I dread going in thir BIG yard.... they are so wild act like they ae starving and so competitive

[mmmyyykkkeee]

Sorry to hear that you are not experiencing that "wonderul feeling" of keeping chickens. Most people here are happy with their hens. Believe me, they are full of surprises. My chickens are my stress relievers.

Keeping chickens is easy but you must have the passion of keeping them, whether as pets or for their eggs and meat.

You can re-train them as mentioned above. You've invested so much on these chickens and i think you should be enjoying your flock. If after retraining them and yilou see no progress, then you may want to consider the other suggestions.

I know it is very stressful to integrate flocks of different ages. I feel you. It ia so bothering when you see some of them not getting food because they are chased away and you get worried that they will starve. I actually have same issue, it has been a month or so since i integrated my flock and the pecking order is still not fully established. The youngest get bullied and chase away. I thought of separating them but the pecking order will never be resolved if i keep on separating them then re-introduce them afterwards. I have resd a lot of threads about integrating chickens so as long as no blood is drawn, i will leave them be. I wonder if 2 coops is necessary. I think each best if they sleep together in one coop so they get used to each other.

Best of luck!

 

[ladyearth]

Oh ,they have been out in the BIG fenced yard(1/2 acre) since April or May , the 6 month old girls with the 1 yr old plus group .
They get along long as food is not involved at least stuff I bring to them....
They all defintely gather under the big storage shed where its cool and they dust bathe and hang out
.yeah been thinking about that.. one coop only defintely for coming up winter.. But Hubby is getting UPSET...upset when I keep changing things on this addition to the very small tractor....
he has it partially done.... with 4 by 4's , supporting the addition. He has spent hours on it so far........but to me its so uncomfortable.... to get into and clean out.......
The addition should be aded to the little bit bigger coop. IT is the size of a truck aluminum cap prob 5 by 7 or so feet with a great skylight which IS the aluminum truck topper.... Plenty of natural sunlight is a def plus....
Plus no one mentions the injuries and diseases when you buy the cute little innocent chicks....
the place is a curse with so much grass to cut and weedeating..hills, hot weather ,too much rain, too little rain, plus we are both seniors..... It all such a long story....we bit off more than we can chew.... but that is a long another story...
thanks yall

 

[coop410silkies]

   Oh ,they have been out in the BIG fenced yard(1/2 acre) since  April or May , the  6 month old girls with the  1 yr old plus  group .
They get along  long as food is not involved  at least stuff I bring to them....
They all defintely gather under the big storage shed where its cool and they dust bathe and hang out
     .yeah been thinking about that..  one coop only   defintely for coming up winter.. But Hubby is getting UPSET...upset when I keep changing things on this addition to the very small tractor....
    he has it partially done....  with 4 by 4's , supporting the addition. He has spent hours on it so far........but to me its so uncomfortable.... to get into and clean out.......     
  The addition should be aded to the little bit bigger coop. IT is the size of a truck aluminum cap prob 5 by 7 or so feet with a great skylight which IS the aluminum truck topper.... Plenty of natural sunlight is a def plus....
Plus no one mentions the injuries and diseases when you buy the cute little innocent chicks....
  the place is a curse   with so much grass to cut and weedeating..hills, hot weather ,too much rain, too little rain,   plus we are both seniors..... It all such a long story....we bit off more than we can chew.... but that is a long another story...
thanks yall

Lady Earth, you expressed my life with chickens exactly. My flock(s) follow me around like the Pied Piper, tripping and jumping and crowding. I hand fed and spoiled the whole lot of them. Worst case: fearless "friendly" Roos who get both possessive and aggressive. I read the suggestions on this thread and found all of the contributors spot on, and I'm starting a re-education program, beginning with me.

Like you, I am trying to redo/enlarge parts of my coop(s) to make all the chicken chores more pleasant and less backbreaking. One of the things that has worked well with my larger coop is its small attached run; at dusk, the birds go to their roosting spots in the coop, and I lock their pop door. I keep pellets available 24/7 in the coop, but in the mornings I usually put out a dish or two of tasty high protein snacks in the run; then I step back and open the pop door, and out they come - not toward me, but right for the food. Nice! What is missing from this scenario is protection from the elements - for both the food and the birds - and a run ceiling that's high enough for me to stand up in. My friend says he can put together a large hoop coop - 15x20 - for less than $200, and I am going to pay him to do it, so that I might consolidate all 5 of my breeder groups and still have room to separate the roosters this coming winter. I have used large tub-totes as feeders to good effect; they can hold about 100 lbs. of food, have tight fitting clip on lids, are spill-proof, and can be made rodent-proof; they are easy to fill and last my boys and girls a long time. Am leaning toward a large non-metal trash can or lidded barrel fitted with horizontal nipples and heated with a 250 watt drop-in pail heater for water. That leaves egg collection. My girls nest communally - the light Sussex in one deck box, and the Speckled Sussex and sex links in another. These boxes are divided from, but communicate with, the enclosed roost portion of the hoop coop. I need only to walk into the open part of the hoop, lift the deck box lid and collect the eggs. No swarming, jumping, or knocking my arm off. (Yes, they've tried that). Nice birds! Now I will have more time to enjoy them, which is all I ever wanted to do.

