I have 3 groups of chickens - 5 19wk old pullets, 4 8wk old polish, and 26 4wk old chicks. The older pullets have been in the henhouse for a couple of months, and I've been worrying how I was going to make them share it nicely with the others. It would have been pretty hard to divide.
So a couple of weeks ago, I moved the polish babies out into the henhouse in a wire dog kennel. For the first few hours, the big pullets pecked through the cage every chance they got, but then started pretty well ignoring them. Early this week, I let them out for a while and sat in the coop to protect them for an hour or two. I did that for a couple of days. About Wednesday, I left them out all evening, and they were ignored, with the exception of an occasional bossy peck from one of the big girls. They've been integrated ever since, and are doing great.
So two days ago, I moved half of my little chicks out to the dog kennel. Yesterday, my daughter and I sat out in the coop and let the little chicks out to get some space and stretch their legs. The big girls completely ignored them, so we got the other half of the chicks and brought them out. I tied the door of the kennel so it's open about 3" so the chicks can get in away from the big girls if they need to, and there's space between the inside wall of the coop and the kennel where the big girls can't get to.
Last night, one of the chicks roosted up by the polish and the rest slept in a group on the ground. They are having a ball, dust bathing and running around, and they're all getting along great. The little ones are nervous of the 5 big girls, and run if they get too close, but the big girls are leaving them alone! I'm so excited!
This was much easier than I expected, and I'm just crossing my fingers that we don't have any catastrophes coming...
So a couple of weeks ago, I moved the polish babies out into the henhouse in a wire dog kennel. For the first few hours, the big pullets pecked through the cage every chance they got, but then started pretty well ignoring them. Early this week, I let them out for a while and sat in the coop to protect them for an hour or two. I did that for a couple of days. About Wednesday, I left them out all evening, and they were ignored, with the exception of an occasional bossy peck from one of the big girls. They've been integrated ever since, and are doing great.
So two days ago, I moved half of my little chicks out to the dog kennel. Yesterday, my daughter and I sat out in the coop and let the little chicks out to get some space and stretch their legs. The big girls completely ignored them, so we got the other half of the chicks and brought them out. I tied the door of the kennel so it's open about 3" so the chicks can get in away from the big girls if they need to, and there's space between the inside wall of the coop and the kennel where the big girls can't get to.
Last night, one of the chicks roosted up by the polish and the rest slept in a group on the ground. They are having a ball, dust bathing and running around, and they're all getting along great. The little ones are nervous of the 5 big girls, and run if they get too close, but the big girls are leaving them alone! I'm so excited!
This was much easier than I expected, and I'm just crossing my fingers that we don't have any catastrophes coming...