chicks to fit through but too small for the adult chickens. About 5 x 7 inches. Tape around the raw edges so chicks don't injure themselves.

Let the chicks come out into the run and explore. They will very quickly learn to scoot back inside for safety. Keep food and water in there for them so they don't have to compete with the adults. Since you've been letting the chicks and adults get to know each other, this process is already quite far along whether you realize it or not.

I've successfully integrated eight batches of chicks, the most current one began mingling at age three weeks. They're four weeks now and have been 100% integrated to the point they eat from the same feed troughs and go in and out of the coop and run at will.

To assist your chicks, have plenty of perches and stumps and odd "furniture" for them to hop up onto and run behind. Chicks rely on these foils for protection, and it also helps them build confidence when they learn to outmaneuver the big chickens, which they will, never fear.

This is called the "panic room" method of integration and it makes it possible to integrate very young chicks without needing to wait until they achieve full size.

 

[cooldale3]

...

I have 5 older hens and 10, nine week old chicks, we have a dog pen that we actually bring into the run to section them off every day and bring them in at night, it's a lot of work but we tried putting them together and it wasn't quite time yet, I am still new at this myself so hoping for the best when they are a little older, I do love my babies, but me too need my basement not to smell like a barn, hope this helped for the day but I do need help on how to actually do it especially at night my 5 are brutal and push each other off the roosting bars, and the 10 babies in my basement just all jump on theirs and roost quietly all night


Ok to answer your question my " dog pen" is like a metal fence doggy play pen that can be fully opened straight, or put into a circular shape so at night we use it as a circular shape with a kiddie pool and put roosting bars up and cover with wood so they are not flying around my basement,and during the day we open it and they have a decent section of the run, and the run is half covered for protection, from sun and elements, I can't attach it so they can go in the coop because I can't section that off, and the big guys will get them,but they love it out there, I will try to post a pic of them outside now and then one tonight, if I can figure out how to post it on here lol

 

[cooldale3]

if you look down the middle you will see the pen opened straight and attatched to the run, I will send the night time pictures later

 

[cooldale3]

 

[sideWing]

You can use chicken wire fencing to divide off part of the coop and run (make sure they have shade/wind/rain protection in the run) depending on your situation.

+1 to that.

I have had a lot of luck adding 4-9 chicks 1/3 the size of the existing flock. I just put two milk crates in the corner 3 or 4 inches away from the wall on their side with the opening facing the wall. I put rocks or blocks on top to make sure they don't get moved. This way the new smaller chicks have somewhere to hide. I also have food and water in there with them. Many would not suggest this, but I see them as livestock and not as pets. If you see them as pets (which is totally cool with me) then you may want to go the slower route that requires more space and maintenance. I'm just posting to let you know there are options.

Notes: I keep a really good eye on them and check a lot the first few days. I start the integration on a friday night so I'm home all weekend. I do have roosters, but I don't have a vicious rooster so you would need to keep that in mind. The chicks get picked on, but they are not beat up at all. It's mostly like big kids picking on little kids.

 

[sideWing]

You can safely integrate your nine-week olds immediately and you're already halfway there! It will just require a slight modification to that dog crate, and you're good to go.

Take some poulty mesh or hardware cloth and make an insert to go over the doorway to the dog crate. You can either remove the actual door to the crate or leave it on in case you want to confine the chicks. Cut a hole toward the bottom in the wire mesh just large enough for the chicks to fit through but too small for the adult chickens. About 5 x 7 inches. Tape around the raw edges so chicks don't injure themselves.

Let the chicks come out into the run and explore. They will very quickly learn to scoot back inside for safety. Keep food and water in there for them so they don't have to compete with the adults. Since you've been letting the chicks and adults get to know each other, this process is already quite far along whether you realize it or not.

I've successfully integrated eight batches of chicks, the most current one began mingling at age three weeks. They're four weeks now and have been 100% integrated to the point they eat from the same feed troughs and go in and out of the coop and run at will.

To assist your chicks, have plenty of perches and stumps and odd "furniture" for them to hop up onto and run behind. Chicks rely on these foils for protection, and it also helps them build confidence when they learn to outmaneuver the big chickens, which they will, never fear.

This is called the "panic room" method of integration and it makes it possible to integrate very young chicks without needing to wait until they achieve full size.

Great description of the process!

 

[cooldale3]

This is the night time pictures