These are just some ideas that have worked for me. I feel we have many of the same challenges in life: grass, weeds, fencing, perverse weather, chickens that could have starred in THE BIRDS - whatever. And age (I turned 70 last April.). Maybe you can find yet another useful suggestion here.

One last thing about chicken behaviors: I've kept a few reptiles over the years, and I've learned that if my reptile learns to associate me with food - and only food - it soon begins to perceive me AS the food. Keepers of large snakes beware! And so it is with chickens: I have become their food. So sad, reminds me of those cute little velociraptors at the beginning of JURASSIC PARK. Ha ha. Have a Nice Day. Yours in Berthoud.

 

[donrae]

I agree with the folks that say to re-train them.

My animal of choice most of my life were horses. You simply can't have a thousand pound animal pushing you around at feeding time. My horses are all trained to wait at a respectful distance while I feed them. Once I exit the stall, they're free to come eat. It's way too easy to get injured by an animal that big who disrespects you.

I agree quit hand feeding them for a while. fill the feeders while they're cooped, and no more food. If your feed is a complete feed, they'll be well taken care of. maybe stay out of the run for a few days. Once you start going in, go in with no food. Any bird that jumps on you gets pushed off like you mean business. You're not going to hurt them. Any bird that encroaches on your space around your feet gets a warning of "Shoo, shoo" with a foot gently pushing them away. They come back in your space, the foot is more forceful. I'm not talking about kicking, I'm talking about using your foot to push the bird away. You may have to do this several times with different birds, but remember training is an investment. Don't spend a lot of time in the run, multiple shorter training sessions are better. If you're not physically confident enough to use your foot to push the birds, take a rake or broom or something similar.

chickens can learn respect and boundaries just like any other animal. We train our dogs to wait for food all the time, chickens are no different. Yes, you're dealing with a lot more animals at once, but take away the reward for mobbing you and they'll quickly lose interest.

 

[Blooie]

I often wondered if I was the only person out there who didn't care if my chicks "loved" me or not. I was out to raise healthy birds that rewarded me for their care with fresh eggs and meat. They are tame enough that I can pick them up to check their condition, but they aren't in charge of the coop or the run - I am. I'm 64 years old. I don't want to be picked up in pieces after being mobbed, knocked down and possibly hurt. But I do think you can put away the whip - you aren't guilty of much more than just wanting yours to be super tame and affectionate, and there's a lot of folks out there just like you. So don't feel bad.

I fill the feeders in the morning before they come out, or after they go to roost. I have two feeders - a long one made from vinyl rain gutter and one of those bulk metal feeders. They are never empty. I have chickens of various ages out there. My flock is 28 birds big. My older girls are a year and half, the next group is 24 weeks, then 23 weeks, then 19 weeks. I began integrating when the chicks were 4 weeks old, and it went flawlessly because they were brooded outside in the run in a brooder pen. They could see and learn from the older chickens, and the older chickens got used to them. We had some pecking order issues, but having one coop and run with multiple feeders insured that every one of them got what they needed. The younger birds just fed when the older ones were busy off laying eggs or whatever. Nobody starved.

I do treats too. In moderation, remembering that words are "occasional treats" not "regular diet". Offer a 2 year old a stem of broccoli in one hand and a Kit Kat bar in the other. Which one are they going to chose? You have a flock of 2 year old kids and it's not too late to get a handle on it. They learned to mob you very quickly - they can un-learn it almost as fast. I have a few ways of giving them supplemental foods and I never use the same way twice in a row. I have 3 of those wire wild bird suet feeders. Sometimes I stuff them as full as I can with melon, apple chunks, cabbage, kale - whatever I can stuff in without it falling out through the holes. I hang them from the wires on the run. They do run after me when I'm carrying those out, but a few well placed "nudges" with my feet keeps it manageable. As soon as the first one is hung, I'm ignored and can hang the others in relative peace. Scratch I just use to toss on the floor of the run when outside time is over and it's time to come in. I open the pail, dip in the cup, and holler "bedtime, girls". Then when I'm sure one or two are watching me, I throw the scratch on the floor. Those first couple come running and the others follow. By the time they are all heading toward me, the cup is back in the pail and the lid is on. They run right past me and all I have to do is lock up the run. And I'm dishonest. Sometimes I just pretend. They still come in, check things out, then go over the the feeders. They forgive me. I have a little galvanized pail that holds scraps from the kitchen. When it's full I take it out to the run, open the door, and toss the contents in. As soon as I make the throwing motion they are on the other side of the run where the stuff usually lands waiting.

You can do this - you really can! You just have to do 2 things.....be in charge, and cut back on the goodies. They will survive the night without fresh cracked peanuts, I promise! Good luck! Oh, and if it just can't work out, then yep, you've lost a little money and time along the way, but I'll bet you've had some awfully good experiences with your chickens too. Isn't that what life is? A series of learning experiences? So you regroup, re-home, and move on. Without guilt, without recriminations. To be really honest, we made our coop like a storage shed and our run like a greenhouse. If I ever find keeping chickens is too much for me, I'll find them homes either with other folks or in the freezer (sorry, but that's just part it for me) and re-purpose the shed for tools and cover the run to hold the lawnmower, ATV, etc.
Edited to add: I should also have said that I never feed treats of any kind while they are running around outside in the yard. Plenty of other goodies for them to find on their own by foraging and I like that they are so busy doing that that they ignore me when I'm walking around out there. Pictures of your setup might help us help you a little better.

 

[ladyearth]

good info but my runs are two welded wire Dog kennel together and other run is cattle panels covered with hdwe cloth and chicken wire top and upper sides... big big. then we fenced in one whole Half acre plus with 5 gates... plus three shelters too. so it a very large investment esp the time my Hubby spent and paid a few others to help with t posts etc.....stringing wire and fencing......
if I could just wave a wand....
now to get Goldie well enough after 20 plus days of being inside back out with her Sisters-girls... integrate her slowly..... and not let Roo jump her bones esp her sore FLYSTRIKE right below her vent area.... area that's slowly healing. and feathers are slowly growing back as we had to cut out a four inch or so circle to help her....
appreciate yall

 

[coop410silkies]

good info but my runs are two welded wire Dog kennel together and other run is cattle panels covered with hdwe cloth and chicken wire top and upper sides... big big. then we fenced in one whole Half acre plus  with  5 gates... plus three shelters too. so it a very large investment esp the time my Hubby spent and paid a  few others to help with t posts etc.....stringing wire and fencing...... 
 if I could just wave a wand.... 
  now to get Goldie well enough after 20 plus days of being inside back out with her Sisters-girls... integrate her slowly..... and not let Roo jump her bones esp her sore FLYSTRIKE  right below her vent area.... area that's slowly healing. and feathers are slowly growing back as we had to cut out  a four inch or so circle to help her....
   appreciate yall

Wow, what a big investment in chickens you have. With all that you've made available to them, you'd think they would have more respect. I, too, have a"Goldie;" she's a silkie daughter I hatched from one of our Blue Silkie hens. I also have nursed a few rooster-abused hens back to feathered-again-health. Have a couple that are needing a break right now. Time to start separating and culling, I guess. I understand about about the reintegration concerns, but in fact there were never any problems. I did have a hen, however, that never fit in anywhere and was consistently abused by whichever rooster she happened to be near. She was gold colored, small, laid white eggs, and was flighty. She lost a lot of feathers, retired to a nest box for months, and I brought her special healing foods daily. When her feathers were grown back, she popped out of the box and began a new life, always - and still - running from the rooster(s). Good luck with your Goldie!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I agree with everyone that advises to stop giving them treats until they calm down, and then rethinking the treat situation. I also agree with the advice to make sure their feed is available whenever they want it, is easy to access (open feed troughs/hoppers), and add the recommendation of having multiple feed stations so every bird gets a fair chance to eat.

If you're worried about the nutritional value of the feed to the point that you feel the flock needs a lot of supplements, then maybe rethink the feed, too.

I think it is good to have the birds interested in treats ... treats are a great tool for gathering the flock ... but I believe treats should be used very sparingly. We scatter our treats on the ground. The birds know the treats are in the bowl/scoop/bucket, and some will stand close and mooch, but they pretty much wait on the ground where the treats will be scattered instead of attacking.